For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar

Tis the season to be jolly...busy. As the year winds up the number of connection opportunities seem to literally wind up.  While there are 9 more school days to go there is still heaps going on.  Please make sure you are checking the school calendar, SZapp, Facebook and class Seesaw for messages. 

The end of the school year and the Christmas season offers the sometimes rare opportunity to reconnect with the people who matter most. In the midst of busy schedules and holiday hustle, taking time to pause and enjoy the company of others can be deeply fulfilling and help us feel more connected as a community. It’s a time for farewells, rites of passage, dinners, assemblies, awards, reports, celebrations, dress ups, break ups and food. It's a time to embrace meaningful conversations, share laughter, and create memories that go beyond the material aspects of the season. When we focus less on the rush and more on the connections we share, we allow for some of the deeper meanings behind Christmas—love, gratitude, and generosity and unity—to shine through. Over the next 9 school days, let me encourage you to slow down while things wind up. Taking a moment to catch up with friends, be physically and mentally present in the assemblies and celebrations, embrace the emotions and use this time to nurture relationships and deepen the bonds that make this season truly special.

 Staffing 2025

In amongst the many connection opportunities, the school leadership is working to try and confirm staffing for 2025. Every year this is a challenging time for many. We ask all in the school community to be as patient and understanding as we try to piece together what is a complex puzzle - it can be hard to piece together a puzzle when you don't have all the pieces or that we don't always know the shape of all the pieces.

We are in a situation to be able to share and confirm some aspects of staffing for 2025.  As has been previously shared both myself, and Mr Matthew Perry will not be at PDS in 2025. I once again congratulate him on his appointment as Cooee Primary Principal.  I will be taking 12 months leave, during which time I will be undertaking some further studies.  We can confirm that Mr Jade Hughes and Mr Adrian Beard will be acting in the two Assistant Principal positions at the start of 2025. We are currently working on backfilling Adrian’s Instructional Specialist position.  We can advise Katrina Blair from Ulverstone Primary will be joining PDS as the successful Y3-6 AST and Karina Van Essen was the successful applicant for the secondary AST. There are a number of teaching and non-teaching farewells which will appear in next week’s newsletter.

Classes for 2025

On Thursday next week, our Primary students will meet their teaching team for next year and a letter will come home communicating each child's class teacher.  Secondary students will receive home group allocation in 2025. 

Yours in partnership

Geoff Davis - Assistant Principal 

2025_Levies_Letter.docx_v2.pdf

Thank you to everyone who has returned the availability slip for the Arts Festival on Tuesday 10 December. It would be appreciated if any outstanding slips could be given to the office on Monday. 

Our choirs have also been asked to perform at the Penguin Carols at Hiscutt Park on Sunday 15 December. Students will bring home a note with more details early next week. 

Congratulations to Mahayla , Evie and Alex on receiving awards at the recent Youth Tasart Exhibition held by the Burnie Coastal Art Group in November. The judges were impressed with the quality of their work.

Well done to all students who competed in the Inter-High Athletics carnival on Wednesday. It was great to see so many students out of their comfort zone, trying their best, and performing well in their events. In particular, congratulations to Logan R, Manni, Jordan, Tylah, Willow, Sammy, Mitchell and Amelia,  for earning first place in their events. Penguin District School placed 4th overall. Well done!

Come one, come all to the annual Arts Evening on Tuesday, 10^th of December, 2024!!! Expect to see awesome everywhere. Starting in the cafeteria at 5.30pm with an art gallery walk through, you enjoy students’ art works, Digital Tech photography, drone videography and animations. Then be wowed by both the girls and boys junior choirs, Vivace choir, secondary performances, Beauty and the Beast reprisals and snippets of drama comedy. Finishing around 7.30pm, this is not a night to be missed!

The School Association met on Monday for the last time this year. It was lovely to have a parent observer and the manager from TASSO (the body that supports all state school associations) with us for the meeting. Thank you to Elisha for supplying us with delicious chocolate treats. 

We finalised the donations for the Christmas Raffle at the meeting and made plans for selling tickets. It was great to have so much help from school staff on Tuesday to get the tickets out to families as soon as we can. We have some fantastic prizes - thank you to everyone that has contributed. 

Other talking points this week included:

• Use of the Teddy Sheehan Memorial grant to purchase an additional flag pole for the memorial site at the front of the school
• A grant application to support secondary students to create a mural
• Ongoing discussions around garden areas, and the picnic benches that have been moved up the classroom pods

Nurse Alex has been a valued part of the Association for the past two years and has now decided to step down. Thank you to Alex for all your contributions, and we hope to see you at meetings in the future as an observer. This welcome applies to all previous members, and all current parents and carers. 

We are starting to plan for our AGM which will be in week 8 of Term 1. We currently have 3 parent seats available. I strongly encourage parents, carers, and grandparents  to consider joining our group. We will be meeting in week 3 next term so this could be a great way for you to see whether it feels right for you. More information to come in 2025 regarding nomination forms.

On behalf of the School Association, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all families and staff at PDS.