A big congratulations to students showing resilience (a school value) with the big change of weather as we start winter. With the darker evenings and colder mornings upon us it is great to see students wearing jumpers and jackets to feel comfy and warm. 

Our school is currently the State Champion in the Premier’s Spelling Bee thanks to Zac F (Year 6 2024). Today and last Tuesday, our 2025 students contested for the school spelling bee final. Congratulations to all students who improved their spelling throughout the class competition and school finals. Congratulations to Aria F (4W) for winning the Stage 2 event. Congratulations to Shriya I (5C) for winning the Stage 3 event. We wish both clever students the very best as the next event for them is the regional finals. 

Last week both grades in our Stage 1 visited Hambledon Cottage and Elizabeth Farm for an excursion. Our students are now able to connect the learning occurring in classrooms with a broader understanding due to the excursion. Reports from the teachers attending each event indicated the behaviour of the students was exceptional.
  

One of the greatest days for the students and staff is Grandparents’ Day. It is a day we welcome all grandparents and other significant adult figures in our students’ lives. This event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 10 June, the day after the King’s Birthday public holiday.  

A reminder the school’s open day for all other family members and the general community will be in Education Week, Term 3, Week 3.   

Our SLSOs play a vital role in supporting student learning every day. Rather than focusing on general tasks like at some schools, they work directly with students in class, in small groups, or one-on-one especially in the areas of literacy and numeracy as well keeping them safe and/or engaged. They follow a range of targeted programs and receive training and guidance from our Learning and Support Teacher, Mrs Medcalf, and the senior school executive. Their contribution is highly valued and makes a real difference.  

If you have a child who is eligible to commence Kindergarten in 2026, or know of families with children who turn 5 years before 1 August, 2026 could you please contact the school for information to enrol. Further information detailing the transition to Kindergarten program will be distributed in Term 3. If you are aware of any families transferring to our area please pass on our contact details so we can make the necessary arrangements for their transition. 

The next Parent & Citizens (P&C) meeting will be held next Tuesday night at 7.30pm in the school library. Thank you to all parents for being part of this important school community forum.  

Each meeting is a great opportunity for all families at the school to be part of the significant roles the P&C undertakes.  

Recently I have been researching student belonging and engagement. Global education expert, Dr Doug Fisher, offers insights via his book, ‘Belonging in School: creating a place where kids (children) want to learn, and teachers want to teach’.  

Research shows a students’ sense of belonging at school is linked to their academic achievement and wellbeing. Students who have a high sense of belonging in school generally put in more effort and are more motivated at school, have lower absenteeism and thus higher academic outcomes. Students who feel accepted and included at school tend to be happier, have greater interest in school activities, and are more confident (NSW Education).  

So, what does it mean to belong? Dr Fisher defines belonging as a deep feeling of being part of a larger group that values, respects, and cares for you, where you also feel you have something to contribute.  

This is not something that we can leave to chance. At Samuel Gilbert PS, we understand that belonging is strongly linked to positive student-teacher relationships and have used this understanding to inform many of our signature practices, including ‘threshold greetings.’ Threshold greetings are a simple, yet powerful routine used by our teachers and me to personally welcome each student at the door as they enter the school and classroom. 

▪ A threshold greeting includes: 

• A warm hello or good morning often by name. 
• A smile, wave, high-five, or other friendly gesture; and 
• Eye contact and a moment of positive connection. 

A simple routine like this might seem small, but it has a big impact. 

Threshold greetings: 

• Build relationships: It helps every student feel seen, valued, and connected. 
• Create a positive tone: It sets the stage for a respectful, welcoming classroom environment. 
• Support emotional well-being: A warm greeting can boost confidence and mood, especially for students who may be facing challenges outside of school. 
• Promote engagement: When students feel acknowledged and respected, they are more likely to engage in learning. 

I encourage you to talk with your child/ren about how they are greeted each day. We know that when school and home partnership is present and strong, we jointly make the biggest difference. 

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

Congratulations to the Senior Girls Netball Knock Out team who won the second round of their knockout competition against Parramatta East PS last week by 34-2. The girls enjoyed playing on our new court and all contributed to a convincing win. 

Today they played Kings Langley PS in Round 3 of the competition and won 32-14. Congratulations again!

The Boys Touch Football Knock out team were able to get their Round 1 match against Carlingford West PS played and they too had a strong win with a final score of 6-1. Congratulations boys on your excellent teamwork and fitness, playing with only two substitutes for the entire game. They will play Schofields PS next Wednesday 11 June. 

Both the Boys and Girls Football Knockout teams got their competition underway on Tuesday playing at Bella Vista Public School against Riverbank PS. The girls were unfortunately defeated by a strong Riverbank team going down 5-1, however this was a much improved result on last year’s game. Well done girls. The boys secured a 3-1 win. 

The boys Softball Knockout team will play their first match next Thursday at 10:30am at Castle Glen against Panania PS. We wish them the best of luck against what has traditionally been a very tough opponent. 

Congratulations to our AFL Paul Kelly Cup team who played in the Regional Finals last Tuesday. They started the day strongly with a convincing 28-6 win against Chisolm Catholic PS.

St Gregory's College proved to be our toughest matchup as they took a commanding 0-13 lead in the first half. The boys didn't let any negativity seep in and fought back to finish the game 14-15. The last game in the group round was against Faulconbridge PS, where we focused on our defence and grinded out a solid 14-3 victory. Our semi final opponent was Blackwell PS, who had a couple of their own Sydney West AFL players. Our experience throughout the field proved to be the difference as we came out 21-8 on top. 

It was a rematch against St Gregory's College in the final, and the boys rallied themselves in our pregame warm up. Our nonstop running and free flowing attacks proved to be the difference in the first half, as this time it was us who took a 13-0 lead going into the break. There was no doubt that it was going to a tough second half, and the score was 19-14 in our favour with a couple of minutes to go. We flooded our defensive third and a decisive clearance out to the wing, followed by a siren ending punt into open space brought the game to an end. All the boys involved gave it their all, with Jarlath J being awarded Best and Fairest by the AFL staff who were watching the final. Special mention to Riley K who made some miraculous marks and goals to turn the tide in several games. The State Final will be held in Term 3, with ten schools across NSW and ACT in contention to be crowned champions.

It was an extremely exciting day for the boys and our spectators and we congratulate the boys, not only for their win but also for the way they conducted themselves, even when under significant pressure. Well done Mr Lau and boys!

On Tuesday Stage 2 held the school finals of the Premiers’ Spelling Bee. Twelve fabulous spellers from Years 3 and 4 tackled words in front of a large audience of parents and peers. 

All proceeded through the first two rounds confidently and then gradually the field was narrowed down to just five with words such as coagulate, bouquet, agenda and aggrieved proving difficult. 

In Round 6 chalet, chiropractor and colloquial reduced the field to just Aria F and Jerry Z who battled it out for a further 7 rounds! Syncopation, ventriloquist, excerpt and elocution were spelt with confidence but finally Jerry slipped up with portraiture, realising instantly that he had missed the first “r”, but unfortunately he had already locked his answer in and it was too late to correct his error. Aria needed to spell resuscitate correctly to win, which she did with calm confidence. A huge congratulations to Aria and also congratulations to all finalists for some superb spelling and in particular Jerry as our runner up. 

Today the Stage 3 Spelling final challenged 16 of our best spellers from Year 5 and 6. All students made it successfully to the third round, spelling words such as cardigan, Bluetooth and donation with confidence. In Round 5, Sophie had us all on the edge of our seat as she attempted to spell the word administration, doing so right on the buzzer! Round 7 saw the elimination of the last of our Year 6 students, Tier 3 words such as concerto and propaganda proving to be too difficult. Finally, it was down to Shriya I (5C) and Caressa P (5P) battling it out for the win. Arraignment proved too tricky for Caressa in the 9^th round leaving Shriya to take the victory with the word colloquialism. Congratulations to Shriya, Caressa and all our Stage 3 Spelling Bee participants who gave their best efforts today.

We are looking forward to hosting our grandparents and “grand friends” at next Tuesday’s Grandparents’ Day. A program for the day has been sent home both on the app and in hard copy this week. Instructions for children involved in dance, band and vocal items have also been sent via the app. 

We are grateful to the P&C for coordinating morning tea for our grandparents. Morning tea is always greatly appreciated by our grandparents so our thanks in advance to all parents who are assisting by either providing a plate or working in the canteen. 

A reminder that children need to bring their own morning tea on this day.

Please make sure that grandparents are aware of the name of the class that their grandchildren are in so that we can help them find the way if necessary. Lift access is available to the primary classrooms for those who require it. 

If parents are able to drop and pick up grandparents on the day it would be helpful to alleviate parking issues. 

Next Thursday 12 June our Student Representative Council will be holding its first fundraising event for the year. They are raising funds for our school’s main charity, Stewart House, and ask students to bring in their silver coins to use to write SGPS on the concourse. They will need a lot of coins to make these letters so we encourage families to support this student initiative. Mufti is un-themed but we remind students in Years 4, 6 , 1 and some Year 2 classes that it is a Zing sports day so clothing will need to be appropriate for this activity. 

All Government and non-Government schools across Australia are required to participate annually in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). Schools will collect data on their students who are receiving adjustments to meet additional learning and support needs in accordance with their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Disability Standards for Education 2005. This data will be provided to the Australian Government to assist in the development of a consistent, national picture of the education needs of students with disability. The data provided to the Australian Government by the NSW Department of Education and Communities is provided in such a way that it cannot be used to identify any individual student or school. General information about the national data collection can be found at https://www.nccd.edu.au/

A privacy notice has been developed to by the Australian Government to provide students, parents and carers with important privacy information in relation to the data collection. This notice is available at https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy

If you have any questions about the data collection please do not hesitate to contact the Learning and Support Team.  

Well done to our students in Years 1 and 2 for their excellent behaviour at Hambledon Cottage and Elizabeth Farm. They attended both venues on different days and a call was made to school from the staff of these venues to let us know how exemplary our student behaviour and engagement was. Further on in the newsletter you can read a recount of the 2Z experience.

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

It’s important that writing is a part of your child’s daily life at home. By writing every day, your child will become increasingly more confident in their writing abilities - and they may even have fun!

How to support younger children with writing at home:

• have fun with drawing and writing. Ask your child to draw or write about things they like to do, make or play;
• encourage your child to talk about their writing. This could include talking about their scribbles, drawings, letters or words;
• use different materials such as chalk, paper and pencils, markers and pens to draw and write with; 
• ask your child to write their name. Your child could also attempt to write the names of other people who are important to them;
• while your child is writing or drawing, talk about the picture and the sounds of the letters that he or she is attempting to write; 
• encourage your child to use their imagination and create stories. They could create a storybook by drawing pictures and writing words for the story;
• support your child to write messages in their home language;
• encourage your child to draw or write a shopping list, or about their favourite person in the family, or their favourite book;
• create a song or a poem and write the words or draw a picture to go with the song or poem;
• ask your child to describe what they are drawing or writing about as they are creating it; 
• encourage them to write a letter to a friend or someone in the family about something interesting, funny or exciting that happened;
• have a booklet, journal or diary that your child can write or draw in daily.

Tips for older children:

• encourage them to read widely as much as possible;
• you can use creative writing prompts as ideas to spark writing;
• use positive feedback as encouragement;
• try fun writing activities and games.

Amanda Keane
Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

Can you help with morning tea? Grandparents Day will be held on Tuesday 10 June. Parents are invited to help by providing cakes, biscuits, scones or slices for our Grandparents (and Grandparent figures) to enjoy on this special day. Gluten free options would be very much appreciated as well. Grandparents' Day is one of our most popular and well attended events. We seem to run out of food very quickly. If every family can contribute something, we would be most grateful.

Volunteers are also be needed to help with serving coffee and tea and preparing platters (9am-11am). If you can assist, please reach out to the Canteen on (02) 8855 9500 (ask for the canteen). Food can be brought to the canteen before school on the day. 

Thank you in advance to our fabulous canteen staff and parent volunteers for your support.

Please join us on Tuesday 10^th June at 7:30pm for our final P&C Meeting for Term 2.  With the upcoming school holidays, our next meeting will not be until Tuesday 12 August in Term 3. We would love to see you in person the School Library or alternatively, online. If you would like to join the meeting online and have not previously done so, please email a request for the online meeting link to secretary@sgpspc.org.au.

We would like to thank Jana Luchman who has recently stepped down from her role as Band Co-ordinator. Thank you to Jana for her time and effort in organising such a positive start to our year in Band. We would like to welcome Greg Pratley as our Band Co-ordinator and Levania (Nia) Lao as Band Treasurer for the remainder of the year. 

In the meantime, our Band students are eagerly anticipating this year’s Band Camp being held on Monday & Tuesday 16-17^th June. Band camp provides an invaluable opportunity for our Band students to develop their music skills together. A big thank you to Jaimy McGilvray (Camp Co-ordinator), Greg Pratley and Lynn Forgie for their organisation of this year’s camp.

• Grandparents' Day: Tuesday 10 June 2025 – parent morning tea donations and volunteers needed.
• P&C Meeting @ 7:30pm Tuesday 10 June 2025 in the School Library/Online
• Band Camp: Monday/Tuesday 16-17^th June
• P&C Meeting Tuesday 12^th August, 7:30pm

For more information about the SGPS P&C, who we are and what we do, 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

Kind regards,

Elizabeth Tye
SGPS P&C

This week the children have had their final rehearsals in preparation for Grandparents' Day. Thank you to Mrs. Skinner who has been working tirelessly to ensure they are ready to perform.

Date: Tuesday, 10th June  
Venue: At School near old Hall
Time: 10:50 am – 11:30 am (during Morning Tea Break)  
All three bands will perform, so please join us to celebrate and support our young musicians!

Thank you to everyone who has consented and paid for their child’s participation. We hope the students have an enjoyable experience, playing music, forging friendships, and creating lasting memories.

A special thanks to Jaimy McGilvray, a volunteer and member of the Band Committee, who has dedicated countless hours to ensure this year’s Band Camp is a success. Thank you, Jaimy, for your commitment and support!

Please remember to carefully review the packing list, which was issued via email to parents last week.

Dates: Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th June
Venue: Benedict XV1 Retreat Centre
Buses Depart: 7:30am sharp  
Buses Return: 4:15pm approximately

Performance is a vital part of learning an instrument and playing in a band. Throughout the year, the Band Committee arranges various performances to support the students’ development as an ensemble. One such event is the Greater Western Sydney Music Festival, a fantastic opportunity for our bands to perform publicly, participate in workshops with adjudicators, and receive valuable feedback.

GWS Music Festival  
Date: Sunday, 22nd June  
Venue: Rouse Hill Anglican College

We are excited to host a fun-filled evening showcasing all three bands. We invite families and friends to come along and enjoy the performances.
Date: Monday, 30th June
Venue: New Hall
Students Arrive: 6:15pm
Concert Start: Approximately 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Our Concert and Performance Bands will participate in the prestigious ASBOF (Australian School Band and Orchestra Festival):
Date: Sunday, 10th August  
Venue: Wenkart Theatre, Knox Grammar School

All event details, including rehearsals, are posted on Bandforte. Please click Yes or No to attend all upcoming Events for your child. If you do not have the link to Bandforte please email sgpsbandcoordinator@gmail.com and we will send it to you.

The Hills Shire Symphony Orchestra is also holding a concert on Saturday 21st June at The Hills Grammar School- flyer below. Our very own Mrs Skinner will be performing with the Orchestra. If you and your child would like to experience a musical performance opportunity please follow the link to purchase tickets https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/hsso-presents-symphonic-heroes-tickets-1129213831969?aff=oddtdtcreator

Thank you for your ongoing support of our band program. We look forward to celebrating these upcoming performances with you!

Band Co-ordinator
Samuel Gilbert Public School Band

With the highly successful Book Fair all wrapped up, it is time to start looking forward to Term 3’s Library event – Book Week (August 16-23) and our Book Character Parade! Time to start planning and preparing your costumes, hmmmm, what should I wear? The theme for this year’s Book Week is “Book an Adventure”.

I am accessioning our many new books from the Book Fair as quickly as I can, keep an eye out for announcements asking for volunteers to cover books. Your support in helping to cover the new library books is greatly appreciated and reduces the time between getting the books and having them available for the children to borrow. Look in the front of all Book Fair books to see the donation plaque, thanking each family for their generous contribution.

Recently I have been approached by some parents wishing to donate books to the library. I am happy to accept donations for evaluation, and I follow the following procedure:

1. Books are checked for their health, any that are damaged or defaced are usually recycled.
2. Books that are of good quality but not suitable for addition due to already existing in the collection, are not age appropriate or are too old are saved for donation to a community library.
3. Books that are of good quality and fulfill a niche within the collection are then accessioned and added to the library collection.

A big reminder to everyone, please make sure you keep your books safe in your library bag and remember to bring them back to school on your library day.

The Thursday Morning Read has been growing in popularity with more new faces appearing each week. It is on Thursday Morning at 8:20am 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.

Born and raised in Sydney, first time author Matt Rankin lived a childhood that was dominated by a love of sport, going on to excel in Rugby League and Cricket. Matt discovered his passion for writing in his late 30s after being inspired while watching animated movies with his young family, believing his creative mind, along with being young at heart, was the perfect recipe for creating his own characters for many a generation to love.

His first printed book, Sapphire Millie and the Quest for the Unknown Destiny, is set amongst the spectacular Australian Bush. It is a heartwarming tale of love, loss, sacrifice and friendship between a group of young animal friends. Follow their journey through the bush with all its challenges as they face its dangers, excitement and raw beauty and see whether friendship can ultimately pass the test and help them reach their destiny, Sapphire Falls.

The Premiers Reading Challenge opens on Monday 24 February 2025. Please use this information to access the Premier’s Reading Challenge to register your child/ren for the challenge:

How to Log-on to the Premier’s Reading Challenge: On the PRC website homepage, click on the NEW STUDENT SITE image. https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/ It will take you to the PRC student site. 

Then click on LOGIN in the top right-hand corner. This will take you to the NSW Department of Education portal login page, students need to enter their username and password here.

If you do not know your username or password for the PRC website, please see the PRC coordinator at your school, or ask your teacher to help you find out your login details. 

A link to the Premier’s Reading Challenge website can be found in the Student Portal under the Learning section.  Students are also able to add a link to the PRC in the My Link List section to make the PRC easier to find.  The URL to use is: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/.

Public school students can also log in directly to the PRC website using their Department of Education (DoE) username and password.  These are the same details a student would use to access the Student Portal and the computer network at school.  If you are unaware of your username and/or password, please contact your class teacher and ask for your Student Portal username and/or password.

Rules: For all the rules and booklists for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, please visit the Premier’s Reading Challenge website: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/logon.html

Rules for the Premier’s Reading Challenge can be found here: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/rules.html

Booklists can be found here: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html but make sure you read from the right level of books.

If you have any questions, please, come and speak to me before or after school in the library.

Week 6 - Issue 4 will be distributed to classes.

Week 8 - Orders for Issue 4 close.

Yours in reading,
Adam Hands,
Librarian.

The cooler weather has begun. When time permits we will have winter warmers available at recess. Example Pizza squares, potato gems, and ham and cheese or cheese flat wraps. They will range from 50c to $1.50.

Thank you to all the volunteers who have put their name down to help at Grandparents' Day we have enough helpers now. Please don’t forget to bring in cakes, biscuits, slices etc on Tuesday we need plenty of donations as it’s a very busy day with all our Grandparents.

Thank you,
Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

Well done to all students who have created wonderful artworks for the annual Operation Art competition. The calibre of artworks created by our Samuel Gilbert artists this year was very impressive. Thank you for the donations made by families to support the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.  

Within each stage a 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place was awarded. Then 2 were selected from the finalists to be sent off to represent our school this year for the annual Operation Art competition.

Early Stage 1:

 Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Congratulations to Parnia N (5C) and Mariam I (4W) whose artworks have been selected to be sent off.

On Friday, 23^rd of May, Year 1 was visited by Tony from The Hills Shire Library at Castle Hill. He shared a book with our Year 1 students and explained what they can do at the library, how to join and borrow books. He also encouraged them to join the Year One Reading club. Year 1 students can join, free of charge, at any of the Hills Shire Library locations to encourage a love of reading. Please see the attached leaflet for more information.

Belinda Buckley
Rel. Assistant Principal Stage 1

KM students are having a wonderful Term 2! We have been practising reading and writing, counting backwards, looking for shapes around our classrooms and creating beautiful artworks. KM love spending time with their buddies every Thursday. A happy highlight during our week is when we do Amplify Music lessons with KK on Fridays. Put on a few songs and we can show you how we clap the beat and identify if the tempo is slow or fast!

Week 7
Monday, 9 June
King's Birthday Holiday
Tuesday, 10 June
Grandparents Day
Wednesday, 11 June
Tri Schools debate Round 2
Boys Touch Footy KO
Thursday, 12 June
Boys Softball KO
SRC Mufti Day Fundraiser for Stewart House
  
Week 8
Monday, 16 June
Band Camp
Tuesday, 17 June
Band Camp
Friday, 20 June
Synergy Dance Festival

SEE TERM 2 SCHOOL PARENT PLANNER FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE