For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar

Welcome back to what will no doubt be a jampacked and eventful last 10 weeks of term. As it always seems to these days, this week has gone by in the blink of an eye. It was extremely pleasing to see and feel how settled the school was after a 2 week break. This is testament to the positive relationships that have been formed between staff and students and the clear and predictable routines that have been established and consolidated across the year. Whilst the finish line is in sight, as I reminded students at the primary assembly at the start of this week, there is still plenty of learning time left and a great opportunity to set some achievable goals and continue to work hard to achieve their best results at the end of the year. This is of particular importance for our Year 10s who may be planning on applying for apprenticeships or aiming to enrol in desired subjects at college in 2024.

It's always enjoyable hearing what adventures children got up to over their break (no pun intended, but there have been sightings of plastered arms this week, haven’t there Harry!), whether it be travelling interstate, locally or staying home and watching a movie or helping out on the farm and especially speaking to the Year 6 staff and students who jetted off to Canberra for an unforgettable experience in the last week of Term 3.

I’d particularly like to thank Mrs Van Essen for the tremendous amount of work that she did behind the scenes prior to the trip to ensure not only that we were able to literally get off the ground due to some last-minute complications, but also to ensure that it was a well planned and balanced mix of educational and fun experiences that this group of children will cherish forever. Thankyou also to Mr Rabe and Mrs Enright who gave up the luxury of their own beds and time with their own families for a week and our parent volunteers Craig and Allison.  As I passed Max from Year 10, in the corridor yesterday, he smiled and laughed when I reminded him that he was in the last group that I travelled with to Canberra pre-Covid. Expression of interest forms will be sent out for next Year’s Canberra Trip in the coming weeks. As always payment plans can be arranged to make this as accessible for as many families as possible.

This week I had the pleasure of meeting several Year 6 students from Riana Primary who were joining us for our first Year 7 transition/taster experience. In speaking with our own students, they all had an enjoyable time and are excited about the prospect of transitioning to Year 7 in 2024.

This Term our school value focus is on respect. I’m not sure about you, but I can’t help but get Aretha Franklin singing, every time I say thar word it tends to echo in my head as:

R – E – S – P – E – C - T

I’d like to have a little wager that you’re also singing it now!

It’s no surprise to hear that respect, is also one of our Penguin School Rules. There are plenty of sayings that I recall from my childhood “Always respect your elders, give respect to get respect, treat people how you would like to be treated …” One of my favourites that I’m sure my own kids get sick of hearing is that it costs nothing to say please and thankyou -  2 of the most simple forms of respect that we can show others. Similarly, I encourage others to smile and greet people with a friendly g’day, good morning, hello, how was your weekend. Simple gestures that can make others feel welcome, valued, included and important. The below poster is displayed around the school, to guide and remind our students of what being respectful is. It was created collaboratively by a selection of students with the support of Mr Hughes.

Demonstrating their desire to be informed and continually grow as educators, last night more than 20 staff attended an after school professional learning opportunity, at East Ulverstone Primary School, organised by our Social Worker, Sarah Cooper. The session was presented by expert and author Karen Young and focussed on building courage in kids and teens. Hopefully some of our families were able to attend the session Thursday night, “Strengthening Children and Teens Against Anxiety, at the Ulverstone Civic Centre. More information can be found about her work at www.heysigmund.com which contains a range of articles, supports and strategies.

Please ensure that you keep an eye on the newsletter and Schoolzine to ensure that you are aware of the dates for events such as the athletics carnivals, schools triathlon and assemblies among other events this term to ensure that you can book time away from work or don’t forget and miss out.

Yours in partnership
Matthew Perry

Australian Government Rebate

Students from our school have recently undertaken an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy. 

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $900 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion. 

Itinerary 2023

Sunday – Mt. Ainslie & Movie Night

Monday – Lake Burley Griffin walk, National Electoral Education Centre, Australian Parliament House, Mount Stromlo Observatory

Tuesday – AIS, Embassy tour, National Portrait Museum, Australian War Memorial, Bowling

Wednesday – National Gallery, High Court, National Botanical Gardens, Night Orienteering at Arboretum

Thursday – Anzac Parade tour, Museum of Australian Democracy, National Zoo & Aquarium, Australian Mint, Waterslide and Aquatic Centre

Friday – Questacon

In year 11 maths we have been learning about finance and money, probability and statistic and measurement. We ran an investigation for breakfast club to see what most people prefer to have for breakfast, like toasties, hashbrowns, milo, milkshakes, pancakes, toast etc. We have run the breakfast club every Wednesday from 8:20am-8:50am. We have had help from Chris, Alana, Sharon, Sandra, Erin and Tahnee. We have taken on various maths challenges working as both individuals and as a team. All our maths work has been handed in and we are confident of achieving well in our reports.

English Inquiry:

The Year 11s have a spring in their step as their schooling year comes to a close with only five days left at PDS for 2023. They have almost completed their major task for English Inquiry and are looking forward to a well deserved break. For their major task they have been tackling issues such as: cost of living crisis, Women’s rights, Bullying and LGTBQIA+ rights.

Clever Penguins

Harriet has shown perseverance having to deal with her own hearing challenges, and has shown total dedication to Penguin as she has played every year of juniors with Penguin since U12’s.

She is always respectful, attends every training session, always tries her best to understand and run plays even when it is extremely difficult for her to hear what is being said.

She is always positive even when faced with adversity, and is happy when her team mates do well.

Her team mates are always ecstatic for her when she does well or scores a basket. They want to give her the chance to score and make her happy, and enjoy the team experience that comes more easily for them. Harriet brings out the selfless and kindest emotions from her team mates.

This is what makes Harriet a Junior True Blue.

Due to the Pink Day BBQ on Friday 27th October there will be no canteen.