Welcome back to Penguin District School for the start of Term 3! A special welcome to the students, families and staff that are joining us for the first time. Mrs Rebecca Van Essen is joining our Maths/Science team at the secondary campus, Renae Aherne will be joining our teacher assistant support team and Taylor Forward will be commencing with us in a school chaplaincy role for the remainder of the year. Mel will be helping us out in some other parts of the school for the remainder of the term, and we appreciate this flexibility.  I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Jacqui Gallagher for her support work in kinder during Terms 1 and 2 and to Mel Walker for her contribution to our school across the past two and a half years as our school chaplain.

Welcome to our new students that have joined us; Wyatt, Ella, Mason, Coby, Logan, Kobe, Brylee, Simon, Emma, Keylee, Alexandra, Taj, Jack and their families. I am sure that you will find the school community as genuine, friendly and caring as I have. Our pre-kinder programs will commence next Monday and Wednesdays from August 24 and we will see close to 60 of our littlest learners and their parents joining us in preparation for the transition to kinder in 2021.

School Life in Term 3
Term 1 and 2 required our school community to be adaptable to the many changes that were required of all of us as Tasmanians. I’d like to personally thank our parents and students on how they managed these changes, and as a result, a number of the previous limitations will be eased during the term.

• Parents are now able to come in to classrooms before and after school for informal pick-up/drop off
• We are still encouraging parents to pick up and drop off outside the classroom to ease the number of adults on site, however, please know we want to strengthen the connection between parents and the classroom learning that has been taking place
• Physical distancing for adults in and around the school is expected where practicable
• Parent/volunteer help can commence. Please discuss this with your child’s class teacher
• Parents can now meet with teachers but they are required to make a booking either through the office or with the teacher in advance.
• Excursions can commence in Term 3 following the usual Off Campus Guidelines. Parents will be notified of these in advance and have the opportunity to discuss the details of each excursion with the supervising teacher
• Assemblies will recommence this term, parents will be invited to these on a class by class basis so we can monitor adults numbers
• ALL VISITORS MUST COMPLETE A HEALTH SCREEN CHECK FROM THE FRONT OFFICE
• ANY ADULT THAT IS UNWELL MUST NOT ENTER THE BUILDING OR SURROUNDS

Illnesses Within the Community

There have been confirmed cases of chicken pox in schools on the North West Coast, and this has been the case at our primary campus. Please be vigilant in checking your children for any symptoms and seek medical assistance where necessary. Any suspected or positive cases of illnesses like chicken pox must be reported to the school so we can put in the necessary steps to notify the community. An information sheet can be accessed from here 

Chickenpox

Mobile Phone Policy

All Tasmanian government schools are required to have an ‘Off and Away All Day’ approach to student mobile phones in school. Our students are all aware of this and understand that procedures that are in place around turning their phone off and securing it on arrival at school, through to the end of the day when they can access their devices after 2:50. Our school’s policy/approach can be accessed from here 

Mobile Phone Policy

Capital Works Update

Our school redevelopment has currently gone out to pubic tender and these applications will be assessed early to mid Term 3. We still expect to see quite a bit of activity between now and the end of the year.