Filter Content
- Penguin District School Calendar
- Assistant Principal's Report
- Green Penguins
- Year 3/4A Mackenzie News
- Year 3/4 B, C & D Blackett, Marshall and Beard News
- Year 3/4E O'Shea/Jones News
- Year 7-10 English News
- Kinder 2026
- PDS Beanies
- SCHOOL CANTEEN - CAN YOU HELP? VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
- Overdue Payments
- Come and Try Umpiring Session
- The Light Night Glow Run
- School Calendar
For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar
Growth – Why we need to do “Hard things”
Growth isn’t something that happens by accident. Growth isn’t something that happens by doing easy things or making easy choices. Growth only happens when we set goals, action small steps and ultimately embrace doing “hard things.” In our Green Penguin meeting last week I talked to our staff and students about why it is important to voluntarily embrace doing “hard things.” When we choose to take on difficult challenges it makes us stronger and when life challenges us involuntarily, it means we are better prepared to face these challenges. One of the hardest things we face as parents is watching your child go through something that is tough and not being able to fix it for them. However, sometimes being brave enough able to step back and let our kids struggle through challenges is the best thing we can do as we know they will come out of the experience feeling empowered and more resilient human beings.
We often admire those people who people whose growth almost seems to be at a superhuman level. Whether it be a performer, an artist, a sports person or even a parent juggling home and family life, we all have people we look up to and admire. We often see their final performances and are amazed by their achievements, but what we don’t see is all the hours they have spent developing goals, planning their training/job lists and overcoming failures along the way. Growth rarely happens by accident and isn’t purely based on talent, it usually happens because these people voluntarily embrace doing “hard things,” even when it’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, and tough going.
Doing hard things forces us to grow because it takes us beyond what we already know and pushes us out of our comfort zone. Whether it’s having a difficult conversation, committing to a new goal, or facing a fear, these steps make us better and stronger people in the long run.
As we head into Week 5, I challenge you to ask yourself and your child/children: What is one “hard thing” you’ve committed to or maybe even avoided? That thing might just be your first step to growing as an individual.
This week has certainly seen a change in our weather patterns and a very late Autum is certainly upon us. Our Autumn colours really are stunning here at PDS. Today I had the great pleasure of having Wyatt and Emily (Yr.4 students) share their amazing writing about how they feel about Autumn. Their use of descriptive language was top notch, but more importantly they were able to share with me that in order to demonstrate our value of Growth, they needed to listen to, and then act upon feedback. With their permission I am sharing their writing below.
Autumn (By Wyatt)
Crunch, crunch went the peachy, orange-coloured leaves under my feet. The water was calm and flowing softly and the soft wind was taking the leaves to the distant mountain ranges. The breeze was cold and soft on my face and the sunset was beautiful. It was ablaze with bright pink and orange with tints of yellow. It was the best day of my life, I could have fallen asleep. As the sun was leaving, the moon took over and made the forest dark. The birds took their leave and flew to their nests. As the night got darker the silence was peaceful, and the moonlight gave a nice slight glow. The aurora sky was the most beautiful part of the Autumn sky.
Autum (By Emily)
Crunch, crunch! Went the crisp, dry leaves under my shoes. I continued along the narrow, barely visible leaf covered path. The trees were cherry red, mango orange and pineapple yellow. Like a painter’s palette, the autumn leaves burst with colour. The leaves covered the ground like a cozy blanket. Autumn had wrapped the world in its colour.
Leaves fell in my hair. One by one they fell, each a brighter colour than the last. Spots of evergreen trees could be seen every now and then. The cool autumn breeze blew like a whisper. Moss had overgrown the fallen trees. The cold water ran in rivers, lakes and streams, shiny and gleaming bright like a star.
As the sun began to set, beautiful colours like passionfruit purple, dragon fruit pink, lemon yellow and blueberry blue filled the sky like an instant light show. The cold air was soft like a baby’s hand. The autumn sun had set, it was time to leave the forest.
I love Autumn days.
Congratulations to Wyatt, Emily, 3/4D and Miss Beard for sharing their high quality writing with me.
“Communicating with families” meetings
Firstly, thankyou to all our secondary families that took time to join our meetings last week. We know staff and students really valued your support and attendance.
Our Primary meetings will take place during Week 7. The Booking System will be available to families by Wednesday of next week.
(Please note that meetings for families with students in 3/4C Marshall will happen next week.)
Assemblies
We look for forward to welcoming families next week at the following times for assemblies on Thurs 29 May in our school gym.
- Secondary Assembly - 12:00 pm
- Primary Assembly – 1:30 pm (5/6 Enright and 1/2 Collins will be our sharing classes.)
Yours in partnership
Adrian Beard
Assistant Principal
Year 3/4A participated in the Simultaneous Reading of The Truck Cat. Following instructions from Danny Snell (the illustrator), they drew their own cats.
This week, students in 3/4B, 3/4C, and 3/4D joined thousands of children across Australia in celebrating National Simultaneous Storytime. This year’s featured book was The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel, beautifully illustrated by Danny Snell.
The story follows Tinka, a curious cat who travels the open roads with Yacoub, a truck driver starting a new life in a different country. As they journey together, the pair navigate themes of belonging, resilience, and finding comfort far from home.
Inspired by the story, students took part in a creative writing project using the "Show, Don’t Tell" technique. They worked individually and in groups to write paragraphs expressing the emotions of the characters and bringing settings to life using descriptive language. Students even had the chance to collaborate on some artwork based on the book.
In Literacy, Year 3/4 E have been working on poetry. Students learnt how poets and authors use a range of literary techniques to create vivid, emotionally resonant and thought-provoking writing. We have read poems and looked at the importance of using great adjectives and verbs, imagery that focuses on the senses, and techniques such as alliteration and similes. Students have had the opportunity to explore these techniques through shape poems, autumn poems, simile poems and cinquains.
In Maths we have been concentrating on multiplication techniques, times table patterns, addition and subtraction, and most recently, data collection and graphs. The students have had fun moving around the classroom collecting data about their classmates’ lunch food preferences, favourite sports, arm lengths and the distribution of student birthdays over the seasons. Column graphs, dot plots and picture graphs have been analysed and created.
In Hass, students have been learning about the history of Penguin. They came up with a number of questions they were interested in and then had a trip to the local history room to look at some historic photos and artefacts. To follow up, each student researched one aspect of Penguin’s history. The projects are gradually being finished and will be presented in our classroom as a historic timeline of Penguin.
In Science students have recently finished a unit on biological science in which they looked at animal habitats and the food chains to which they belong. Food chains are made up of producers (plants), primary consumers (usually herbivores that eat the plants), secondary consumers (which are omnivores and carnivores and eat the primary consumers, tertiary consumers (which are the top or apex predators), and decomposers (which consume any dead matter). The students did a great job of creating some of their own food chains.
Year 7 English
Year 7 students have just completed a persuasive unit and have written a persuasive text using P.E.E.L. (Point sentence, Explanation, Example, Link)
They are now focusing on a life writing unit and are currently choosing a person to write about over the next week. Their life story will include five literary devices.
Year 8 English
In year 8, students are completing a film review essay about the Disney film Inside Out Two. They are looking at how the director has used colour, themes and elements of CAMELS in the film, to engage a range of audiences. Overall, the film is proving to be popular amongst the year 8 students, with many arguing that change is not always fun but important.
Year 9 English
Year 9 students have just completed a visual literacy unit based on ‘The Hunger Games’. They have completed an assignment focusing on themes, character development and literary devices.
They are now moving into novel study work with a continued focus on themes, character development and literary devices.
Year 10 English
Our Year 10 students have recently completed a ‘Life Story’ unit where they explored the experiences and achievements of someone they respect or admire. Through thoughtful interviews and writing, they have written narratives that share the personal journeys of their chosen individuals. To celebrate their hard work, we invite family and friends to join us for a Celebration of Learning on Tuesday from 1:30 PM–2:30 PM at school.
Mass Culling of Sharks
Over 65% of earth, is covered in ocean. The big blue is home to countless marine species, all playing an important role in their home, and one of those animals are sharks. Yet they are being culled at an alarming rate. It is wasteful, has a domino ecological effect, and it’s an injustice to those who protect them. For all these reasons, sharks need protecting rather than us inhumanely killing them.
Firstly - Sharks are an unwilling asset to several industries, and it’s a wasteful practice to an endangered species. Over 100 million sharks are killed per year, sometimes featured in shark fin soup. The catch is, 95% of a shark is thrown back into the sea when fished. Furthermore, sharks are 100% alive when their fins are cut off!! Imagine the pain! Then, the innocent shark is disposed of, to drown agonisingly, with no fins to help it swim. It’s a completely inhumane and cruel practice to an incredibly important species. 274,000 poor sharks are killed per day, just for their fins. There is only about 1000 species of shark left, and soon we could lose all of those species. It is clear that sharks are critically endangered, and we need to do something about the mass culling.
Secondly - As well as mass culling an endangered species, it could have an irreparable effect on the ocean. It’s also unfair to those who have jobs to protect sharks. Sharks play a role in the food hierarchy, and without them, there is an imbalance within the food chain.
Another thing is, some ray species really like to eat shellfish, and sharks eat those rays. Too many rays, and the ray species would grow causing a decline in shellfish. Additionally, sharks eat sick fish in schools, and without that, lots of animals would be plunged into chaos. Furthermore, lots of people strive to protect sharks from culling, and it would be unfair to them and their hard work if we carelessly murdered all the sharks. Jillian Morris Brake, shark researcher and conservationist, is one example. People are trying to protect the sharks, because they preserve the ocean’s ecology, therefore, it’s our duty to respond to the murderous, mass-killing of these beautiful creatures.
Lastly - Sharks are nowhere near as harmful as movies and stories claim to be, so there’s no good reason to kill them. 70% of shark attacks are because the shark is curious of a splashing in the water. Sharks don’t investigate with their hands; they have to use their mouth. After they figure out that it’s a human, they will swim away. Only 1 in 11.5 million people get attacked by sharks, and a big part of the reason we are so scared of sharks is the horror movies that were made in the 80s. I mean, terrorising sharks, munching on whole cities, blah-di-blah-blah. Those movies actually got a few things wrong. Sharks only grow to 3-4 metres, instead of the 100-metre beast depicted in The Meg. Similarly, these movies would have you believe that shark’s favourite activity is terrorising humans, however, truth is polar opposite. Instead, sharks don’t even know that they could be launching a fatal attack on a singular human.
Overall, sharks are being mass culled all over the world, and it needs to stop. It’s a wasteful practice to an endangered species, it has a domino effect, and it’s unfair to those trying to protect sharks who aren’t actually dangerous. For all of these reasons and many more, sharks need protecting, before it’s too late.
