SELBY Primary School students have waddled their way to second place in a penguin-themed project.

The school entered the Little Penguin Burrow Grant, which was part of month-long celebrations to mark 80 years of the Phillip Island Penguin Parade.

The little penguins' nightly trek from the beach to their burrows attracts more than 500,000 visitors each year.

Celebrations culminated in a Guinness Book of World Records attempt at Federation Square last Wednesday, 23 March.

Selby Primary School was one of four schools invited to decorate a giant, four-metre square wooden penguin burrow in an 'environment' theme.

Olympic swimmer Brooke Hanson helped judge the best mural, and Selby finished in second place.

The students' design celebrated each of the Penguin Parade's eight decades and illustrated a year in the life of a little penguin.

“The kids were very excited,” principal Justin Butler said.

“They were very pleased with their work.”

The school will use its $500 prize to fix leaking drinking taps and upgrade other water bubblers to save the precious drop.

Selby Primary School was among 72 schools to enter the competition's Metropolitan Victoria section late last year.

The school's submission outlining what it currently does for the environment and what it would use the $5000 grand prize to do, saw the school selected alongside four other schools in its group for the next round.

Students then submitted a four-minute movie showing how they'd help the environment if they won the contest, how they already contributed to making their community greener and what they knew about penguins.

The video featured Puffing Billy and 75 students dressed up as penguins.

“Such is the success of the video, we have shown it at our assemblies and are selling copies to our families,” Mr Butler said.

The students' efforts saw them selected as the Metropolitan Victoria winner to compete alongside the other three regional winners last week. Just four points separated the school from the top prize, which went to San Remo Primary School.

“There were so many kids involved,” Mr Butler said.

“It's been really exciting for them.”

Visit www.penguins.org.au for more information.