Pemberton District High School

11/09/2026

Principal’s Update – Week 8 of Term 3

Week 8 was a colourful and busy week at PDHS, with our Book Week celebrations providing plenty of opportunities for students across the school to celebrate books, reading and storytelling.

Our Book Week theme, ‘Symphony of Stories’, was celebrated through activities across the entire week. Students participated in class photo competitions, year-level scavenger hunts and book reviews, while our secondary students tested their literary knowledge in a Book Cover Quiz. Tuesday’s Book Week Parade was a particular highlight, with an impressive collection of characters appearing around the school as students and staff embraced the opportunity to dress as favourites from the world of books. The week concluded with students, staff and assembly audience-members voting for their favourite class photo. A very big thank you to Ms Franken for coordinating our Book Week celebrations and to our staff for supporting the range of activities across the week. It was great to see students of all ages getting involved and sharing their enjoyment of books and reading.

In Ms Thoo’s K/PP class, Kindergarten students developed their early literacy skills by identifying the initial sounds in words. Pre-Primary students had an especially busy week, participating enthusiastically in the Book Week dress-up parade on Tuesday, before presenting their assembly item this morning. Their performance showcased the effort they had put into preparing and included some impressive dance skills.

Mrs Barnsby’s Year 1/2 students embraced all aspects of Book Week, participating enthusiastically in the parade, class photo competition, scavenger hunt and book-sharing session. Students enjoyed explaining why they had selected particular books to share, including some treasured books they had received as babies. They also took their responsibility as Book Week judges very seriously, using pop sticks to cast their votes for their favourite class photo.

In Ms Dowson’s Year 3/4 class, students began reading ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’, using the title and front cover to make predictions before reading the first chapter and completing comprehension activities. In Indonesian, students revised numbers to ten and extended their vocabulary to twenty. The class also enthusiastically participated in the Book Week Parade and their Year 3/4 scavenger hunt.

Mrs Schmidt’s Year 5/6 students continued bringing together their Art Installation, combining their individual creations into a larger collaborative piece titled ‘Big John’s Hometown’, inspired by Pemberton. Students have documented the creative process on video throughout the term, with a short film to accompany the installation when it is revealed to other classes.

On Wednesday, a team of six students from Year 5/6 represented PDHS at the VEX Robotics interschool competition at EMPS. After preparing and trialling their robots over recent weeks, the team placed fifth out of nine schools. Mrs Schmidt was pleased with both their performance and conduct throughout the competition. Thank you to Mrs King, Mrs Sebire and Mrs Della Gola for assisting with transport, and to Mr Clarke for coordinating the VEX Robotics program and final event for 2026.

In Mrs Tysoe’s Kitchen Garden program, Year 5/6 students continued developing their “Operation Pollination” project by constructing features designed to attract and support pollinators, including bee and bug hotels, water stations and composting stations.

In Science, Year 5/6s investigated how temperature affects the volume of a gas, using bottles and balloons submerged in water at different temperatures and observing the balloons inflate and deflate. Year 3/4 Science students also explored the effects of temperature, investigating how different liquids changed in appearance, movement and consistency. Their observations produced some interesting results, including discovering that hand sanitiser did not become solid when frozen and that honey became more solid when cooled.

Congratulations to the following students who received awards at this morning’s school assembly, hosted by Ms Thoo’s PP class:
• Merit Awards: Mae, Calder, Shayla, Hazel, Annie, Tilly, Zayne, Lili and Indiana
• Aussie of the Month: James
• Deputy Principals Award: Hannah
• Bronze PBS Awards: Dixie, Anton, Isabelle, Eliza, Mason and Zac
• Silver PBS Awards: Mace, Cora, Hazel, Patrick and Bodhi
• Gold PBS Awards: Dakoning, Mason, Hamish, Cora, Lachlan, Lilly, James, Grace, Billie, Lucie, Quinn, Matilda, Shayla, John, Joel, Finlay and Layne
• Platinum PBS Awards: Ellie, Zeleonka, Harper and Esther

Good luck to those Year 9/10 students competing in tomorrow’s Colts GF for Southerners – we are all cheering you on!

Have a wonderful weekend,
Lee

10/09/2026

09/09/2026

🌟 Congratulations Mrs Brooks! 🌟

We are incredibly proud to share that our amazing English and Drama teacher, Mrs Mel Brooks, has been named a Semi-Finalist in the Curtin University School of Education Teaching Excellence Award, part of the 2026 7NEWS Western Australian Community Achievement Awards!

This recognition celebrates Mel’s passion, creativity and commitment to providing outstanding Drama and performing arts opportunities for our students from Kindergarten to Year 10.

Mel’s nomination will now progress to the final stage of judging, where the Top 5 Finalists will be selected.

This is a wonderful and well-deserved recognition. Congratulations and good luck for the next stage, Mel!

08/09/2026

📚✨ Book Week Parade! ✨📚

PDHS was filled with colourful characters today for our Book Week Parade! It was wonderful to see so many students (and staff!) getting into the spirit of the day and celebrating a shared love of books and reading.

Enjoy some of the fantastic costumes from today! 📖🧙‍♂️🦸‍♀️🐛

08/09/2026

🎭 Year 8 YOHFest 🎭

Congratulations to our Year 8 Drama students, who took to the stage at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre last night to compete in the heats of YOHFest – and were named Runners Up!

Students performed their original ensemble piece, The Mirrors of the Mind, developed in response to this year’s YOHFest theme, ‘Health is Wealth’.

It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to perform their own work on a professional stage and share the results of their creativity, collaboration and preparation.

A big thank you to Mrs Brooks for guiding and preparing the students for their performance, and to Mr Hughes, Mrs Linz and Mrs Martin for their assistance and support on the night.

Well done to all of our performers on a wonderful result!

07/09/2026

Principal’s Update – Week 7 of Term 3

The highlight of Week 7 at PDHS was Friday’s Year 3–6 Winter Carnival. PDHS was represented by four teams, competing in netball, soccer and hockey against teams from St Joseph’s Primary School, Walpole Primary School, Northcliffe District High School and Nannup District High School.

An important feature of the carnival was the leadership provided by our Year 9/10 students from Mr Harger’s Specialised Sport elective. Throughout the term, these students worked with our primary teams to develop their skills and prepare them for the carnival. On Friday, they took responsibility for coaching their teams, providing instruction and feedback, encouraging younger students and adapting their approach throughout the competition. The experience provided an authentic opportunity for our secondary students to apply the coaching and leadership skills developed through their elective.

Across the day, our Year 3–6 students tackled each game with determination, positivity and resilience, supporting their teammates and responding well to the challenges of competition. Their efforts resulted in PDHS being named Champions of the Beginner Division, with our Year 3/4 team, while our Year 5/6 teams finished as Champions and Runner-Up Champions of the Senior Division.

Thank you to Ms Dowson, Mrs Tysoe, Mrs Schmidt and Mr Brooks, who supervised and supported our teams throughout the day, and to Mr Harger for his work with our Year 9/10 coaches. Thank you also to St Joseph’s Primary School for coordinating the Winter Carnival and providing students from across our local schools with the opportunity to come together for a day of sport and friendly competition.

Congratulations to all of our Year 3–6 competitors and Year 9/10 coaches on their efforts and conduct throughout the day.

Lee

03/09/2026

🔴⚪🔵 Go Southerners! 🔵⚪🔴

PDHS was awash with red, white and blue today as students and staff showed their support for our Year 6/7 students who will take to the field in their footy Grand Final this Saturday!

We are incredibly proud of our students and wish them and their Southerners teammates the very best of luck for Saturday. Play hard, enjoy the occasion and know that all of PDHS is cheering you on!