Mission - Within a small family-oriented setting, Penbank School aims to provide a warm, caring and secure, yet challenging environment, directed to the complete development of the child, in all areas of learning and social responsibility. Philosophy - We believe children learn from experience. We value a learning environment where children understand the world around them through inquiry approaches that promote intellectual and emotional growth through 'hands on' learning. We believe children develop through stages influenced by factors such as personality, maturation, family, social environment and the quality of experiences. We believe children learn and develop best when happy and emotionally secure amongst people who are fair, tolerant and trustworthy. Penbank School is concerned with the total development of the child. Our objective is to assist each child to develop as a competent, fulfilled person, secure, able and responsible in relationships with other people and the environment. The Learning Environment - An independent, non-denominational primary school, Penbank is a single stream school for 205 boys and girls from Early Learning to Year 6. Situated on a delightful rural property on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, the facilities are modern and spacious exuding an atmosphere of calm and respect. Through personalised learning and an integrated approach, students are provided with every opportunity to achieve and grow. Teachers spend considerable time with individual students and small groups, thus enhancing the quality of the learning environment. Teachers highly value the school as a learning community and appreciate the need to be active participants in the learning process. Maths and English is explicitly taught. The Spalding Approach has made a positive difference to the children's skills development and understanding in English. Specialist areas include Library, Art, Music, Physical Education and LOTE – Indonesian. Success for school teams has been achieved through the Tournament of Minds,..