Penguin District School eNewsletter

For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar

Term 1 really does feel like it is flying by in the blink of an eye. With seven weeks down and Easter break coming up at the end of next week, it really does feel like the term will be finished before we know it. There is never a morning when I get up that I don’t feel grateful for the opportunity to work with the students, staff and families of Penguin District School. One of my favourite times of day is when our students arrive and greet their teachers and friends between 8.20am and 8.50am. The energy, enthusiasm, and excitement we see on students’ faces upon arrival at school is highly infectious. To support our students in successfully transitioning from home life to school each day it is vital that we all demonstrate respectful behaviours in our interactions with students, staff and fellow family members. This time before school is prioritised by our teaching staff to develop relationships with students and to support them in being “Ready to Learn.” If there are things you wish to discuss with teachers, please reach out by SeeSaw, email or by calling our Admin staff to book an alternate meeting time outside of teaching hours. The link to our Respectful School Volunteer and Visitor Behaviour Policy and Process can be found on the School Website.

Penguin District School (education.tas.edu.au)

A reminder that all volunteers must have a valid Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP) and completed the previously advertised DECYP’s Mandatory Safeguarding training.

Developing partnerships between home and school is something we value highly at PDS. The support our parent community has provided at recent events at events such as NWPSSA Athletics Carnivals, Primary and Secondary Assemblies, Surf Carnival and this weeks Family BBQ has been greatly appreciated. A big shout-out to Mrs Laura Gee, the amazing volunteers from Penguin Lions Club and the band of helpers that made our Family BBQ such a successful event on Tuesday. The research is really clear in showing that children thrive in strong, connected communities, so thank you for your ongoing support. If you’d like to be a part of our Parent Engagement group, please let our office staff know (see flyer below).

As a proud owner of a beautiful Border Collie, Coco, I am constantly amazed by how these creatures demonstrate unconditional love towards those around them. With this love comes the responsibility of ensuring her safety and those around her. We have a large percentage of families who are dog owners, however, please remember that as much as we love them, dogs must not be brought onsite without pre-authorisation from Mr Perry (Principal). The exceptions to this being for guide dogs, hearing dogs, or other assistance animals.

Under section 28(1) of the Dog Control Act 2000 (Tas), a person must not take a dog into –

Any grounds of a school, school, kindergarten, creche or other place for the reception of children without the permission of a person in charge of the place; or
The grounds of a public swimming pool; or
Any playing area of a sportsground on which sport is being played; or
Any area within 10 metres of a children’s playground

I had the pleasure of going to see the “American Idiot” Musical a couple of weeks ago in Burnie and it was fantastic to see Ms Murphy, Mr Owen, Miss Turner, Mr Keeley (Previous staff member) and Mr Turner (Previous staff member) playing key roles in the production. It certainly took me back in time to when Green Day was on high rotation on my CD player. It was a great reminder of the importance of ‘The Arts’ being a vehicle for spreading happiness throughout our community. Congratulations to everyone involved. I can’t wait to see what our PDS Production has in store later in the year.

Finally, if you are a lover of sport then there is no better time to be a Tasmanian. Our school was a sea of green today as students demonstrated their support of the Tassie Jack Jumpers, but also the Tassie Tigers. We wish these teams all the best over the weekend. Who knows, in the very near future we may be supporting the Jack jumpers, the Tigers and the Devils.

Yours in partnership

Adrian Beard

Assistant Principal

Year 7 students have been learning the hiragana script. Many seeking extra work to do outside of the class. They are getting PBs with their weekly speed sheet - Elsie just achieved 32 seconds!

The Year 8 students have been learning about family in Japanese. They can say how many people and who is in their family. They are continuing to build their understanding of the hiragana script. We have a team competition happening and currently Team Nezumi are in the lead with The Japanese Explorers just ten points behind. The winning team in Week 10 will receive the grand prize.

Roxy is currently the only student in Year 9 studying Japanese and has been running the attendance routines with 7A and 7C each week. She is building her katakana knowledge and learning about directions and location of things through the 'Our Town' unit.

- Lutwyche Sensei

Hayley: "Learning Japanese with Miss Lutwyche"

Violet: "I've really enjoyed building my friendship circle". Pictured after finishing her science test.

Michael: "Having double PE and making new friends". Pictured with new friend, Rory

Jace: "Year 7 Camp". Pictured with his courage certificate obtained on camp.

Simon and Alex: “We’re both enjoying having double lessons of our elective subjects, spending more time learning about we’re interested in”. Pictured here enjoying their time in Digital Tech.

Josie and Tempi: “we both really enjoyed the surf carnival, it was great to get out of the classroom and have full day hanging out with our friends and participating in the fun".

Pictured here doing their first cooking practical in Food and Fibre.

In Year 7 English we have learnt about the P.E.E.L structure and we are going to write a letter to the editor about something we are passionate about using the P.E.E.L structure and persuasive devices.

In year 8 English we’ve been focusing on narratives. Currently, we are working on an English assignment where we write a short story. We learnt all about, characters, setting, story arcs, and literary devices. From singing frogs to KJ’s adventures we have learnt a lot in year 8 and we’re bringing creativity along the way.

In year 9 English we have been focusing on narrative writing. We have studied the story arc, character development, ‘show don’t tell’, use of dialogue, literary devices such as foreshadowing, alliteration, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification and many more. We have created short stories using all of these techniques. We have also briefly looked at persuasive techniques and devices leading into the next unit around persuasion and persuasive writing and speeches. There are some character pictures and details attached that show some of our character development.

In year 10 English we have completed a visual literacy unit focusing on the interpretation and analysis of images using key features and meaning. Everyone analysed 4 different images using some prompts and questions to assist with the responses. We also created our own artwork through drawing and photos and wrote a 200–300-word overview and analysis of the meaning of the artwork.

We are now working on life stories where we will be choosing a person to interview and then writing their life story. We have focused on good open and closed questions, a focus angle for the story and also learnt about ethics and disclosures as part of this.

Use of P.E.E. L. in our writing.

The P.E.E.L. structure is used in paragraph writing in our school and across most schools Australia wide. It is used in year 11/12 and also at the university level. It is a great way of shaping paragraphs and can be used simply or in a more sophisticated manner.

Please see the attached pictures to see what P.E.E.L is and how to use it. For more sophistication the E’s can be repeated multiple times within the paragraph.

A reminder that raffle books are due back Wednesday 27th at the latest.

The Raffle will be drawn on Thursday 28th, last day for students before Easter.

Please fill out both sides of your raffle book for $10

The House Captains will also be running some easter activities during lunchtime on Thursday.

Prizes will be given for winners of both primary and secondary activities on this day.

A massive THANK YOU to Ironcliffe Road Store for their generous donation of 1st prize.

For more than a decade now, Australians from every corner of the country, in schools, businesses and community groups, have shown their support for Close the Gap by marking National Close the Gap Day on the third Thursday in March each year.

This National Close the Gap Day, we have an opportunity to send our governments a clear message that Australians value health equality as a fundamental right for all.

At lunchtime today, a number of students in both Secondary and Primary, were able to show their commitment to the cause by placing their hand print on a poster made by some indigenous students with our Aboriginal Education Worker Brodie.

PENGUIN DISTRICT SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
Our AGM will be held on Tuesday, 9 April 2024.

Nominations are now open to join our School Association in the following positions - 2 x 2 Year Parent Member,1 x 1 Year Community Member.

Nomination forms are available from the School Office and close at 3:00pm on Monday, 8 April 2024.

Please contact the School Office if you have any questions. We look forward to having new faces join us.