Sometimes we forget that we don’t always need to see the end result of a good deed or post it to social media, it’s not always about how it makes us feel to be doing something good but the importance of making someone else happy that matters.
I challenge you to do a good deed across next week; post a letter to your grandparents, make someone a cake, offer to walk with someone or play a game together, ask someone if they’d like to borrow something of yours. I assure you, it’ll make their day.
Mr Briggs was also delighted to meet Christine in the office who was a past student of his when he taught at Penguin many moons ago. You just never know when you’ll bump into an old teacher of yours (you can’t hide!)

The Year 3-6s enjoyed some excursions across last week visiting both the Questacon Science Exhibition in Burnie and the Production of Ratburger at the Paranaple Centre, Devonport. It was noted how well our students engaged and behaved while exploring the 19 STEM activities and watching the performance. We feel grateful to be able to offer these learning opportunities to students at PDS, showcasing talent across learning disciplines that both engage and motivate students across a range of ages. A shout out to the teachers and adults who took the time to plan, organise and implement experiences such as these.
Some Student Board members discussed their highlights:

Questacon
Will F – all the different activities
Matilda – Seeing a little penguin while walking along the boardwalk
Kirra – got to explore each station independently
Hudson – learning how to care for our environment and all the activities
Liffey – great weather conditions meant we could enjoy the day.

Ratburger
Rory – how respectful our students were entering and leaving the performance.
Marley – loved the dancing rat.
Heidi – the music was really good
Matilda – organised staff, very friendly

Staffing Update

Alison O’Donnell has made the challenging decision to resign. This decision was not made lightly, and Alison has expressed her gratitude for the time spent working with staff and students at PDS. While we will certainly miss Alison's contributions and presence, we respect her decision and wish Alison all the best in the next chapter.

Reminders

Walk safely to school day will be held on Friday 16 May. If you are interested in joining a fun group to walk to school with on this day, you can meet us at either Hiscuitt Park or Dyke’s reserve (opposite Berkshire Parade) at 8:00 am. This is a great event that promote a healthy lifestyle. We’ll enjoy some fruit back at school, served from the Breakfast Club window, kindly donated by The Penguin Pantry. We hope you can join us.

Cross country will take place next week on Tuesday. Students are encouraged to wear their house colours and cheer on their mates. Parents are able to come and watch and are welcome to park and spectate from the Dial Park car park. A full schedule can be found in the Newsletter or by clicking the event in the school calendar.

Seesaw

We are now well into being back in the world of Seesaw and it’s great to hear and see wonderful positive message, posts and interactions between families and classroom teachers. Thanks to the Seesaw analytics team, I can see that we have over 400 families connected to journals across Kinder to Year 7. If you are still having trouble with Seesaw connections, please contact office staff who will happily point you in the right direction towards someone who can help you connect.
This platform allows us to open the lines of communication between school and home which in turn, builds our partnership and helps us to work together.
With well over 550 student posts this year, I hope the; Parent - ‘what did you do at school today honey?’ Child - ‘I don’t know’ scenario is less likely to occur in your home.

Shout Outs

Ash P recently competed in the 2025 Australian Little Athletics Championships in Adelaide after receiving a $500 Individual Development Grant from Central Coast Council. He put in an incredible performance-finishing 8th fastest in the U13 400m final! Earlier this year, Ash also claimed 1st place in the 400m and 3rd in the 800m at the Tasmanian Little Athletics State Championships. Well done, Ash.

Here’s a shout out to the families that have begun changing their Reading at Home books in the Building 4 kitchen each morning. If you need some assistance with this, there will be an adult in this area to help. For the early years families, instructions for this can be found in your ‘Messages’ on Seesaw

Lexi P is once again chopping her locks and donating it for the Variety’s Hair with Heart charity. This shows courage, compassion empathy and we are proud to have students at PDS who are willing put other’s needs before their own. We can’t wait to see the new ‘do’ Lexi. If you’d like to help Lexi with a donation, follow this link: https://hairwithheart.variety.org.au/fundraisers/lexipascoe/hair-with-heart

Yours in Partnership,

Jessie Eberhardt
Advanced Skills Teacher (Tuesday-Thursday) - Assistant Principal (Friday)