It’s been a wonderful start to Term 3, and I am proud to share some exciting updates from around our school.

Science Week

This week, we are preparing for Science Week, and the energy across Penguin DS is electric! Students and staff are buzzing with ideas as they prepare for our Science Fair. It is fantastic to see so much creativity and curiosity in action. We can’t wait to share the amazing work with you.

Values

One of our school values is courage, and we’ve seen it in action this week. Courage means having a go, even when something feels tricky or new.

NAPLAN

We’re also proud to share some great news from our recent NAPLAN results. Penguin students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 performed strongly, with most results above the Tasmanian average. This reflects the hard work of our students, the dedication of our staff, and the support of our families. Well done, everyone!

 Shout Outs

• Congratulations to the Year 7/8 football team on wining the premiership, to Jack for his Best on Ground Performance and Logan for his coaching.
• To our Educational Facility Attendants who work tirelessly to ensure clean and safe learning environments. Thank you we know the wet weather makes your job more challenging.

Safe at school survey

This week, students in Year 3-12 have been completing our annual ‘Safe at School Survey’. This information is helpful for us to understand how students are feeling at school and whether there are any actions we can take as adults to make our school a safer place to be.

At first glance, there is some positive data to celebrate. This includes an average rating of 4/5 for how safe students feel at school (1 being ‘not very safe’ and 5 being ‘very safe’) and over 90% of students indicating that there is an adult in our school that they can ask for help if they need to.

There is always room for improvement and our students have shared information about toilet facilities, the amount of duty staff, and other students that allow us to review and action strategies to demonstrate how valued the student voice is.

Staffing Update

Congratulations and welcome to Vicki White from Ulverstone Primary School. Vicki is the successful applicant for our Instructional Specialist. We are looking forward to Vicki joining our leadership team and the experience and knowledge that she will bring.

A big thank you to Nicky Green who has been acting in the Instructional Specialist position. We have valued her knowledge, support, and leadership. Nicky will be picking up 0.2 on 1/2E Friday’s and the K-6 AST backfill.

Mr Geoff Davis is currently on leave and has made the decision to relinquish his Assistant Principal 7-12 position. Mr Davis has made a huge impact in our school community through his leadership, supportive approach and empathy. We thank Mr Davis for his leadership and commitment to the PDS community over a number of years. We are fortunate Mr Davis will return to PDS in 2026 as a member of our teaching team.  

Mrs Christine Lusted is taking long service leave for the remainder of the term. In her absence we welcome Miss Tahanee Bennell who will be teaching Primary Drama. Mrs Olivia Bracken will be stepping in to take LiL Music on Mondays.

Yours in partnership

Angela McAuliffe