St Joseph's Primary School, Penshurst

01/09/2026

🏀 Hoop Time Success! 🏀

Today our 3/4 Legends took part in Hoop Time Basketball at HILAC, playing three fantastic games and coming away with two wins! 🎉🙌

A huge well done to our six students, who gave 100% effort in every game. We are incredibly proud of the way you represented our school, showing terrific sportsmanship, teamwork and respect towards both your teammates and your opponents. ⭐️

A big thank you to all the families who came along to cheer and support them. 💙🏀

28/08/2026

Today our F-6 students headed across to The Dunkeld Consolidated School, to take part in The Dunkeld Writers Festival Schools Program.
A very big thank you to the Festival Coordinators, The Dunkled Community and District Bendigo Bank and The Dunkeld Consolidated School, for inviting us and arranging transportation, so that we could attend this years children's author sessions.
The students had a wonderful morning meeting Simone Kain and Caz Goodwin. 📚

25/08/2026

Today we celebrated Book Week with our friends from the Penshurst Kindergarten -CPSG. We also had a very special book reading from local children's author Tracey Duffield Kruger.
Thank you to all the families who attended this mornings parade and for all the work you put into your children's costumes each year!

20/08/2026

Smartphone Readiness Quiz

Deciding when a child is ready for their first smartphone can be a challenging parenting decision. Readiness is not just about age. It also depends on a child’s maturity, self-regulation, judgement and ability to manage the responsibilities of being connected online.

The Smartphone Rediness Quiz is designed for parents and adult carers to complete with their child, encouraging important conversations while exploring the key skills that support safe and responsible smartphone use.

Rather than providing a simple yes or no answer, the results highlight areas of strength and where further development may be helpful. Families are also guided through suggested next steps, including a Family Smartphone Agreement and practical guidance on setting up parental controls before introducing a smartphone.

We encourage you to complete the quiz together and use the results as a starting point for ongoing conversations about safe, responsible and healthy smartphone use.

Receiving a first smartphone is a significant milestone in a child's life. While there is no universally "right" age, deciding when the time is right involves much more than simply considering their age or whether their friends already have one. A smartphone brings greater independence, along with i...

19/08/2026

Today we celebrated Indonesian Independence Day for 2026.
The students and our beautiful Indonesian teacher Mrs Patience cooked up a magnificent feast for us all to enjoy. Its days like these, that really make little schools extra special. ❤️

19/08/2026

Today we were very lucky to have an impromptu visit from Indigenous author Gregg Dreise and his beautiful family.
Gregg and his family are currently travelling around parts of Australia.
While on their journey, they have been stopping into schools and sharing their love of writing and story telling, and gifting schools and libraries with signed copies of his own book, and books from The Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
We invited Gregg and his family into our school, and when Gregg asked if he could talk to the students and read his book 'Where's my baby?', of course we said yes!
This was more than a book reading, it was a performance! Gregg taught the children Indigenous dance, and while he played his didgeridoo the kids moved and danced like the native Australian animals featured in his story.
We are so glad you and your family decided to take a big turn off the Great Ocean Road and head up to Gariwerd/The Grampians, because it brought you to us!

17/08/2026

Congratulations to past student Mia, for coming Runners up Best and Fairest in Under 13's netball, in her first season with the Penshurst Football Netball Club! 👏
Photo credit Tracey Duffield Kruger 📸

14/08/2026

We are celebrating our nearest neighbour's 81st Independence Day on Wednesday 19th with class activities of traditional games and a shared lunch that the students will have helped prepare and cook. This is a significant celebration for Indonesia and it is exciting that once again we are able to recognise its importance, more so since meeting Nabila, Fikri and Melania, the Indonesian Uni Students who so generously shared their time and culture with us recently.
Thank you,
Maria

14/08/2026

Thursday we had a wonderful morning with our friends from Penshurst Kindergarten -CPSG.
These are the beautiful ring tail possums we made! 😍