The Semester 2 reporting process is currently being finalised, with 2024 Semester 2 Student Progress Reports intended to be distributed to parents and carers via their child on Monday, 16 December. Please ensure you read through this report carefully and discuss (as appropriate) what it says with your child. In particular, focus on their achievements as well as areas for improvement and future learning sections.

Next Wednesday, we are looking forward to providing an outstanding presentation assembly at Cherrybrook Technology HS. Thank you to our event coordinators, Ms Barclay and Mrs Martinuzzo. Our student captains, Airlie T and Evan D, will be our hosts. Congratulations to all award recipients. Regardless of whether a student receives recognition at the assembly or not, I am proud of all students at Samuel Gilbert PS. 

Tomorrow night (6 December) is our school community’s carols night. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the end of the year and festive season. Relax, socialise and enjoy some entertainment from our choirs and musicians. We thank the P&C for organising this community event.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, several of our talented students had the honour to present NSW Public Education in the 41st Anniversary of School Spectacular, at Qudos Arena, Homebush. Joined by nearly 5500 other students from selected schools in our state, our students were an obvious standouts with their voice and positioning during the event. Ted G (5E) added value to the event as a featured dancer. Thank you to each student and their family for the huge commitment. Thank you to Mrs Spears for her hours of preparation with our students.

Last Friday,19 of our talented students represented the school at Optus HQ, Macquarie Park. They participated in the 2024 NSW Space Discovery Program. The program is delivered in partnership with the Andy Thomas Space Foundation and supported by Government. Our clever students won a peer award and leading industry experts in the science field praised our students' designs and ingenuity and commented that Australian astronaut, Katherine Bennell Peg would love our students' designs of the sleeping pod and perhaps would be interested in visiting our school in the future. 

The school will now gain access to a space-themed challenge course in the Makers Empire 3D App and 3D printer bundle to keep. We thank all Stage 3 teachers for the time and dedication that put into our school’s successful engagement with the program.

Next week we will honour sixteen gold badge recipients at a special afternoon with their family. It is an outstanding achievement and special occasion to recognise students attaining the pinnacle of our student merit award. 

We will sadly farewell 124 Year 6 students on 18 December. We wish them the very best with future endeavours and trust they have fond memories of their time at Samuel Gilbert PS. We are very proud of the student leadership displayed by all Year 6 students. They will be missed. Special mention to our exceptional student leaders. We also acknowledge all students able to fulfil other important student leadership roles and experiences especially, senior library monitors, our performing arts, sport, peer tutors and other student leaders. Over the next fortnight, Year 6 will experience a few tributes leading up to their completion of primary school with a farewell dinner and a graduation assembly. 

The end of 2024 marks a very important milestone for our wonderful Kindergarten students. It is the completion of their first year at ‘big school’. They experienced so many wonderful learning opportunities and at differing rates achieved so many educational successes. We are very proud of each one of these students.   

At the completion of the school year we farewell Mrs Palmer and Mrs Prinsloo. Their commitment to the school has been commendable. 

We also wish the very best to Mrs Greenaway and Ms Laws as they take leave from the school for the pending births of their babies.

We sadly farewell 86 families as their youngest child finishes Year 6 with eight families from other grades relocating. Warm regards to all of these families as they will forever be part of the Samuel Gilbert ‘family’. Thank you for investing in your child’s learning at Samuel Gilbert PS and for your child/ren I wish for a bright future. Many of our departing families offered a lot of their time, expertise and support to the school community.  

We are currently planning for next year and would appreciate any news you need to share about your child in the current Kindergarten to Year 5 if they are not returning to Samuel Gilbert PS in 2025. Please also let the school office know if you are holidaying and returning to school later than 6 February. As usual, student numbers in all grades will direct how we arrange classes across our whole school.

School will resume at 8.50am for 2025 for all Years 1-6 students on Thursday, 6 February. We look forward to welcoming 2025 Kindergarten at 10am on that day too.

As this is our final Newsletter for 2024, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents, carers and friends of our school once again for your ongoing support, advocacy and contributions to the school in 2024. On behalf of the entire Samuel Gilbert PS staff, a Merry Christmas, and a safe and happy New Year to all.

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

We are looking forward to celebrating student achievement at next Wednesday’s Presentation Assembly. If you have not given permission for your child to attend please ensure that this is finalised by the end of this week. If parents did not indicate on the returned permission that they intended to collect their child directly from the venue we have presumed these students will be returning to school on the bus. 

Please bear in mind that parking around Cherrybrook Technology High School is fairly limited. 

If you are unable to be there the event will be live streamed. 

LINK: https://links.cths.nsw.edu.au/sgps24

Information;

· Time 11:00am (access to the link will be available 15 minutes prior to the event start time).

· Browser required: Mac – Chrome. Windows – Edge or Chrome

· Buffering may occur depending on your internet speed. Don’t worry, the stream will pick up from where you left it.

A program will be sent via the app along with a list of additional reminders to ensure students and families are prepared for the day. Congratulations to all students who will be recognised for their achievements at this assembly. 

Congratulations to Aurora Lin who has qualified for the 2024 Speedo Senior State Age Swimming Championships. This is an impressive achievement and will see Aurora competing against some of the state’s and nation’s top swimmers. Olympians from different age groups will be competing at this event. We congratulate and wish Aurora the very best of luck.

Congratulations to the Boys Senior Softball team who were the PSSA Premiers for 2024. Unfortunately the Junior Girls Tee Ball and the Boys and Girls Basketball teams were defeated in the finals but we congratulate them on being the runners up. 

Congratulations to Mr Wicks and the Tri-Schools debating teams on winning this competition for the second year in the row. Competing against Castle Hill and North Rocks Public Schools the Tri schools competition has provided students new to debating with an excellent platform to learn about debating protocols and to hone their skills. 

A huge congratulations to the Stage 3 teachers and students on their very successful participation in the NSW Space Discovery showcase. We were extremely proud of the way you represented Samuel Gilbert PS. 

Drama, PE, Food Technology, Italian, Ancient History and Visual Arts were just some of the subjects on offer at our Mock High School days last week. A big thank you to Mrs Medcalf for coordinating this opportunity for our Year 6 students to get a feel for High School life and also to the Year 6 teachers, Mrs Botton, Mr Lau and Mrs Medcalf for preparing and teaching the different  lessons. The children loved the experience and are more than ready and excited to enjoy this style of learning in their chosen high schools next year. 

Thank you to Miss Stacey for holding auditions for the Before School Dance classes in recent weeks. These groups are always extremely popular and unfortunately many students miss out. It is particularly difficult for the children in the younger grade of each Stage to be selected ( Year 1. 3 and 5). We hope that there will be the opportunity for some of those who missed out to join a Lunchtime dance group in 2025. We are excited to have added a Stage 1 Boys Group this year as there was a large number of talented boys who auditioned. 

Lists will be posted on the app early next week. Miss Stacey tells me that there has been quite a lot of movement within the groups with a number of students who have missed out in the past showing significant improvement and being offered a place. I congratulate these students on their resilience and determination. Despite previous disappointment they have continued to try again and this perseverance has been rewarded. Of course this means that some students previously in the group have missed out this time around. 

I ask parents to let their children know the results of the auditions when the lists are posted next week. 

Today we celebrated with a thank you morning tea the many volunteers who enhance the learning journey of our students. We thank those who were able to attend and pass on our appreciation for your help throughout the year to those who were unable to be here. 

There is are a large number of jackets and many other items of lost property in the crate in the lower courtyard. If your child has lost an item this term please check this crate to retrieve it as at the end of next week we will be disposing of all items in the crate. 

We once again remind parents that the car park is for staff only and is not to be used to drop children off for before school dance or band programs. Please drop your children off at the front of the school and have them walk up for these programs. We thank those parents who currently do this as it is in the best interests of all students. OOSH drop offs in the staff car park must be concluded before 8:00am and ideally in the car park section next to the OOSH. If not please walk your child up from the street. Staff are finding it extremely difficult to park safely and easily on arrival to work due to the number of children and parents walking through the car park and reversing in and out of staff parking spaces. 

A reminder that if using the Kiss and Drop area for afternoon pick ups you are required to stay in your car so that you can move along the bay as the cars ahead of you leave. Ideally you should join from the end to keep the flow of traffic moving.

For the safety of your children please do not cross Ridgecrop Drive at any point other than the marked pedestrian crossing with the crossing supervisor. There are an increasing number of children and parents crossing to and from the main entrance, putting both students and drivers at risk. Children being picked up from school should wait with the supervising teacher at the Kiss and Drop bay.

As this is the last Newsletter for the year we would like to wish all families a safe and happy holiday season. We wish all families who are ending their time with Samuel Gilbert the very best of luck in their new homes and new schools. We look forward to welcoming current families and those commencing at Samuel Gilbert to our school in 2025. 

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

Holidays are fast approaching and it’s a great idea for your child to put some of that summer energy into keeping their young brains fit and firing.

Whether on a road trip, planning a bushwalk to the beautiful National Parks in NSW, entertaining family and guests, or watching the kids play wherever they may be, there are lots of great activities to make up with the magic of maths.

That’s why the Department of Education’s Everyday Maths Hub has a great range of suggestions for how to keep young people entertained and engaged while using and adding to their day-to-day maths skills.

Some suggestions include:

• The suitable suitcase - understanding about size and shape while packing a suitcase
• Car cricket – spot a car with a common colour and score a run, find a rare colour and hit a four or a six, see a B-double and you’re out? – house rules apply!
• I-Spy in three dimensions – pick different shapes in buildings or on the road to guess instead of using letters
• Swimming pool bingo – guess how many strokes it takes to go a certain distance – closest wins.

For those who are a little older, there are some more adventurous ideas:

• Geography geometry – get a grip on direction, distance and scale by navigating with a map
• Bushwalking by numbers – use a compass and a map to track your way through the bush
• Picture perspectives – explore angles and effects with some creative photography.

These and many other ideas for practising everyday maths are there to explore on the Everyday Maths Hub:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/mathematics/everyday-maths/primary#filter-group

Happy holidays and happy counting!

Amanda Keane
Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

A big thank you to Kylie Jones, her helpers and all those who attended the Gingerbread Evening on Tuesday. Kylie has organised this event for a number of years, and we appreciate her time and efforts again this year.

Bring your family and your singing voice and come and join us for Carols! The SGPS Carols returns this Friday 6 December 2024. This free event for all families of SGPS. Gates will open at 6pm for a 6:30pm start, with the event concluding at approximately 8:30pm.

What to Bring
BYO food and drinks, chairs, rugs, your singing voices and plenty of Christmas cheer! 

Special Program of Performances 
We are pleased to feature our very own students and look forward to performances from our School Band and vocalists. We also thank members of the St Pauls Anglican Church Castle Hill who will lead our community in carols.

Can you help? 

• Can you help on the night? We are in need of 6 more people to help with selling glow sticks, set up or pack down. Please view the tasks and sign up here. 

The P&C will meet for our final P&C Meeting for 2024 on Tuesday 10^th December at 7:30pm in the Library (face-to-face only). All parents and carers are welcome to join us as we celebrate the end of a successful year.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, an important vote for our school community will be held at next week’s P&C meeting. A motion will be proposed to facilitate the transition of the OOSH business to the P&C.

By way of background, the NSW Department of Education has changed the nature of the licensing for OOSH services, and the impact is that either our OOSH transitions to the management of the P&C or is put out to tender at the expiry of each License.

In preparation for this vote, an independent audit of the OOSH has been conducted and a OOSH Transition Report prepared. Both documents were tendered at the November General P&C meeting and a copy distributed to current members of the P&C. If you have not received a copy and would like one, please contact our P&C Secretary to request a copy of the reports as soon as possible at secretary@sgpspc.org.au.  

Why is this important? 
The P&C constitution prescribes that the P&C exists to promote the interests of the school and assist in providing facilities and equipment for the school for the benefit of all our school community. A successful vote to transition the OOSH to the P&C means that the management of the OOSH is transferred to a sub-committee of the P&C and the P&C take on the assets and liabilities of the OOSH.

Please note that a P&C Subcommittee does not have a constitution separate from the P&C, nor separate office-bearers. It has delegated authority and is fully accountable to the P&C. Any profits or liabilities are with the P&C and the sub-committee has no discretion to commit funds, beyond meeting operational costs, for the purchase of school resources.

We strongly encourage our members to read and consider the audit and OOSH Transition reports referred to above ahead of the upcoming vote.

Who can vote? 
Only 2024/2025 financial P&C Members are entitled to vote at the December 10^th P&C meeting. New members are not entitled to vote at the meeting at which their membership is paid. So, if you have previously filled in the membership form and paid the annual $1 membership fee at our November meeting, then you are a 2024/2025 voting member of the P&C and can cast a vote at the December P&C meeting.

Where the vote is successful, there is considerable work to be undertaken to facilitate the transition of the OOSH to the P&C. The P&C have allocated funds in their budget in preparation for the legal and administrative costs associated with the transition.

We would like to encourage all members of the P&C to attend our December P&C meeting. If in the meantime, you have any questions or concerns, you can reach out to Katie at president@sgpspc.org.au.

We would like to acknowledge and thank our 2024 volunteers. Without you, we would not be able to raise all important funds and resources for our students or build a positive school community. Whether it is volunteering at a P&C event, helping at a Mother’s/Father’s Day stalls, cooking on a BBQ, serving on the Band Committee, being a Class Parent, assisting with the Band Program or helping in the Canteen or volunteering in any other capacity - thank you to all those parents and carers who have supported our school community in 2024.  

The P&C continues to be indebted to those volunteers who have made significant contributions to our school community and who are departing at the end of the school year. Life membership of the P&C is awarded to recipients who meet the minimum service requirements and other elements of exemplary service. The pre-determined criteria for Life membership is published and received nominations are evaluated against the criteria. The Life Membership committee considers nominations for those nominees who have made a major contribution to the Association and to Samuel Gilbert Public School through their role within the SGPS P&C, must not have brought ill repute to the Association; and in considering the award of Life Membership, an individual will have demonstrated significant, sustained and high-quality service enhancing the reputation and future of the Association.

The P&C are delighted to acknowledge the recipients of our P&C Life Membership for 2024:

• Jodi Kirby
• Peter Payne
• Dr Helen Crowther
• Tym Richardson

Jodi Kirby has been a Canteen Committee member for 10 years and has volunteered in the canteen weekly during that time. For the past 8 years, Jodie has been the President of the Canteen Committee and has actively supported the Canteen initiatives such as Grandparent Days, Multicultural Days and other canteen events. Her youngest of three children leaves SGPS in 2024.

Peter Payne has served as a member of the P&C Executive from 2015 to 2022, including two years as Treasurer. During this time, Peter has fulfilled a number of roles. Some of the highlights include: facilitating grant applications (raising $80,000 in funding for the school), serving as Treasurer for the Great Fete, organizing election BBQ’s and school working bees. Peter has also had a long association with the Samuel Gilbert Out of School Hours Care Centre Management Committee (OOSH). Spanning over 10 years with all 3 of his children attending in this time, Peter has served as Vice President from 2015-2021 and as President from 2021-2024 which has included overseeing licensing and regulatory issues. Peter’s youngest of three children leaves SGPS in 2024.

Dr Helen Crowther has been a P&C member from 2012 to 2024 and has been a P&C Executive Member. Helen was Secretary of the P&C from 2013-2014 and a General Executive member from 2019-2023. During this time Helen has been an active member of the P&C including many P&C events such as the Great Fete, Cake stalls and election BBQ. Most significantly, Helen has been a member of the SGPS P&C Band Committee from 2015 – 2023 serving as an office bearer. Helen was Band secretary in 2016-2017 and Band Chairperson 2018-2022 during the challenging Covid years. Helen’s youngest of three children leaves SGPS in 2024.  

Tym Richardson has been a P&C Member from 2014-2024 and has served as General Executive Member for 3 years, President from 2019-2023 and Vice President in 2024. Tym has made a significant contribution to the school community through fundraising events and across many years he has coordinated Bunnings BBQ’s, Father’s Day and Election BBQ’s and Movie Nights. Tym has also been the coordinator of our parent and child camps for many years. In 2019, Tym served on the Fete Committee and was a Fete Coordinator in 2023, spending countless hours ensuring the success of this fundraising and community event. Tym has also organized the Carols event for the past 2 years and again this year. In fact, most if not all events in the past 8 years have involved Tym and his family members in some capacity. Tym’s youngest of three children leaves SGPS in 2024.  

We would also like to thank our departing Year 6 families for their contribution to our school community. Many of these families are ending a significant number of years as part of the Samuel Gilbert family, some of whom have been associated with our school for 14 plus years. We will miss you. Thank you for your time and service to our school over many years and we wish you and your family all the very best.

For more information on events and news please check out the following: 

• Website: https://www.sgpspc.org.au
• Facebook page: https://ww.facebook.com/SGPSPC
• School website: https://www.samuelgilbertnsw.edu.au
• School app: You can find the link to the school app on our front page of the https://www.sgpspc.org.au  website 

Finally, we wish our SGPS families a very merry Christmas and a wonderful, safe holiday and a happy new year! We look forward to serving alongside you in 2025.

Kind regards,

Elizabeth Tye
SGPS P&C Vice President
etye@sgpspc.org

Farewell and Good Luck Hayden!

I would like to begin by extending a heartfelt thank you to our band conductor, Hayden Dalton. We deeply appreciate everything he has done for the SGPS Band. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors and much success in the years ahead.  

Thank you to all those who attended last week’s Open Band Rehearsal and Concert Bands performance last Friday, It is wonderful to hear the progress of our Band Students. 

To show our appreciation and in honor of your commitment to the SGPS Band Program, we would like to invite you and your families to a celebratory breakfast. There will be a performance and  presentation. Children can be dropped off however parents are welcome.

Date: Friday the 6^th of December.
Time 7:30 – 9:30
Where: Old School Hall.

Band rehearsals for the year have been completed for Training and Concert Band. Performance Band have their final rehearsal on Monday, 9th December (Week 9). It is essential that all students attend this rehearsal in preparation for Presentation Day.

We look forward to welcoming our new Training Band members in 2025. If your child is still interested in joining the Training Band in 2024, there are still some instrument options available. Please email sgpsbandcoordinator@gmail.com

• Thursday, 5th December
  Combined Band Rehearsal - 7:30am start 
  All children performing at the carols must attend (please be there 10 minutes early to set up) 
• Friday, 6th December
  7:30am - 9:30am Band Performance and Celebration Breakfast
  For ALL band students in the Old Hall (parents welcome) PLEASE WEAR BAND SHIRTS.
• Friday, 6th December
  Carols Evening (ALL Bands)
  All Band Students will form a massed Band to play an item at the School Carols Evening. Please arrive at the school at 5:45pm to set up. PLEASE WEAR CHRISTMAS THEMED CLOTHES.
• Wednesday, 11th December
  Presentation Day Performance - Performance Band ONLY more details to come
• Monday, 9 December 
• Final Band Rehearsal - Performance Band
• Training Band and Concert Band have finished rehearsals for 2024.
• Thursday, 12 December
  Instrument Returns - Before 8:45 am
  
  

Instruments that are no longer required for hire in 2025 please return to Burragali no later than this date. For any year 6 students who no longer want their band shirts and would like to donate them to the band as spares please return to Burragali on this date also.

Thank you for supporting your child's musical journey and we look forward to welcoming back all the current and new band students in 2025!

Best Regards,
The Band Coordinators,
Samuel Gilbert Public School

It’s Week 8 and I have some exciting news to share with everyone; we have been running a competition in the library for Term 3 and Term 4 where students have been earning points for their house in library borrowing, 1 point for each borrowed book. It was a very closely fought competition with a total of 11364 books borrowed (a 40% increase when compared to Term 1 and Term 2). The final scores were:

First: ALLUNGA 2876 points

Second: GUNDAROO 2839 points

Third: KOONAKA 2827 points

Fourth: TIMBURRA 2822 points

Well done to all borrowers. 

End of the year means overdue slips will be printed on Friday afternoon this week, if your child has an overdue book, they will receive a slip in Week 9, please return the listed book promptly to the library, if there are any problems, please come see me and we can find a resolution to the problem. Some important information for ALL families; library lessons will continue through to the end of the year, however, borrowing ceased in Week 7. 

The Thursday Morning Read is continuing throughout Term 4, every Thursday Morning at 8:20 am in the tiered Learning Space in the Library. All are welcome, students, siblings, parents, and grandparents, come along and listen to two fun stories before school. We will be reading some fun and entertaining books as well as some other books celebrating the many different cultural events that occur throughout the year. 

I received an email from Scholastic Book Club this week stating they will be changing delivery companies for 2025 due to the difficulties in accurate and timely deliveries this year so we should experience more reliable service next year.

The final Book Club of the year has now closed to allow for delivery by the end of the year. 

The Premiers Reading Challenge closed on Friday 23 August 2024 (11:59 pm). We distributed the 25 Gold Certificates and 10 Platinum Certificates at the whole school assembly last week, the 88 Completion Certificates were distributed to classes this week. Well done to all 123 students who achieved a certificate this year. For your information, here are the Achievement levels:

Reminders

• All students are permitted to borrow up to 4 books at a time, however they must use a book bag to carry and protect their books, this bag may be the excursion bag available from the uniform shop, a canvas shopping bag or any other suitable bag, the only requirement is the books must fit inside the bag. 
• If you have any concerns about lost, damaged or overdue books, please come and see me in the library before or after school to discuss what actions (if any) are needed to satisfy your concerns.
• Borrowing has now ceased to allow for all books to be returned and the shelves to be tidied and sorted for next year. Library lessons will continue until the end of the year.

Yours in reading,

Adam Hands
Librarian.

The temporary change to shop times for Term 4 will continue this year only, as follows:-

Monday ……………………9.00am to 10.00am.

Wednesday ………………9.00am to 10.00am. NO afternoon opening.

No appointments needed on the P&C calendar.

The shop will be open on the last day of school this term being Wednesday 18/12/24 between 9-10am. Then closed for all of the school holidays. Please do NOT book during the holiday period on the P&C website as the school will be closed.

Uniform Shop orders must be done on Munch Monitor by Tuesday 17^th December for delivery on the last day of school Wednesday 18^th December 2024.

The shop will re-open prior to school start on Friday 31/01/25, Monday 3/02/25, Tuesday 4/02/25 and Wednesday 5/02/25 (pupil free days). Times will be from 9am until 10:30-11am.

Munch Monitor orders will be available from 29^th January 2025 for delivery when school returns on Thursday 6^th February 2025 or collected from shop [open times as above].

Once school starts the shop will have new open times….to be advised.

There is plenty of stock still available for Term One. We are running low on backpacks, but we have a new delivery coming in late January.

Has been ordered for delivery in Term One ready for Term 2 change of uniform.

Kind Regards, 

Merry Christmas and have a safe a summer holiday, and Happy New Year to all,
Sheryl Naylor
SGPS P&C Uniform Shop Manager.
Email: //uniformshop@sgpspc.org.au//

Final few weeks of 2025 before we all celebrate with family and friends.  A few reminders:

- We will be reducing stock in the next few weeks. Please check munch monitor to see what is available. If you order over the counter you may not get what you want so please check.

- Sushi has now finished for the year so will not be available.

- Last day for lunch orders will be Friday the 13^th December. On Monday the 16^th we will be catering for the K-2 Christmas Party, no other lunch orders are available;

- Tuesday and Wednesday the 17^th and 18^th we will be closed for cleaning. Counter items ice blocks, popcorn etc will be available depending on stock. The children will have to have money as you cannot order online;

- We will be looking for volunteers next year and we are hoping for a great response. If you do wish to help next year due to new regulations, a small Food Handlers Questionnaire will need to be completed. Please see us in the canteen for any information; and

- We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy Holidays. Thank you for all your support during 2024 and we look forward to seeing you in 2025. 

Thanks Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

Week 8
Friday, 6 December
Carols Night - P&C
Band Breakfast & Presentation

Week 9
Wednesday, 11 December
Presentation Day Assembly
Thursday, 12 December
Year 6 Dinner
Friday, 13 December
Stage 2 Party Day
K-6 Buddy Book Exchange

Week 10
Monday, 16 December 
Early Stage1 and Stage 1 Party Day
Tuesday, 17 December 
Stage 3 Party Days
Wednesday, 18 December
Year 6 Farewell
Last Day for students
Thursday, 19 December
Staff Development Day
Friday, 20 December
Staff Development Day