Penguin is a pretty special part of the universe. Often it isn’t until you have some time away from the place that you live, work or go to school, that you can appreciate what it has to offer, and the role that the community has in shaping and supporting who we are. Schools are, in many ways, a microcosm of society - or a snapshot of the values, behaviours and expectations that you would see reflected across that town or community.   When travelling seven and half thousand kilometres away to Kinmen Taiwan with our Year 9’s, it was no different. The township of Jincheng that we stayed in had a strong sense of community, was safe, locals were overwhelmingly friendly and people of all ages and all walks of life were connected and included in some way. The schools had these same qualities and were alive from 7am through to 10pm at night with tai chi, table tennis, gardening groups, social badminton and adult learning classes.  

Strong communities will have a number of interrelationships between sporting, social and cultural groups, and this would also be seen in a healthy and vibrant school. Today we held a thank you morning teas for the local churches that support our chaplaincy program, and for the Rotary clubs that support our breakfast club and community events. Just like our time in Taiwan, I would hope that visitors to our town, or school, would come away with a firm and positive impression of the community values and characteristics that are at the heart of Penguin.

Last Wednesday night, we hosted a community information session with Inclusion and Diversity community worker, Xris from Working it Out. Xris’ role is supported by the Department of the Education and extends in to school communities statewide. Xris shared the Valuing Diversity (Gender, Sexualities and Bodies) Framework and the people present were able to hear about and discuss shifts to legislation and community engagement over time at a national and state level. The Valuing Diversity Framework supports schools through providing factual information and resources, professional learning, policy support, and environmental audits of inclusive practice.  The Framework also supports schools to establish student diversity groups, community education and support for affirmation of a student’s identity. I’d like to thank the School Association and school staff for taking the lead by inviting Xris to deliver a community session. This continues the work towards our goal to establish and maintain an environment that is safe and inclusive for all members of our community.

Mat Grining

Principal