13 March 2025

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

I acknowledge, with deep respect, the traditional custodians of this land, the mumirimina people and pay my respects to Elders past and present, to the Aboriginal people with us today and to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community who continue to care for Country.  I stand for a future that profoundly respects and acknowledges Aboriginal perspectives, culture, language and history.

Our School Values

Our Commitment:  In partnership with community, we provide a welcoming school of choice that inspires and supports all learners to succeed as connected, creative and curious thinkers.

Dear Families,

Already this term is well and truly up and running with several events and activities happening across the school. Congratulations to our Year 3–6 students for their level of participation and enthusiasm at this year’s intraschool athletics carnival. It was wonderful to see the pride, team spirit, and talent on show. We would also like to thank our Animal Care students as they undertake the final preparations for tomorrow’s Bream Creek Show. The animal nursery is always a huge drawcard at the event. Another example of our students dedicating themselves and shining in the community.

School Association Annual General Meeting

Sorell School Association will be conducting their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, March 27. Sorell School is very fortunate to have such a proactive and supportive association that provides insight and voice to the direction of the school. If you are interested in joining the committee, please complete a nomination form located at the school office. Nomination forms must be completed by March 24 and returned to the office.

The School Association comprises parent members, community members, and staff. If you do not wish to nominate but would like to know more about how school associations support schools, please feel free to come along to any meeting. Dates will be advertised on the Sorell School Association Facebook page, Sorell School Facebook page, and school newsletter.

Teaching and Learning

Improving reading outcomes for every student is one of our key priorities for 2025. The school has undertaken a significant inquiry into codebreaking and fluency. These two elements provide a fundamental platform to support students to read with enough rate and accuracy to support meaning-making. As a school, we are looking forward to shifting our focus to comprehension and explicitly teaching our students to use a variety of strategies to deeply understand what they are reading. We look forward to this work commencing next term.

NAPLAN

Year 3, 5, 7, and 9 students are busily sitting NAPLAN testing. Students will sit a reading, mathematics, writing, and spelling & grammar and punctuation test. Congratulations to all students on the way they have approached this nationwide assessment.

Kelly Dyer
Principal

https://www.facebook.com/SorellSchool
Email: sorell.school@decyp.tas.gov.au
Phone: (03) 6269 1100

ECE CAMPUS

Our Reading priority is in full motion across all classrooms. To support reading at home, we are holding a session for families of our Year one and two students. This session will be held at 2:30pm on Thursday 20 March, in the Hive (located in the early years campus). Please keep an eye out on Seesaw for more details. Term 2 will see us hold a similar session for our prep families. If you have any questions about your child’s reading, or other learning areas, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

If you have a little one at home, or know someone who does, we’d love to see you at our Magic Movers sessions on Wednesday at 9:00am in the General Purpose Room. Led by our PE teacher, Mr Ryan Mills, this program is perfect for children aged 1-3, but all children from birth to four are welcome. Please contact the school office for further information regarding the other LIL programs on offer.

Our current Community focus is the school value of Responsibility, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning by actively engaging, focusing, and following instructions. We are also working with students on taking responsibility for their belongings, and school property. Thank you to all families for clearly naming your child’s clothing and property. Please remember to check the lost property cupboard for any missing items.

Teresa Spinks
K-2 Assistant Principal

YEARS 3 – 6 CAMPUS

It has been a busy fortnight in the 3-6 space.

Last Friday, students competed in the 3 – 6 Athletics Carnival at Pembroke Park. Students competed in their schoolhouses, Bridges, Davis and Hart, in numerous running, field and novelty events. There was excellent participation by students on the day and great team spirit and encouragement shown by all. Our athletics champions for 2025 were Hart with 455 points, Bridges second on 424 points and third Davis on 332 points. A School Athletics Team will be selected from the carnival to represent Sorell at the Interschool Athletics Carnival on Friday 28 March.

Our first Sorell Way challenge for 2025 has been completed where classes had to design and construct a class mascot that aligned with our school values. These challenges provide classes with the opportunity to develop teamwork and communication skills and strengthen their sense of belonging. There were some amazing creations from all classes but congratulations to 3-4 Ashlin for creating the winning mascot. Goodluck to all classes in their next challenge.

Trent Sproule and Jamie Harwood
3-6 Assistant Principals

YEARS 7 – 8 CAMPUS

It is halfway through Term 1 already. We can hardly believe it! Students in Year 7 and 8 are delving deeply into their learning. Practical Science lessons are now in full swing in the Science Lab. Students have been practicing how to follow the steps of an experiment in order to test a hypothesis. Students are really rising to the challenge of following a set of step-by-step instructions. An incredibly important skill that is transferrable to many parts of life. Year 7 and 8 students are also making the most of our newest program – Art Club. This operates every Tuesday at lunch time. Highly engaged students are choosing to stay for part of the afternoon so they can extend their skillset.

Staff and students are looking forward to the rollout of student laptops during Week 8. This will add a new layer to learning programs and enable students to sharpen their ICT skills. Please ensure you have returned your child’s ICT Agreement to enable them to be issued with their own laptop. Contact School Administration if you are unsure if your child’s form has been returned.

The next fortnight will see Year 7 students undertake NAPLAN testing. Students will complete a series of literacy and numeracy-based tests. Please ensure your kiddos are getting lots of beauty rest and come to school on time and ready to learn. Students will be supported throughout the testing period. Please contact Tom Burford, Year 7 Coordinator if you have any queries.

Lauren Clements
7-8 Assistant Principal

Meet the Year 7/8 Team

Name: Mel Phillips

Role: Teacher (Maths, Science, Music)

How long have you been at Sorell School? This is my second year at Sorell School

Tell us something about yourself: As well as a teacher, I’m also a geologist

YEAR 9 CAMPUS

The Year 9's have been busy completing their final NAPLAN assessments this week, in Reading, Writing and Maths.  A big shout out to all the staff who have helped to make this happen over the last few weeks.

Students have also been busy finalising classroom assessment tasks on Shapes and Measurement in Maths and creating memoirs in English.  They have also been learning about the Industrial Revolution and its impact on our current world when in History.

The Year 9 team have had a strong focus on mutual respect and the impact the importance of making sure we treat each other respectfully and expect the same in return.  It has been fabulous to watch the students and staff get to know each other over the past few weeks and the relationships that are now forming amongst the team. 

Sonia Marsh
9 Assistant Principal

YEARS 10 – 12 CAMPUS

Students in Year 10 have started an online learning program during their community class, planning for their transition into Year 11. All students are required to remain enrolled in school until they turn 18, complete a certificate III or complete Year 12. It’s a wonderful opportunity for young people to start planning their future pathway and working towards more personalised learning opportunities. Some students will be excited to visit our onsite Trade Training Centre in the coming weeks and learning about the nationally accredited VET courses we run right here at Sorell School. It is a great pathway for those wishing to enter the Building and Construction, Hospitality, Animal Care or Electrical industries. Other students may choose to attend Rosny College and complete study towards a university pathway or seek a fulltime apprenticeship. Regardless of the individual plan, students will start learning about all their future study options in the coming weeks and it presents a great opportunity for these conversations to continue at home and outside of school hours.  

Our Year 11 and 12 students have taken to the road with many classes heading off site for excursions and learning activities. The Animal Care class have been busily preparing for the Bream Creek Show where they will be working towards their show and presentation units. We wish our students all the best at this weekends show, assisting with the Animals offsite. Students enrolled in Electrotechnology and Sustainable Energy have also been heading off site conducing industry tours at Tarraleah. These opportunities serve as excellent insights into industry and give students exposure to large scale commercial projects, rarely seen in an urban setting. Finally, we thank our Hospitality students for preparing the excellent Moroccan Lamb Soup at last week’s meet the teacher evening. It’s great to see our Hospitality class assist with the catering at these school events and showcasing some excellent cooking skills so early on in the year.

Luke Hamilton
10-12 Assistant Principal

Art and Animals

Are you going to the Bream Creek Show this year? Saturday, March 15. This iconic Tasmanian event is a crowd-pleaser for all ages. Did you know the first Bream Creek Show was held back in 1886?

Students in art class have been invited to submit a drawing or painting of their choice. Below, you can check out some amazing pieces of art that will be displayed at the show for everyone to enjoy.

Animal Care students are busy preparing chickens and other farm animals for people to see in the much-loved hands-on Animal Nursery. 

School Hoodies

School hoodies will be available again from next week.

It is fantastic to see so many students proudly wearing these new garments and we are hearing lots of positive feedback.

For further details please contact Julie 0408 829 516. 

Opening hours for the uniform shop are:

Tues 3-5pm

Wed 8:15-9:15am

Thur 3-5pm

Calendar of Events

NAPLAN

Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 - Wed 12 March - Fri 21 March

Launching into Learning

AUSKICK

Neurodiversity celebration week

Support Services