Pemberton District High School

05/06/2026

Principal’s Update – Week 7 of Term 2

Week 7 was another busy and rewarding week at PDHS, with students across the school embracing opportunities to learn, challenge themselves and participate in a variety of exciting events.

In Kindergarten and Pre-Primary, Ms Thoo’s class explored the story “I Want to Be a Superhero”, inspiring students to create towering structures for their superheroes to stand upon. Pre-Primary students continued developing their independence through Mathematics and English activities while also challenging themselves to write complete sentences. A highlight of the week was cooking, where students made their own mini pizzas and selected their favourite toppings.

In Mrs Barnsby’s Year 1/2 class, students embraced the introduction of the new Goldy reward system. Students have already earned Goldies for challenging themselves during the World of Maths incursion and for demonstrating improved lining-up skills. It was also wonderful to see some students helping Mr Lister clean up after the recent storm by collecting branches and leaf litter in the Junior Primary playground.

Ms Dowson’s Year 3/4 class demonstrated excellent resilience while creating one-point perspective skyscraper artworks. In English, students planned persuasive writing pieces debating whether it is better to live in the country or the city. The class also thoroughly enjoyed participating in the World of Maths incursion.

In Mrs Schmidt’s Year 5/6 class, students enjoyed a particularly eventful week. They participated in the World of Maths incursion, attended the VEX Robotics workshop and many represented the school at the Interschool Cross Country Carnival. Students have also been busy preparing for their upcoming assembly and completing persuasive writing tasks exploring the question, “Should we have a three-day weekend?”

In Physical Education, Mr Harger’s Year 7–10 students continued their indoor soccer competition, with students demonstrating excellent teamwork and sportsmanship.

In Year 9/10 Outdoor Education, students made great use of the new Arboretum trails, developing their skills in riding berm corners, pumping and negotiating obstacles.

In Year 9/10 Science, students investigated chemical reactions, with a particular focus on using indicators to identify different substances.

Meanwhile, Year 8 Design and Technology students added the finishing touches to their crocodile boxes, transferring designs using carbon paper and carefully burning patterns into the timber through pyrography.

A major highlight of the week was the World of Maths Incursion, which provided students from Kindergarten to Year 9 with a wide range of hands-on mathematical challenges. Students worked through colourful and engaging activities that promoted problem-solving, logical thinking, measurement, probability, spatial reasoning and teamwork. The workshop encouraged students of all abilities to have a go, build confidence and experience mathematics in a practical and enjoyable way.

Congratulations also to our Year 3–6 Cross Country Team, who represented PDHS proudly at the Interschool Cross Country Carnival hosted by East Manjimup Primary School. With twelve schools competing, students demonstrated outstanding effort, perseverance and sportsmanship throughout the day. Special congratulations go to Zac, Jaie, Jameson and Conor, who all achieved Top 10 finishes in their events. Thank you to our parent helpers, as well as Ms Dowson and Mrs Schmidt, for supporting our students on the day.

Good luck to our Year 10s who sit their Semester One exams next week.

Finally, don’t forget to hand in your canteen orders for Friday, courtesy of our ever-amazing P&C.

Have a great weekend,

Lee

29/05/2026

PDHS is seeking to establish a pool of Education Assistants for future positions within our wonderful school community, including opportunities in Semester Two, 2026.

We are seeking to establish a pool of Education Assistants - Mainstream for permanent and fixed term, full-time and part-time vacancies which may arise during the 2026 school year and up to the end of Term 4, 2027. Appointments may be offered at any time for vacancies that commence during this perio...

29/05/2026

Principal’s Update – Weeks 5 and 6 of Term 2

The past two weeks have been full of engaging learning opportunities across PDHS, with students demonstrating creativity, perseverance and a willingness to challenge themselves in a wide variety of activities.

In K/PP, Ms Thoo’s class has been busy exploring both literacy and numeracy concepts through hands-on learning. Kindergarten students read “Dugong Magic” and learned about the importance of keeping our oceans clean and healthy for marine animals. Pre-Primary students challenged themselves to write as many numbers as they could within a two-minute time limit, building both confidence and fluency. Students also enjoyed some cooking fun, making cupcakes together and practising important life skills.

In Mrs Barnsby’s Year 1/2 class, students explored two-dimensional shapes in Mathematics through practical group activities, using their own bodies to create the outlines of shapes. In English, the Year 2 students continued developing their persuasive writing skills, producing convincing arguments in an effort to persuade Mrs Barnsby to allow them to use iPads to explore the world.

Ms Dowson’s Year 3/4 class continued building their mathematical understanding. Year 4 students learned about place value to the tenths place and were introduced to calculating perimeter and area, while Year 3 students revised key concepts and developed their skills in converting between kilograms and grams.

In Mrs Schmidt’s Year 5/6 class, students explored perspective drawing techniques in Art, learning about vanishing points and how artists create depth within their work. Students followed a template before incorporating their own creative ideas into original artworks. In Writing, the class focused on persuasive devices, learning to identify and use high-modality words, emotive language, rhetorical questions and opinions to strengthen their persuasive texts.

Across the primary school, Mr Brooks coordinated the Cross Country Run-Off event on Monday, where students from Years 1–6 demonstrated outstanding resilience, determination and sportsmanship. Students tackled distances ranging from 700 metres to 2 kilometres through the PDHS bush as they competed for selection in the school’s Interschool Cross Country team.

In Early Childhood HASS, Science and Design and Technology, Ms Fuller guided students through a variety of investigations and projects. The Year 1/2 students designed and constructed playground dioramas, explored concepts of heating and cooling in Science, and investigated how life has changed over time through historical photographs and interviews. Pre-Primary students investigated the materials that objects are made from, compared toys and transport from the past and present, and enjoyed a free-build design challenge that produced some wonderfully creative constructions.

In Science, HASS and Digital Technologies with Mrs Tysoe, Year 3/4 students investigated weathering by conducting experiments using sugar cubes to model natural processes. Year 5/6 students explored how the Earth’s orbit creates the seasons and learned about the importance of the separation of powers within Australia’s system of government. In Digital Technologies, students combined creativity and data analysis skills by using Canva to create charts representing the value of global brands.

In Science, Mr Cervoj’s Year 7 class completed chromatography experiments, exploring how solubility influences the separation of substances and the resulting patterns.

In Photography, Ms Ritchie’s Year 8/9 students experimented with ghostly double-exposure effects using Photopea. By blending portrait images with background scenes, students created impressive and imaginative artworks while further developing their digital editing and design skills.

Congratulations to our award recipients from today’s Primary assembly:
- Choose Respect Award winners, recognised for respecting themselves: Mae, Lucie, Charlie and Ryan
- Pen Licence recipients: Alex, Avarni and Jackson
- Times Table Medallion recipient: Alex

Finally, today saw us farewell Mrs Thompson, one of our valued Education Assistants. Mrs Thompson has been an integral member of our Early Childhood and Primary teams, bringing patience, care, enthusiasm and dedication to her work every day. She has made a significant contribution to the lives of many students and staff, and while she will be greatly missed, we wish her every success and happiness in her next adventure.

Students have several exciting learning experiences occurring next week including the World of Maths Incursion, the VEX Robotics Incursion and the Interschool Cross Country Competition.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Lee

29/05/2026

🎭 YEAR 9/10 DRAMA CAMP 2026 🎬

Our Year 9/10 Drama students are on their way home after an incredible three-day Drama Camp packed with creativity, collaboration and plenty of fun.

A major highlight of the camp was working with professional actor and film school teacher Megan Collier (Aspinall), who led specialised workshops in acting for film. Students gained valuable industry insight while developing their confidence and skills in screen performance through improvisation games, characterisation activities, script work, filming, playback and professional feedback sessions.

The camp also included film-themed team challenges, an Oscars-style awards ceremony, a screening of Sheep Detective at Event Cinemas Whitford, camp games and a visit to Whitford City. Throughout the experience, students demonstrated enthusiasm, creativity and a willingness to step outside their comfort zones.

A huge thank you to Mrs Brooks, Mr Harger, Mrs Sebire and Megan for providing such a memorable opportunity for our students. We look forward to seeing the skills and confidence they bring back to the classroom!

29/05/2026

Principal's Update – Week 5, Term 2

A highlight of Week 5 was the wonderful assembly hosted by Ms Dowson’s Year 3/4 class on Friday. Students confidently showcased their learning and entertained the audience with a fantastic “Evolution of Dance” performance. The colourful costumes representing different time periods added an extra layer of fun and creativity, and the students should be very proud of the enthusiasm, energy and confidence they displayed. Congratulations to Ms Dowson and the Year 3/4 students on delivering such an enjoyable and memorable assembly.

Congratulations also to our award recipients:
• Merit Award Winners: Dakoning, Hamish, Pippa, Angelo, Hayden, Lucie, Rosie and Kayla
• Aussie of the Month: Phoebe
• Deputy Principals Award: Zayne
• Bronze PBS Award: Stella, Owen, Hazel, Hattie, Patrick, Mia, Annie, Arlo, Dora, Jackson, Conor, James, Bodhi, Evie, Chloe and Noah
• Silver PBS Award: Albie, Ellie, Kaleb, Gus, Freya, Zac, Shayla, Matilda, Suve, Harper, Enzo, James, Joel, Finlay, Layne, Pippa, Esther, Alex, Addison and Minna

Well done to all students who were recognised for their efforts, achievements and positive contributions to our school community.

22/05/2026

To all of the amazing members of the PDHS P&C, thank you so much for all that you do to support our students, staff and the school community.

21/05/2026

15/05/2026

Principal’s Update – Weeks 3 and 4 of Term 2

The past two weeks at PDHS have been filled with creativity, teamwork and hands-on learning.

In K/PP, Ms Thoo’s class spent time celebrating Mother’s Day with a special afternoon where students and their mums painted pictures together and made bracelets. Kindergarten students also explored the story “How to Catch a Star”, creating their own colourful sky artworks and experimenting with salt to create interesting effects. Alongside this, students continued developing their cutting skills. In Pre-Primary, students have been working hard on their writing using dotted thirds, showing persistence and determination as they refine their handwriting skills.

In Mrs Barnsby’s Year 1/2 class, students have been building strong numeracy skills through practical activities involving grouping in twos, fives and tens. Their learning culminated in bundling groups of ten sticks into hundreds and then combining their materials to count beyond one thousand. The Year 2 students have also been learning to track positive behaviours within the classroom and were excited to earn an additional Mathletics session as a reward. Excitement has also been building for the upcoming Rewards Day Pirate Dance, with students enthusiastically practising their routines and embracing their pirate costumes.

Ms Dowson’s Year 3/4 class has been learning about the first contact between colonisers and the Eora people in History while continuing to develop their persuasive writing and comprehension skills in Literacy. Ms Dowson has been especially impressed by the improvement in students’ reading levels over the term. In Art, students began creating props and displays for their assembly which is sure to being a resounding success next week.

In Mrs Schmidt’s Year 5/6 class, students have been focusing on cooperation and communication through morning fitness challenges that required them to rely on one another and work together to solve problems. During Buddy sessions, the Year 6 students supported their Pre-Primary buddies by playing games such as Snap and helping them learn to skip.

Across the primary school, students enjoyed a visit from Keith Old from Hockey WA on Tuesday. Students participated in a range of engaging hockey activities that helped build skills, confidence and teamwork. Many thanks to Mr Brooks for arranging this fun event.

In Science with Mrs Tysoe, Year 5/6 students began their Earth and Space Science unit by constructing a scaled model of the solar system, quickly discovering just how large the distances between planets can be. Students also explored shadows and investigated the causes of day and night. The Year 3/4 students investigated erosion, observing demonstrations of water erosion before conducting their own experiments on wind erosion.

In Drama, Mrs Brooks’ Year 9/10 students designed costumes and makeup concepts before beginning filming for a short film inspired by “Into the Woods”. Students demonstrated impressive creativity and strong characterisation throughout the process.

In Visual Arts, Ms Ritchie’s photography students explored creative editing techniques through a “Colour Splash” project using Photopea. Students learned how to work with layers, convert images to black and white and selectively restore colour to create striking visual effects while developing their digital editing skills.

The Year 9/10 Independent Living class continued developing practical life skills by learning how to make pizzas alongside guest presenter Miss Baz last week. Students worked collaboratively and enjoyed the opportunity to prepare and share their own creations.

In Mathematics, the Year 9/10 General class explored scientific notation through a hands-on matching activity before ordering numbers from smallest to largest. Students quickly discovered that working with negative powers can be particularly challenging, especially when recognising that larger negative exponents represent smaller values – brain bending, to say the least!

A highlight of the fortnight was Walk Safely to School Day, where a large group of students from Pre-Primary to Year 10 walked through the streets of Pemberton alongside staff and family members before arriving at school to enjoy a cooked breakfast provided by the P&C. It was fantastic to see such strong community support and participation.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Lee