Penguin District School eNewsletter

For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar

Welcome back to Term 2, I hope you and your families have enjoyed the break! There were a few dreary eyes getting around school this week with the readjustment to early starts and school routines (me included!) but for the most part was a really settled start to the term.

Prior to returning to school I had the opportunity to observe the annual Penguin ANZAC Day service. I was as delighted as ever seeing our largest cohort of students confidently donning their Penguin uniforms to represent our school by marching and laying wreaths on behalf of the school. It was really pleasing to see other students and staff in attendance representing other local organisations such as the football and surf clubs and the volunteer fire brigade. Thankyou to Mr Reeves and Mrs Popowski for his support and organisation of our students to participate. Our teachers across the school provided opportunities for our children to reflect and recognise the importance of the significance of the ANZACs by reading a variety of rich texts and undertaking written and artistic pieces leading up to the day.

My Friday morning got off to a terrific start when I was met at the door by 2 enormously proud smiles from Leo and Oriana. These 2 Year 2 children had come to share their improved writing skills, demonstrating growth, which had been recognised by their teacher with a Gold Card.

Growth is our focus Value for the Term. Our students have identified growth as:

Taking positive risks to grow as a person
Inviting others to work with us
Listening to feedback
Taking a moment to celebrate our own success
Setting goals for the future
Persisting when things get hard
Trying again
Asking for help

The upcoming Secondary Communicating with Families Meetings will take place in Week 3. These are a great opportunity to support your child to reflect on their learning across the first part of the year, celebrate successes and set goals for future improvement. Please see below for the dates and the booking link. Our Primary meetings will take place in week 7.

Monday, May 13 -3:00 - 4:30pm

Tuesday, May 14 - 3:00 - 4:30pm

Wednesday, May 15 - 3:00 - 7:00pm

https://penguinds.schoolzineplus.com/view-session/34

Make Each Day Count

By showing up to school every day, your child will have the best opportunity at a bright future. It gives them every chance to be around friends, learn new things, and find interests.

We have lots in store for this term, including Primary and Secondary Cross Country, Science Investigations and Day For Dolly to name a few.

Good attendance habits can sometimes be hard to stick. Keep trying to create a solid routine, to set your child up for success for the rest of the year.

If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.

Please always talk to us if you’re having trouble getting your child to school. We’re here to help.

Share your thoughts on school attendance

Help us better understand any barriers that may be in the way, and what supports are needed to help with getting to school.

The Department for Education, Children and Young People is doing statewide consultation on school attendance. 3P Advisory is independently running the consultation. Your answers are confidential, and you won’t be identified.

We want to hear from you. You can take part in an online survey, share or vote for suggestions, or join an online drop-in session via the 3P website. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

You can also share your thoughts about what you like or don’t like about our Every school day matters campaign.

As a parent or carer, please have your say. Please encourage your child/ren, too.

Next week has historically seen our school participate in the National Walk to School Day. Due to having a clash with the Day for Dolly, which will see our students out of uniform, to ensure everyone is recognisable and safe when escorted to school we will postpone our Walk to School Day until early Term 4. Hopefully by then the mornings will be a little less frosty as well.

Yours in partnership

Matthew Perry

Benefits of Sensory play

Children absolutely delight in exploring their world through their senses. Sensory play - play that stimulates any of a child’s senses - builds cognitive skills and influences how your child learns about their world. This includes touch, smell, sight, sound and taste. But it also covers movement, balance, and spatial awareness. When a child is born, their senses aren’t fully developed. They only mature over time as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers explore the sensory world around them. Each new experience they have with a different sense builds nerve connections that grow the architecture of their brain.

Typres of sensory play you can do at home:

Water play with schoops and spoons
Sandpit with buckets and spades
Yoghurt (as seen in the pictures) with sponges
Finger painting
Cocoa and water with diggers (mud making)
Autum leaf collections

Come along to Playgroup and experience some wonderful sensory experiences, where you don’t have to clean up! Bonus.

At Penguin District School, staff understand that consistent and predictable routines are critical for students to be Ready To Learn at school.

Secondary classes have, this term, implemented the Berry Street Education Model recommendation of facilitating Morning Circles during Home Group in the morning.

By taking the time to be together, side-by-side, we are supporting young people to build relationships with their peers and share positive emotions in healthy, structured ways. The Morning Circle allows everyone to be equally visible and connected.

This week each Home Group has explored the power and importance of routines, especially in the morning before school. Some groups discussed the daily routine of Albert Einstein, others shared their morning routines and others explored actions and processes that they could include in their daily routines to support their mental wellbeing.

Student reflections of their Morning Circle time:

“Everyone smiles and enjoys talking to each other and it makes the morning feel good.”

“It is nice to see everyone talking to different people.”

“I enjoy the balance of fun and reflecting. It starts the day off in a positive way.”

“I like giving people fist pumps in the morning because I get to move and see everyone.”

This afternoon, Year 7 students were given a fun excavating task to lead into our new unit Deep Time History.

Chaplaincy involvement during term one was extensive, involving various events and classes. Some noteworthy moments included the continued collaboration and progress of Formal Connections—a project facilitating access to celebratory attire for North West students—at no cost.

The Breakfast Club experienced a notable surge in community support every Tuesday morning, with contributions from community members assisting, the Uniting Church and Lions Club also donated considerable amounts towards the Chaplaincy Program at PDS.

The term also featured engagement in events such as the North West Primary Carnival, PCYC Program, Welcomers BBQ, and regular extracurricular programs like Force Youth and Spark, providing PDS students with opportunities for community connection and support on a weekly basis. Furthermore, Chaplaincy was involved in the annual Youth Camp over March long weekend down in Hobart with a number of PDS students attending and being able to further connect and participate in a mirage of challenges and activities for the youth tribal wars.

A big thank you to the Penguin Community OP Shop for donating $500.00 to the Formal Connections NW Project.

School Association Committee Meeting will be held on Monday May 6, 5:30pm in Meeting Room 1.

School Beanies available for Sale from the front office $25.00

Payments can be cash Eftpos or via the Qkr app

Sync Calendar

23 Jan	Book Collection and Validation Form Day 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

6 Feb	First Day Term 1 2025 All day