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- Penguin District School Calendar
- Principal's Report
- Green Penguin - Final Assembly ‘Lucky Draw’ Winners.
- Kinder - Year 2 Presentation Assembly
- Year 3 - 6 Presentation Assembly
- Year 10 - 12 Presentation Assembly
- Together: We Aspire. We Strive. We Achieve. Award Recipients
- Year 7 - 12 Award Recipients
- Certificates of Achievement Recipients
- Year 10 Celebration Dinner
- Year 9/10 Art
- Secondary MND Fundraising
- Student Assistance Scheme for 2021 (STAS)
- Book Collection Day
- Todd Rogers Signs - Uniform Sales
- Holiday Basketball Camps
- School Calendar
Penguin District School Calendar
For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar
Best wishes to all of our families for a safe and enjoyable holiday break. Thank you for your connection and support of our school during the 2020 school year In our newsletter going out to families today we have some staffing updates, key dates for next year and copies of some of my end of year speeches. We look forward to working with you all again in 2021.
Warm regards Mr Mat Grining – Principal
I am pleased to announce that the we have been able to finalise our staffing profile for 2021. Whilst I publicly acknowledged the contributions of long standing staff members Mina Howe, Tish Townsend, Kirsten Rockliff, Dale Good, Brian Hickey, Jackie Kinch, Jenni Maartensz and Tracey Walker, in our assembly, I’d like to also thank and celebrate the contributions of all of our staff across 2021.
2021 Teacher Staffing
Our school leadership team will include, Mr Mat Grining (Principal), Mr Matt Perry (Assistant Principal Primary), Mr Geoff Davis (Assistant Principal Secondary), Mr Adrian Beard (Quality Teahcing Coach), Mrs Karina Van Essen, Mr Adam Lane, Mrs Jessie Eberhardt, Ms Jodie Murphy, Mr Matthew Smart, Mr Robert Maywald, (Advanced Skills Teachers)
Kinder – Mrs Deb Haberle
Kinder - Mrs Olivia Bracken
Kinder - Ms Megan Maney
Prep – Mrs Carla Hubbard & Mrs Wendy Radcliff
Prep – Mrs Pietta Nicholls
Prep – Mrs Elisse Gardam
Grade 1/2 – Mrs Lynne Taylor
Grade 1/2 – Miss Maddison McCormack
Grade 1/2 – Ms Jenny Slater & Mrs Emma Eustace
Grade 1/2 – Ms Nicky Green
Grade 2 – Ms Moira Paterson
Grade 3/4 – Miss Gill Pratt
Grade 3/4 – Mr Steven Jones & Mrs Jenna Langham
Grade 3/4 – Mrs Kylie Mudford
Grade 3/4 – Mrs Deb French
Grade 5/6 – Mr Damien Rabe
Grade 5/6 – Miss Maddison Hayward
Grade 5/6 – Mrs Bronwyn Enright
Grade 5/6 – Mrs Lyn Brown
Literacy Support – Mrs Cheryl Wells & Mrs Bron Gibson
Music – Mrs Christine Lusted/Mr Nick Turner
PE – Mrs Karina Van Essen/Miss Abby Goninon
Japanese – Miss Matilda Lutwyche
Digital Technology – Mr Adam Lane
Secondary Campus Teachers
Jodie Murphy, Nick Owen, Adam Conkie, Angela Fitzallen, Geoff Davis, Nick Turner, Narelle Butler, Amie Dunlop, Ashley King, Rebecca Van Essen, Jade Hughes, , Robert Maywald, Phil Hawley, Abby Goninon, Jordan Taylor, Sarah Mott, Mathew Smart, Mat Grining, Darcy Schake & Noah Johnstone
Principal’s Address
2020 Principal’s Address
As a beginning teacher at Burnie Primary almost 20 years ago, I felt like I had the best job in the world. Every day was guaranteed to bring something different and unexpected, with so many individuals from a range of backgrounds with their own ideas, values, talents, hopes and passions coming together. I’d have students making me think on my feet when they’d ask a curly question about where babies come from, I’d be laughing when someone had somehow snuck their rabbit in to school, and then find myself wiping away a few quiet tears after the final day of the school year in the knowledge that it would be the last time that we’d be together as a team in that moment. Sharing the journey with a group of students, especially with all of the emotions and connections that go along with it, really makes working in schools that ‘dream job’ for the adults that get to work with our learners.
Fast forward 20 years, and I don’t remember a year where I have had to think as hard, laughed as often or cried as much as any other year. Whilst 2020 brought with it great challenges, and at times, sadness and disappointment, it has also provided us with an opportunity to learn a lot about our community, learn more about the people around us and even, an opportunity to learn more about ourselves.
In term 1, schools like ours were preparing for camps, excursions, international exchanges and planning ski trips and Vietnam house building projects – we weren’t expecting ‘learning from home’, sanitiser, lessons via Microsoft Teams, sanitiser, COVID forms, sanitiser and physical distancing. We knew that schools have the responsibility for being the mirror or reflection of their community – and our staff understood that we needed to be flexible and adaptive to make this year as normal as possible, in a time where nothing felt quite normal.
I’d like to publicly thank our staff for innovating and working in ways that we never could have imagined. They have been committed to providing as many experiences to make your school year as normal as possible when it would have been easy to just say that, ‘we can’t because of COVID’ or ‘it’s too hard because of the redevelopment’. Thank you to all of our support and teaching staff for going above and beyond, more than we ever could have expected.
A memorable moment for many of us this year was the school production of Phantom of the Talent Factor. When we have prep aged students that are going home idolising the cast members and singing the songs, this for me highlights the level of impact that the production has had. Everyone involved should feel immensely proud, just as we as audience members were of their achievements. Whether it is approaching your first pre-tertiary exams, finding the courage to take the stage in Phantom or just feeling more confident to talk about how you feel and ask for help when you’re not feeling okay; you have all achieved something special throughout the year that you can be proud of. Please join me in congratulating all of our students.
The end of the school year brings with it mixed emotions as we need to say some farewells.
Mrs Kirsten Rockliff joined Penguin High in 2002, no doubt fresh faced and eager to have a significant impact on the young people in our community. During her time at Penguin Miss Moore and more recently Mrs Rockliff, has taught close to 1000 students across just about every curriculum area. When Mr Maywald and I asked some ex students for a few words on Kirsten, it was shaping up like the best referee report you could read. Comment like ‘thanks for always encouraging me to pursue my future ambitions’, ‘with your support I had the confidence to step in to Uni after year 12.’ ‘You were always approachable and happy to help, regardless of what sort of questions I had’. Whilst you won’t be able to enjoy the 60km Paradise to Penguin drive to school, we hope that working in Latrobe provides more time for family and the opportunity to have the same level of impact on another school community.
Dale Good has quietly been our Mr Fixit for the past few years. Painting classrooms, building production sets, replacing all of our table tops and supporting Mr Maywald in MDT classes, nothing has ever appeared too hard for ‘Dool’. Dale has been able to enjoy seeing his granddaughters starting school, with both of them now at the primary campus
If the year 9-10 students that Brian has supported in recent years knew that he was retiring, I’m sure they would be asking for a statue of him in the workshop. Brian Hickey has completed 11 years of service at Penguin, and his warm, genuine personality and ability to share a laugh with staff and students means that he will be well missed.
Jackie Kinch also joined Penguin High School back in 2009 and during that time she has provided high levels of support to students and programs across the school. Her kind, caring and patient approach and great sense of humour means that she the students and staff that she has supported, with many great memories, and we wish her well as she takes up new opportunities in 2021.
Jackie and Brian, much to Mr Davis’ amusement, would regularly be drawn out as the staff winners of movie tickets at our PSR assembly draw – this would always be met with the biggest applause and cheers from our students, and is indicative of how much care and respect that our students have for you.
Mrs Tracey Walker joined Penguin Primary School back in 2006 and during that time she has supported hundreds of students across just almost every class through to grade 6. Her kind and caring approach and great sense of humour means that she has left us with many great memories, and we wish her well as she now enjoys more time camping and travelling. We were able to farewell Tracey in one of our meetings last week
Ms Jenni Maartensz started at Penguin in 2017. Her exceptionally warm and kind personality, passion for sharing good books and laugh that can be heard echoing down the corridor, has provided a platform for building strong connections with many of the students in her care. Whilst Ms Maartensz hasn’t formally left us, we are ‘loaning’ as she takes up a leadership position at Yolla in 2021. We felt it was a good opportunity for us to say thank you in our assembly, just in case!
Tish Townsend had been with us for a number of years, starting with supporting the grade 3-4 programs. Since then she has been whipping up plenty of tasty treats in the canteen and having plenty of laughs with Kiley. Whilst Tish will be finishing up with us in this role, it may be that we see a bit more of Tish around the school supporting our programs. We’d like to thank Tish for her commitments in her current role.
Thankyou also to Mina Howe, Deanna Acklerly, for their contributions to our school this year to our early childhood learners. We wish you both well as you step in to your teaching careers.
I would like to publicly thank the parents of all of our children. Thank you for preparing your children for every day, remaining connected with your child’s teachers and for making every day count by valuing your child’s time at school. 2020 will be a year we won’t forget, and a special thank you for doing the journey with us when we were learning from home.
I had a chat with one of our students earlier this year that got me thinking about the question, ‘Who’s school is this?’. The student and I were walking to the library at the same time and she called out to me and said, ‘Hey Mr Grining, you’re the boss aren’t you and Mr Perry, well, he’s the boss too and he’s the little boss’. She then followed up with asking, ‘What’s it like being the boss?’ I had to stop and think about this for a moment and said that, ‘Well, if I am here to support the teachers and other adults in our school to help you and every other student in your school, so I guess that makes you my boss.’
Now she thought this sounded a bit funny, but it then got us talking about the school being her school and all of the things that she loved about it. She loved that there was a big fat blue tongue lizard in the sensory garden and that the garden always smelt different across the different seasons, she liked how the ladies in the office always said hello and asked about what she did on the weekend, and she was excited about being able to borrow more library books because she was bigger than she was last year. But she was most happy when talking about the friends that she had made in class that she didn’t have from the year before. She finished off by telling me, ‘You know what Mr Grining, it’s not only my school, it’s everyone’s school because all of us keep learning and growing and moving from one grade to the next until we grow really big and then we leave school – I guess even the teachers do too!’
I would like to finish by telling you how proud I am to be a part of your school. To the students sitting in front of us, you are the reason that we are here, and you should know that you have all achieved something special this year that you can be proud of – congratulations on a memorable year of learning at Penguin District School.
Grade 10 Speech
A lot can be achieved in 12 years. It took JRR Tolkein 12 years to write his bestseller Lord of the Rings, The first iPhone was released 12 years ago, the great Cyril Rioli spent 12 years in the AFL system, Lebron James has spent 12 years across two stints with the Cleveland Cavs, John Howard had 12 years as leader of our country, and it took 12 years for NASA’s Voyager space probe to reach Neptune at the other end of the solar system. 12 Years a Slave. I’m not talking about your time at school, rather the powerful autobiography from the 1850’s that I recommend you take the time to read, or at least watch the feature length film on Netflix
There are some remarkable feats that have taken 12 years to achieve, and for many of you, this year marks your 12th year in education since your first days in kinder.
Staying in school for 12 years is an achievement that you should stop and reflect on. It requires 12 years of commitment, determination and a willingness to give your best effort even on those days when you may not quite be feeling up to it. Whilst for a number of you, your connection with Penguin as a school may be ending, don’t see your education as coming to a sudden halt at the end of 12 years. Whether you are moving in to apprenticeships, traineeships, continuing at Penguin, or enrolled at either of the colleges, or other local high schools, it’s critical that you always keep your education at the top of your list. We can’t argue the research that says that if you stay in education, that you are more likely to live longer, will be happier, healthier and your bank balance will also look pretty decent as a result.
Even as an adult, if things aren’t going to plan, or you find yourself at the crossroads later in life, you are never too old to engage in learning and education. Whether it’s requalifying in horticulture or hairdressing at TAFE, studying education or engineering at university, learning a new language in an adult ed course or enrolling from home in an online course in song writing, learning Korean or star gazing – your life outcomes will be far greater simply because you chose to maintain the effort to stay engaged in education.
Age groups in our community often defined and labelled by the social and cultural experiences that people of that age have had whilst in our formative years. Whilst in the audience today we have Baby boomers, Generation X, Millenials and Gen Z. So to the quaranteenagers in the room, 12 years has gone quickly, and you should be proud of what you’ve been able to achieve to this point. On behalf of the adults in the room, it has been an absolute pleasure supporting your journey and we look forward to watching what the next 12 years will bring.
Please join me in congratulating this years year 10’s.
Mat Grining - Principal
Email: mathew.grining@education.tas.gov.au
Together: We Aspire. We Strive. We Achieve. Award Recipients
Together Awards
Year 7 - Hannah Year 8 - Amelia
Year 9 - Zali Year 10 - Ned
- Proudly Sponsored by the Tasmanian Liberal Party
Aspire Awards
Year 7 - Amber Year 8 - Brianna
Year 9 - Harvey Year 10 - Tayla
- Proudly Sponsored by the Tasmanian Labor Party
Strive Awards
Year 7 - Imogen Year 8 - Campbell
Year 9 - Emily Year 10 - Amy
- Proudly Sponsored by the Penguin Lions Club
Achieve Awards
Year 7 - Lara Year 8 - Izaya
Year 9 - Laura Year 10 - Grace , Jarroch
- Proudly Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ulverstone West
University of Tasmania CH Miller Springboard to Higher Education Bursary
Grace
- Proudly Sponsored by the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania Encouragement Award
Kira Emma
- Proudly Sponsored by the University of Tasmania
Australian Defence Force Long Tan Award
Jordan
Proudly Sponsored by the Australian Defence Force
Australian Defence Force Future Innovators Award
Jarroch
- Proudly Sponsored by the Australian Defence Force
Hellyer College Bursary
Makayla
- Proudly Sponsored by Hellyer College
Ricoh Award
Jack
Proudly Sponsored by Ricoh, Ulverstone
Rotary Club Of Ulverstone - Youth Trust Scholarship
Tayla
Proudly Sponsored by Rotary Club of Ulverstone
Top Sport and Recreation Student Award
Rhyley
- Proudly Sponsored by Penguin District School
Recognition of Year 12 Completion
Luke
Year 9 History Award
Emily
- Proudly Sponsored by the Penguin Historical Group
Year 10 Arts Acquisition Award
Ruby
- Proudly Sponsored by the Penguin District School Association
Year 10 Australian Olympic Change Maker Award
Year 10 - Emily
- Proudly Sponsored by the Australian Olympic Committee
Year 10 Braddon Student Achievement Award
Jarroch
- Proudly Sponsored by Gavin Pearce MP
Minister for Education and Training Respectful Student Award
Rebekah
- Proudly Sponsored by Jeremy Rockliff MP
The Russell Family Lodge of Peace Award
Ruby
- Proudly Sponsored by the Russel Family, Lodge of Peace
The Central Coast Council Social Responsibility Award
Luka
Proudly Sponsored by the Central Coast Council
Certificates of Achievement Recipients
Certificates of Achievement Year 7 & 8
Year 7 - Amali, Samantha, Tayla, Jacob,
Macy, Taylah
Year 8 - Isaac, Jenna, Molly, Jasmin,
Ava, Georgina
Certificates of Achievement Year 9 to 10
Year 9 - Shakayla, Chloe, Molly, Portia,
Braith, Issy
Year 10 - Courtney, Brittany, Bronte, Jessie,
Emily, Sarah
For the later part of Term 4 students in Grade 9/10 Art have been working on their own individual project. There has been a large variety of different themes and art mediums explored and it has been particularly pleasing seeing students really engaged in their projects and working hard to have it completed by the set timeframe.
Student Assistance Scheme for 2021 (STAS)
The Department of Education recently announced that we would be expanding the Student Assistance Scheme for 2021.
Parents who have a current concession card as listed below can apply for dependent students for assistance under the STAS:
* Services Australia – Centrelink Health Care Card
* Service Australia – Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card
* Services Australia – Pensioner Concession Card or
* Department of Veteran Affairs – Pensioner Concession Card.
Please note that if you are already receiving student assistance you do not need to complete a form.
For 2021 a new on-line form has been developed to assist with processing applications for new applicants. The online form can be completed here: https://stasonlinesubmission.education.tas.gov.au/
Once a validated form is completed the Department of Education will confirm the outcome of your application in writing, this process takes approximately 14 days.
We understand this online option may not be possible for all families, so if you require a hard copy form please contact your school or the Financial Assistance Unit on stas@education.tas.gov.au or1800 827 077.
Book Collection Day will be held Thursday 21 January 2021, 10am - 6pm at the Community Learnig Centre. Invoices for levy payments will be sent out early February.
Todd Rogers Signs - Uniform Sales
Todd Rogers office will be closed from 21 December until 11 January 2021. Uniforms will be available to purchase on Book Collection Day, Thursday 21 January 2021. Due to us being at the Book Collection Day, our office will be unavailable for uniform sales. If you would like to order uniforms and have them ready to collect on book sales day, please contact Todd Rogers Signs 64 334 333 or admin@toddrogerssigns.com.au
School Holidays
13 Apr 2024 - 28 Apr 2024 |
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ANZAC Day
All day |
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First Day Term 2
All day |
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Nature Kinder A
All day Recurring event |
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School Netball Begins
All day |
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Year 7 and 10 Immunisations -
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
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Nature Kinder A
All day Recurring event |