For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar

This week we have once again celebrated Book Week.  This year’s theme of “Book at Adventure” has allowed us to highlight the adventures that fiction and non-fiction texts allow us to go on, and the adventurous places we sometimes get to read.  Our students, staff and community members have embraced the week with typical Penguin enthusiasm, taking part in a wide range of activities designed to inspire a lifelong love of reading. Classroom based book investigations, our “Book and Brekkie,” “Dress Up Day” and our Photography Competition have all helped us celebrate the adventures that books can take us on.

At PDS, we know that the power of sharing a good book is sometimes immeasurable.  In this digital day and age where our children’s spare time is often dominated by screen time, having the time and space to sit down and share a good book is something we must continue to foster.  Everyone’s reading journey is quite different.  I know for me my love of reading started in primary school by reading the Hardy Boys Adventures and has evolved into a lifelong love of adventure sport/music biographies and crime novels.  We all just need to find the right book to start our own reading adventure.

One of the highlights of the week is always our Book Week dress up day.  Thankyou to all our students, staff and parents who embraced the day with such creativity and enthusiasm.  It is such a great way for students to share and discuss their favourite books. I just hope someone found the Green Sheep by the end of the day, rumour has it he was last seen still sound asleep in assembly! 

Finally, community involvement continues to be something we value highly at PDS.  We would like to say thankyou to our all our parents that joined us for our “Book and Brekkie” and major assemblies this week.

Shout Out’s:

• To our classroom teachers and support staff who have help create their own class book adventures this week.
• To Mrs Hubbard (Our LIFT Coordinator) for her work in organising/coordinating multiple Book Week events.
• Thanks Alaynah Hensons, our visiting author, for sharing your book “The Whale and the Astronaut” with a number of primary classes on Tuesday.
• To Fire Fighter Craig Machen for the work he is doing in educating our young ones about the importance of fire safety.
• Best of luck to our 40 plus students who are participating in football Grand Finals this weekend.  We know you will do yourselves and PDS proud.
• Congratulations to Harper for winning the girls league goal kicking award and winning the U/14 North-West Devil of the Year award. 
• Congratulations to Hudson and Mitchell on their joint U/16 boys B@F awards.
• To our students who were randomly selected to participate in the PISA assessments this week.  Thanks for embracing the opportunity with such enthusiasm.
• Congratulations to Zander who has received the following accolades at the Young Archies Art Awards.  He has received the Yr.5/6 highly commended awards as well as the Commissiner for Children and Young People Award.
• Well Done to Dalton Stretton on his recent NWFL Juniors Volunteer of the Year Award Nomination.

Yours in partnership.

The 2025 School Satisfaction Survey is coming!

We want to hear from you, as input from families is very important to help us inform our school[1]planning and decision-making. Every year the Department for Education, Children and Young People conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you took part in our online survey about Penguin District School.

The survey is open from Monday 25 August 2025 until Friday 19 September 2025 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Each family should nominate one person to fill in this survey for their child(ren).

Take the online survey by clicking this Link, or pasting it in your browser: https://nam.dcv.ms/zOrgPX7dON

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential. All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools.  Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department for Education, Children and Young People staff.

Please contact 6434 2222 if you require any assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

In 5/6A we have enjoyed working on our Science Investigations this term. Everyone planned and conducted their experiences, recorded and analysed their results and published detailed reports about their findings. Sharing our boards with the judges, teachers, students and parents was a fantastic experience. We asked some staff members to share their thoughts on the Science Fair.

“I was impressed with the work on display. The kids knew what they were doing. Next year I think there should be a timetable for grade ¾’s because it was visible that some were overwhelmed. An originality scale on the judging panels would be a good idea.”                                                                                                                   Mr Beard

“It was the best part of my day. The vibe and environment were exciting and there was heaps of time and effort put into the boards. Everything and everyone were quite organised. I think going up to the secondary campus was amazing.”

Mrs McAuliffe

“There was high quality work that was amazing to see. There was also a large range of topics, and the students used good scientific vocabulary. I also think splitting the classes for judging was a great idea.”

Mrs Eberhardt

We would like to thank everyone who guided and helped us during our Science Investigations. A special thank you to the judges. It really was an amazing learning experience.

Trinity and Evie

House of Assembly Education Office Visit 

On Tuesday 5 August, 5/6C went to the amphitheatre to learn about the Australian Government, in particular the Tasmanian Parliament. The House of Assembly Education Office representatives came from Hobart to teach us about the roles in Tasmanian Parliament. 

After we answered some questions on state, local and federal governments, we did a roleplay.  We were split into three sides to re-enact how a bill is passed through the parliament.  The focus was ‘Should primary schools have a therapy dog?’  The government side won, while the opposition lost.  The other side was the cross bench.  They can make decisions on what they think are the best arguments.

 While the parliament is discussing whether a bill should be passed, if you agree with the argument that is made, you say, “Hear, hear!”  If you disagree, you say, “No!”

This was a fun learning activity and was good for the Grade 6 students to learn about Australian government before they go to Canberra during week 10 of this term.

Lochie and Kirra

For Book Week, 5/6D read the book South with the Seabirds written by Jess McGeachin. This amazing picture book recounts the experience of four women scientists who travelled to Macquarie Island in 1959. It highlights the unique landscape, and the incredible diversity of life that calls this island home. Students researched a different animal each and used literary devices to create powerful imagery by describing the movement, appearance, and voice of these animals. Students then created a piece of artwork to represent their Macquarie Island animal.

House of Assembly Incursion

On Thursday 7 August our class went to a program that gave us the opportunity to roleplay and learn about how Bills are debated and passed through parliament.

What we enjoyed about this program was we got to act out the roles such as Sergeant-At-Arms, Speakers, Premier, Leader of the Opposition and other members of parliament.

By: Marley & Charli 

Year 7 Drama
This term in Drama, Year 7 students are focusing on improvisation. They are learning how to manipulate the elements of drama and develop their performance skills by creating short scenes on the spot.

Year 8 Drama
Year 8 students are concluding their learning about how First Nations peoples tell stories through performance, including dance. They have explored how the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people use the elements of drama to share their creation story of the Great Barrier Reef.

Each year for Science Week, Penguin District School has provided secondary students with the opportunity to display their inquiry skills in the Science Fair.

In 2025, multiple display options were introduced and the Year 5 and 6 students were invited to display their Science Boards alongside the secondary students. With 160 groups displaying their scientific research, the Science Fair was the biggest ever for Penguin District School. Classes from all year levels were able to view and discuss scientific concepts, with some year 1/2's showing the courage to collect data from their secondary peers through conversations.

Congratulations to all students for their participation in this years event and to the teaching staff for collaboratively celebrating science as a spectator, behaviour manager, research assistant or cheerleader at the event or in the weeks leading up to the PDS Science Fair.

Congratulations to our Science Investigation Board winners in each year level:

As well as the students listed above, our school was represented by 50 students at the North West Big Science Fair in Burnie on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. After being interviewed and judged by local scientists, the following students will be recognised at the Big Science Fair Presentation Evening on Tuesday 26 August:

• Neutral Rays – Maddy, Loloma Rabe & Amaya
• Sprouting Success – Nina
• Coolest Water – Molly & April
• Erosion Demotion - Heidi & Eva

We wish these 8 students the best of luck as awards are announced at the event and congratulate them on their recognition.

The following secondary students were successful in their chosen display category:

Infographic: 1^st Oliver T, 2^nd Nate H, equal 3^rd Scarlet T & Grace C with Erin L

Video: Arahni S

Creative Writing: Bronte R

Scientific Essay: Zak L

Photo Essay: Ruby, Estella & Jaimie

In 2026, the Science team are looking to invite families to our Science Fair so our community can celebrate Science Week through viewing and interacting with our amazing students.

It was so wonderful to welcome families for our first Pre Kinder sessions today. Mrs Mel Atkins (Teacher), Keira (TA) and Jessie (Early Years Leader) have enjoyed meeting new faces, and getting to see faces we’ve played with over the last few years.

We’ll meet Mrs Oliva Bracken next week and get to paint, climb, build and create together.

You may have noticed some changes in the way we’re teaching reading in our school. These changes are part of a statewide commitment to ensure every student develops strong reading skills that will support them throughout school and beyond.

Learning to read is a skill that must be taught—it's not something we’re born knowing how to do. That’s why our teachers are using high-quality, evidence-based strategies to help every child become a confident reader.

Our students are learning to read in through structured and explicit literacy teaching. This means they are building foundational literacy skills step by step, with each new skill reinforcing the last. This approach helps students grow into capable, independent readers.

We’re proud to be part of this statewide effort to provide structured literacy lessons that are proven to work. Thank you for your ongoing support as we help every student succeed.

If you would like any further information about these changes please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or our Instructional Specialist, Vicki  White.