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- Penguin District School Calendar
- Assistant Principal's Report
- Clever Penguins
- 2024 School Satisfaction Survey
- The BIG Science Fair
- Term 3 Food and Fibres - What's Been Happening?
- Japanese Excursion
- Secondary Responsibility Certificates
- Secondary Big Science Fair
- Big Science Awards
- Year 9 Metalwork
- Year 10 Students - Degree C
- Year 11-12
- YEAR 11/12 CERTIFICATE II SPORT & RECREATION
- Production Fundraiser
- Production Orders
- LOST PROPERTY
- Last Day Canteen Term 3
- Last Day of Term 3
- Term 4 Begins
- Digital Skills For Families
- STEM Squared Open Day at TMEC/Caterpillar Burnie
- School Holiday Tennis Camp
- School Calendar
For all upcoming events please see the Penguin District School Calendar
On Thursday we celebrated R U OK day. R U OK? works to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life. The reality of life is that at one point in time or another you will have struggles. I often say to the young people I work with “we all have our stuff we are trying to work through”. The idea behind R U OK? is that we don’t have to work through this alone. It is true to say that a conversation can change a life. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener. This is something that we can all do.
Here are four steps that you can use to start a conversation that could change a life:
- Ask R U OK?
- Listen
- Encourage action
- Check in
It is important that we are there showing that we care and are willing to listen. It is also important that we encourage action. It is important to remember that this isn’t about us all trying to be professional counsellors, but people who listen and encourage those sharing to take some action. That action might be to seek further support or it might simply be enough to know that there is someone who is willing to listen.
On R U OK? day our student board sold some cupcakes, wrist bands and painted nails and put hair up in ribbons to raise awareness and funds for this worthy organisation. R U OK day is only one day – life keeps happening 24/7, 365 days a year. Let me encourage you to regularly check in with family and friends and ask R U OK? The following website can offer you further advise and tips on how to ask – R U OK?
How to ask "Are you OK?" | R U OK?
School production season is well under way and a group of our production students have been able to go along and support the Ulverstone Secondary College production of ‘Back to the 80s’ and the Parklands High School production of ‘You’re a good man – Charlie Brown’. Both schools did a fantastic job with their respective shows and the PDS students who went along represented our school well and supported the students on the stage to lift and perform to a high level. It is pleasing to see the appreciation and respect from our students towards the hard work of others. USC and PHS students will have the opportunity to return this appreciation when they come along and see our production of ‘Beauty and the Beast – a blooming good tale’ in November. While there is still a lot of hard work ahead of us, the responsibility from the students involved and commitment to put on the best show we can, is evident. If you haven’t got your tickets, book early to avoid disappointment. A special thanks to the parent community for your ongoing support with fundraising to assist us to put on the best show possible.
At the resent Secondary assembly, Central Coast Council Mayor Cheryl Fuller, came along and spoke with the students about the significance of the wattle. A much used and appreciated plant to our First Nations people for thousands of years. The green and gold of Australia which is our national floral emblem. Cheryl spoke to the students about the significance of this tree and about Nation Wattle Day. She also donated some wattles to the school to be planted in our nature play area.
Yours in partnership
Geoff Davis
Congratulations Lachie on winning gold at the Australian Indoor Nationals in Tanunda, SA for the 3rd year in a row.
The key Science focus for term 3 for all grade 5/6 students at our school involved conducting inquiry-based investigations. Students selected their scientific questions and recorded an abstract (background information), their aim, hypothesis, variables, required equipment, discussion and conclusion. Their investigations results were presented in a table and graph format.
A science fair was held for families at school for students to showcase their science boards and all their hard work and dedication in completing their investigations. From our school science fair, finalist entries were selected to present their work at the University of Tasmania campus in the BIG Science Fair. They competing against many schools from across the North-West Coast.
The feedback was that our entries were of a high-standard and that our students were knowledgeable in talking to the judges about their investigations. Last night invited students and their families attended the BIG Science Fair Awards Night. One of our grade 5 entries took out first prize, congratulation Eva and Kirra! Our school also experienced great success on the Secondary Campus.
All students involved should be congratulated on all their hard work and effort involved in this major task.
Year 7:
7B have commenced Food and Fibres, starting with Fibres Technology. Students were required to design and produce a piece of bunting that reflected something about them, e.g, family, hobbies, culture or home. Below are some examples of the students’ finished products.
Year 8:
Year 8s have been doing Foods this term and have continued to build upon their practical skills and have recently commenced their Common Assessment Task: Design a Loaded Potato. Below are some examples of the loaded potatoes so far.
Year 9/10 Foods
Year 9/10 Foods (1/2 year course) have been learning about the types of foods eaten in Australian culture and internationally. Each week they have been preparing a dish from a different country. Students are about to start designing their own international dish to prepare next week. They will be required to feature some of the flavours/techniques that they have learned.
Year 9/10 Hospitality/Tourism
The class have had three points of focus this term: meal preparation and hot drinks for staff as an enterprise and catering for food allergies and intolerances. They are about to complete a design brief assessment task where they must prepare a dish that avoids a food allergy/intolerance of their choice.
9/10 Clothes and Costumes (term-based course)
Students have learnt about clothing construction and have almost finished a pair of pyjama bottoms for themselves. We have also started making the costumes for the dancers in the Beauty and the Beast school production. We are very busy indeed but it is pleasing to see the students’ ‘can-do’ approach.
Year 8 Japanese had the pleasure of attending a Lunch at restaurant Mr Wok 'N' Roll, accompanied by four せんせい！
Term 3's unit focused on food and whether you like or dislike said dish. On this educational trip the many smiles indicated that the students had liked their meal.
Challenged by chopsticks and some wasabi, we were all gifted a
Fortune cookie , ありがとう Murphy せんせい. ありがとう Burns せんさい for teaching us table manners from your experience of living in Japan. ありがとう Chris for driving the bus, simultaneously exuding your fortune. Everyone involved had a Wok'n' Roll time and looking forward to more learning more with these wonderful people ありがとう！
This week students started writing their recount in Japanese. Lawson has started to publish on genko yoshi!
- Roxy and Miss Lutwyche
This group of students were recognised in assembly for their demonstration of the Responsibility value.
Students from Years 7 – 10 were recognised in today’s assembly for their involvement on the recent Big Science Fair in Burnie.
Penguin District school students along with Mr. Owen and Mr. King attended the Big Science Awards at UTAS in Burnie on Thursday 12/9. Students were selected from around 200 groups of students across the north west coast to receive an award for their hard work completing their science investigations during Science over the last term. We have a record 6 groups attend the evening awaiting their prizes. The following groups of students received awards for their work
- Kirra and Eva – Melting Mayhem – 1st Prize Year 5
- Conor, Simon and Tannah – Pully Plasticky Thingy – 1st Prize 5-8 Engineering Award and 1st Prize Fonterra ‘Out of the Box’ Prize
- Paige - Plume landings – Year 9-12 Honourable Mention
- Arahni and Elsie – FAIKE – 3rd Prize Year 5-8
- Daniel, Kobe and Nitro – Boom Box – 2nd Prize Year 5-8 Engineering Award
The engineering prize award winners have been invited to attend the next Rotary Meeting in Burnie to present their inquiry project which they are really excited about after conversations with one of their members last night. They’ll get the opportunity to share the wonderful things in Science that are occurring at Penguin District school and promote our upcoming Science awards in 2025.
Some students have completed their latest project – a Bulldozer
Ashley and Jed’s work is shown.
Last Thursday 8 Year 10 students from Penguin District School spent the day at Degree C in Ulverstone.
The purpose of the day was to see the different trades and career opportunities that their company has available for school leavers – and how people can move up through the business from the apprentice level.
At present, they have 9 apprenticeship opportunities advertised at Degree C.
It was interesting to hear the recommendations the company gave us –
- Get good English and Maths marks
- Have regular school attendance
- Make sure your report says you’re well behaved
- Do work placements
- Be involved in teams and volunteer organisations
We were grateful of the invitation that Degree C gave us to visit them and hear what qualities they are looking for with their apprentices.
Congratulations to Harriet and Tayla who were our Year 11/12 Responsibility certificate awardees this week.
At the time of writing this article, the students in the Certificate II Sport & Recreation certificate course have approximately 6 weeks (12 sessions) left to gain their certificate. There is still a lot of work to get done!
Working with the Penguin community and beyond has always been a major focus for this program. Giving all parties involved various opportunities to learn and grow have been key aspects. Currently, our students have engaged in coaching the Penguin Primary students for the past 15 weeks to assist in developing their Netball skills and game play. Next week will be our last session as the Netball roster draws to a close.
Tuesday mornings take us to Riana Primary School for their Years 4-6 students to engage in a sporting program run by our Year 11’s. While our aim is to provide a fun and respectful environment, skill development, game sense, and ‘sportspersonship’ are key factors of our programming. Next week will be our final week of this program with Riana Primary.
Earlier in the term, our students assisted at the Year 5/6 Sports Day officiating the Netball and AFL immersion programs. These days are important for the Year 5/6’s to possibly engage in a new sport for them, learn the skills and various rules involved. Our Cert II students had a terrific day working with the Primary students and enhancing their own officiating skills.
Recently, Week 7 saw our students out on Work Placement. We had students at AFL Tasmania and assisting in the Physical Education programming at various primary schools around Burnie. This was a beneficial experience for the students as they continue to sort their own pathway forward and learn about the industry that they were in.
The coming weeks will be super important for our students as the countdown to the end of the year is on! They must juggle not only this program to gain their Certificate II, but also the demand of exams at Hellyer College, starting Week 5, Term 4.
Finally, this course will yet again be run out of Penguin District School in 2025, taken by Jordan Taylor when he returns. In the meantime, if any Year 10’s are contemplating this course next year, please come and have a chat to find out more.
Ian Forbes - Certificate II Sport & Recreation Teacher
On Sunday, Penguin Riana Auskick held their Fun Day to celebrate their year. The school held a BBQ to raise money for the school production and it was wonderful to see the community put up their hand to volunteer. A big thanks goes to Annabella, Taleah and Asha, the student who cooked all morning in all kids of weather. Thanks to Marcia, Julie, Bec, Shelia, Sally, Jessie and Kat for their work in organising the event.
We raised approximately $400.
We are excited about presenting our production ‘Beauty and the Beast – A Bloomin’ Good Tale’ at the Ulverstone theatre in Term 4 2024.
Our next order for production t-shirts and hoodies for staff and students will be placed when we have recieved at least 30 orders. The shirts will be black and hoodies will be black or blue with the production logo on the front and the option of first name, surname or character name on the back. The cost of the t-shirt is $27. The cost of the hoodies is $60 or $65 with name.
T-shirts and hoodies can be worn to rehearsals, casual clothes days and outside of school.
Band members, backstage crew and ushers are encouraged, where possible, to wear the production t-shirt as part of their outfit for shows (plain black clothing is required if this t-shirt is not purchased).
Orders can be made via the Qkr.
