For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar

The Vital Role of the Student and Wellbeing Team

In today’s complex and fast-paced world, the wellbeing of our students is more important than ever. Schools are not just places of academic learning, they are places where our students grow emotionally, socially, and psychologically. At the heart of our school’s support system is the Student and Wellbeing Team, a group of dedicated professionals that work closely with students/staff/parents/caregivers to ensure every student feels safe, respected and ready to give their personal best every day.

This team includes:

• Support Teachers who provide assistance to students with diverse learning needs, helping them access the curriculum and thrive in the classroom.
• Psychologist who offers expert guidance on mental health, learning challenges, and behavioural support, ensuring students receive the care they need.
• Speech Pathologist who helps students overcome communication barriers, enabling them to express themselves confidently and engage fully in school life.
• Social Workers who connect families with resources, advocate for student welfare, and address social and emotional challenges that may impact learning.
• School Chaplains, who offer pastoral care, a listening ear, and a compassionate presence, fostering a sense of belonging to all at PDS.

Together, this team provides a powerful network of care for our students and care givers. Their collaborative approach ensures that no student falls through the cracks, and that wellbeing support is just part of what we do here at PDS.

Finally, if you wish to discuss possible supports for your child, please feel free to contact Admin who will direct you to the relevant supports

Introducing our Support and Well-Being Team 

Shout Outs

• Thankyou to Hon Casey Hiscutt MLC, Mel and Jazz who took time out of their busy schedules to present our students with the Penguin 150 badges at assemblies yesterday.  Students will receive their badges next week if they haven’t done so already.
• Congratulations and thankyou to Mrs Van-Essen and the Yr.6 Canberra teaching team.  We know you will have an amazing week in “the capital.”
• Thankyou to all our parents/guardians and community members who joined us for our assemblies this week.  We really appreciate your support.
• Welcome to our Pre-Kinder families that have been joining us over the last few weeks. We can’t wait to see your little ones thrive with us in Kinder next year.
• Congratulations to our footballers who received awards at the recent Penguin Football Club celebrations.
• Well done to all our Launceston Sports Exchange participants who braved the wind in Launceston today.
• Well done to Katie for her netball coaching and umpiring this week.  Well done to our netballers for demonstrating sportsmanship and fair play.

Yours in partnership

Adrian Beard

Primary Assistant Principal (Monday-Thursday,) Principal (Friday)

Throughout Term 3 Prep A has been a class of builders. We love building with blocks and creating our own designs with LEGO. As we are building we are wondering, sharing, problem solving, showing resilience and having fun!

This term, Year 1/2D and 1/2E have been busy adventuring around Australia as part of our Inquiry unit. We've been learning how places are geographically divided and discovering the natural, managed, and constructed features across the states and territories. Here are some photos of the work we are most proud of.

As well as being busy for the past couple of weeks with their swimming programme, Grade 3/4E have been expanding their knowledge of  fractions, working on research projects about the first European explorers to Australia, and writing information fact files about Australian Flora. It has been a busy term and we are looking forward to our excursion to Hagley Farm School early next term.

This Term, 3/4 B and D were lucky enough to attend the PCYC in Burnie to participate in the Operation Resilience program. The program, which revolves around the completion of six main obstacle challenges, aims to develop the qualities of leadership, teamwork, communication and cooperation. The level of enthusiasm and dedication that all students demonstrated towards this experience was outstanding, and it was great to see their skills improve.

Students from across the 5/6 classes worked on Science Investigations during Terms 2 and 3.  This culminated in their science boards being shared with judges from across the primary and secondary campuses. Parents were also invited in to view student’s work. The following students received awards for their investigations –

Rayff

Heidi and Eva

Lucy and Amira

Nina

Kirra and Clementine

Rory and Laynee

Renae and Mia

Annabel and Eloise

Madison and Alexis

Abbas

Mackenzie

Aria and Georgia

Aisha and Liffey

Molly and April

During Book Week, our class read the book 'How to Move a Zoo', written by Kate Simpson and Owen Swan.  We then viewed the 'Taronga Zoo - Sydney' website and chose an interesting animal, after we had completed some reading.  We drew a picture of our chosen animal and considered what life would be like at the zoo, from its perspective.  We then wrote about a moment in time from our animal's perspective.  We are very proud of our work.

This term year 7 have been working on perspective creating a city scape.

Year 5/6 have been working on the theme “through the keyhole” using different mediums to create an image inside the keyhole and work on developing their drawing/watercolour skills.

For the remainder of this year we will be providing regular information via see saw and our newsletter about how we teach children to read and how you can support reading at home.  If you have any questions or would like further clarification about the information provided, please contact your child’s teacher or our Instructional Specialist, Vicki White (vicki.white@decyp.tas.gov.au)

Reading at Home

Reading with your child at home builds fundamental language and literacy skills, enhances vocabulary and comprehension, and is a proven predictor of academic success and a lifelong love of reading.

Most Early Childhood students are taking home decodable readers to develop and practice word recognition.  Once students become proficient with word recognition they will be reading more complex texts. Please support your child/ren to read their text multiple times to practise fluency. Throughout the year we will occasionally offer Green Penguins for those students who remember to return and reborrow books for reading at home.  

Reading at Home for term 2 will cease on Friday 19/9.  Please ensure all books are sent back to school by the end of term. Thank you for your continued support in working together to foster the skills and strategies needed for reading engagement and mastery.