As we progress through Term 3, it is inspiring to witness the dedication and enthusiasm of both students and staff. The high standard of teaching and learning continues to be the cornerstone of our success. The energy in our classrooms is palpable, with students fully engaged and making significant strides in their learning journeys. Let us keep this momentum going strong for the next four weeks of Term 3.

WriteOn is the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) annual statewide writing competition for all NSW primary students in Years 1 to 6. The stimulus for WriteOn 2025 was the quote: “Could they be changing?”. 

Congratulations to Estelle C (6K) and Aria F (4W). Both students will be recognised at the WriteOn Awards Ceremony on 22 September 2025 at the State Library of NSW. They will receive a special certificate (outcome is currently a secret) from a parliamentary representative at the ceremony.  

Last week, students from Years 3-6 participated in a Public Speaking competition at school.  Students prepared and gave their speeches in their classes. Most of these students would have moved out of their comfort zone to deliver their speech.  This culminated in a final for each year group. The finals were hotly contested with outstanding speeches. Congratulations to our grade winners: Jiya S (Yr6), Blake M (Yr5), Zaria K (Yr4) and Keeton W (Yr3). The grade winners will represent the school at thw Hills District Public Speaking Competition.

The challenge involved students participating in a 9-step STEM design sprint inspired by the challenges faced by NASA’s Artemis program and the Australian space industry. The challenge is linked to the school’s K-6 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program. 

Congratulations to Year 5 students: Maggie H, Caressa P, Evie A, Celine H, Selin L and Parnia NS who reached the finals with a Telecommunications Relay Satellite presentation. They then competed against five other schools including a Year 10, Year 8 and Year 7 group from both public and private schools throughout Australia. While the girls did not receive a place we are extremely proud of their confident presentation. Well done girls!
We are grateful to Mrs Corso and Mrs Lye for coordinating this opportunity for our clever students.

At our school we have a very strong and professional Learning and Support Team (L&ST). The purpose of this team is to ensure all students are receiving the help and support they need to achieve their maximum learning outcomes. This includes those students needing extension programs. A key feature of the learning support team is the facilitation of collaborative planning between teachers, support staff, parents and students. The L&ST committee is chaired by Deputy Principal, Ms Appave, and includes school executive members (incl myself), Learning and Support Teacher (LaST) - Mrs Noni Medcalf and School Counsellor - Ms Akira Harinath and School Psychologist - Ms Caitlin Clague.

Next week is SASS Recognition Week (1-5 September). The SASS (School Administrative and Support Staff) is our office personnel, library assistant, general assistants as well as the School Learning Support Officers (SLSOs) who work in the classrooms. They all help make the school function efficiently by performing tasks which support the teaching and learning activities in the school. Without them, teachers would be swamped with administrative and organisational tasks on top of teaching and marking.  

Our honour role for SASS include: Mrs Freeman, Mrs Johns, Mrs Curic, Mrs Nicolussi, Mrs Irvine, Mrs Forbes, Mrs Stevens, Mrs Nixon, Mrs Rasalingam, Mrs Viney, Mrs Payam, Mr Cellich, Mr Barnes and Mr Onay.  We would like to commend them for their service to Samuel Gilbert PS. 

The teaching staff will recognise these wonderful colleagues throughout the week with thoughtful offerings. I welcome the families of the school to maybe think of a way to acknowledge the work of these people who assist in making Samuel Gilbert a great school and workplace.

Many thanks to those parents who have already notified the office about their child starting Kindergarten in 2026. If any current SGPS parent has a child who will be starting school next year or if any of our families have neighbours in that position, please inform them Samuel Gilbert PS is now taking enrolments for next year. It is important to get enrolments in as soon as possible as this assists our planning for 2026. Enrolment forms are available online https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/going-to-a-public-school/enrolment/primary-school-enrolment

The next P&C meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, 9 September. Parents and Citizens meetings are an important forum where parents can voice appropriately their ideas, opinions and work collaboratively with the school. The parents attending these meetings create comfortable numbers but we welcome more parents. The meetings are held in the school library at 7.30pm every second Tuesday of the month during the school term.

I extend my wish for a fun filled day on Sunday week (7 September) to all of our families. Most will have an opportunity to pay respect to that significant male figure in the children’s lives. Dads and grandfathers put your feet up and rest at some stage throughout the day. Enjoy the day, whether receiving a can cooler or a recliner chair. We also remember those grandfathers and dads no longer with us but their legacy lives on.

Thank you to our diligent P&C and staff who on Friday, 5 September will provide a great tribute to dads and other significant male figures at the annual Fathers’ Day Breakfast. It will also be Jersey Day.

Next week, kind P&C parent volunteers will provide the students with an opportunity to purchase some Fathers’ Day items ensuring all dads will be well and truly spoilt on Sunday week.

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

There always seems to be a lot going on at Samuel Gilbert and this fortnight has been no exception. 

Our book character parade on Monday of last week was a lot of fun and students and teachers got into the spirit of the day with some sensational costumes. It was great to have a large number of parents in attendance and even some preschoolers who appreciated the opportunity to parade. Thanks to Mr Hands for the coordination of this event. 

On Wednesday children enjoyed a talk from author, Matt Rankin who described his journey of becoming a published author and shared some of his story about his novel Sapphire Millie. 

Congratulations to Sophi H. (4) who was the winner of the Sapphire Millie colouring competition.

The weather certainly challenged the Winter Sport PSSA competition this term interrupting matches throughout the term and making the finals series a total washout.
Congratulations to our Junior AFL, Senior Girls Newcombe Ball, both Junior Netball teams and our Senior Blue team who were declared joint premiers for reaching the final. Our Rugby League teams were forced to miss the semi finals due to the condition of the ground leaving them to run in at third or fourth in the competition.

Our Summer competition resumes on 12 September. 

The wait is over for the students who earlier this year sat for selective school and opportunity class placement in 2026. Last Friday students were notified of the outcome for selective school placement and this Friday opportunity class placements should be released. 

Congratulations to all students who secured a placement or who were put on a reserve list. These positions are extremely competitive so we hope that those who missed out are not too discouraged as we are sure you will find success at your high school of choice. 

For students currently in Year 3 and 5 applications for these classes in 2027 will open in November this year. 

On Tuesday night Ms Medcalf’s choir and Miss Stacey’s Stage 1, 2 and 3 dance groups took to the stage at Evan Theatre, Penrith Panthers. Congratulations to all our students on their fabulous performances and also to Mrs Medcalf who conducted the massed choir. It was wonderful to see so many Samuel Gilbert families in the audience and we thank you for supporting your child’s participation in these events. Thanks also to Mrs Foscholo, Mrs Spears and Mrs McLeod who braved that terrible traffic and gave up their evening at home to provide the necessary supervision of our groups for this event. It is appreciated.

On Sunday Miss Stacey’s groups will pe participating in the Hills Dance Spectacular at Pacific Hills. We wish them the best of luck for this event. 

On Monday our team of 50 students attended the Zone Athletics Carnival at Blacktown International Sports Park. At last the weather was kind to us and it was a perfect day to run, jump and throw. Congratulations to all students whose collective effort saw Samuel Gilbert place 3^rd.
Thanks to Mrs Khakh and Mr Lau for acting as officials on the day and to Mr Whybrow who managed the team.  

Particular congratulations to our 9 students who will go on to represent us at the Area Carnival on Thursday 25 September at the Sydney Athletic Centre:
- Aria F. – Junior 800m and 1500m
- Savannah F – Senior Long Jump, 200m and 12yrs 100m
- Jarlath J. – Senior Shot Put
- Caelan D. – 11 yrs Shot Put and Discus
- Beverly B. – 11 yrs 100m
- Zara M. – Senior 200m
- Senior Boys Relay – Coope S., Harrison W., Asher T. and Jarlath J.
- Senior Girls Relay – Zara M., Savannah F., Beverly B. and Hannah P. 

Both Aria and Savannah placed third in their Individual Age point score for the day. Congratulations girls!

A reminder to all parents and carers who access the staff carpark either before or after school to exercise care when entering or exiting this area. Children need to cross the driveway from the pedestrian gate to get to the Kiss and Drop and also need to cross it in the morning to reach the school gate. Please drive slowly and carefully. 

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

Literacy and Numeracy is an annual event to encourage and celebrate literacy and numeracy. This year, Literacy and Numeracy Week is held from 29 August to 4 September. As your child engages in plenty of literacy and numeracy learning experiences at school, you can also take the opportunity to encourage your child to continue a love of learning at home.

Here are some fun and engaging literacy and numeracy games you can try at home:

• Alphabet attack: Think of unique words for given categories starting with a specified letter.    Make a list of 6 categories (for example, food, nature, countries, colours, animals and objects) and then number them 1-6. Roll a dice to determine the category. Set a timer for 3 minutes. Write down words for each letter of the alphabet for the category rolled. After time is up, compare answers and score unique entries.
• Letter quest/letter scramble: Find as many words as possible in the grid of letters. Create a grid of letters using pen and paper or letter tiles. Set a timer for 3 minutes. Find and write down words formed by connecting adjacent letters. When time is up, compare and score your words.
• Numeracy battle (card game): Practise basic numeracy skills. Use a standard deck of cards with face cards removed or use cards with numbers. Divide the deck evenly between 2 players. Each player flips over a card at the same time and solves a numeracy problem (addition, subtraction, multiplication) using the numbers on the cards. The player with the highest answer wins both cards. If the answers are the same, it's a "battle," and players flip more cards. The player with the most cards at the end wins.
• High 5: Practise advanced arithmetic and probability. Use a standard deck of cards. Assign values to face cards (for example, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13). Deal 5 cards to each player. Players create the highest-scoring hand using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. The player with the highest total score wins. Variation: Create the highest-scoring hand using more advanced operations including fractions, percentages, ratios and square roots.

Other word and numeracy game ideas include:

• Bananagrams, Scrabble, Articulate, 5 Second Rule
• Online word games such as Wordle and Wordiply
• Hangman
• Rubik’s Cube challenges
• Create your own crosswords or find-a-words
• Sudoku
• Snakes and Ladders

Happy Literacy and Numeracy Week!

Students are always engaging in quality Maths lessons at SGPS. Below are photos of students from 1L and 5S enjoying hands-on numeracy activities this week in classrooms.

Amanda Keane
Relieving Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the school community for their support despite the obvious disappointment following the unfortunate postponement of the Great Fete.  Please read the message from Katie Pike, Fete Co-ordinator and SGPS P&C President:

“I want to thank everyone for their understanding following the postponement of the Great Fete 2025.  Unfortunately, due to almost constant rain the 2 weeks prior to the fete, and then another all day downpour on the Thursday 14^th August, we were unable to get any of the rides, stage or food providers to their location on the oval without significant damage to the school oval that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to rectify.  In addition, the oval also posed an injury risk to any that walked on it, as even with the sunny day on the Sunday, the ground was still wet, muddy and slippery.  We made the decision to postpone as we believe it will mean we can hold an amazing event a little later in the year.

Firstly we are very thankful to the School and the School Executive for their support to the Great Fete Committee as we made these difficult decisions – they helped us to explore any way possible for us to put the event on at the original time, and were so accommodating to us in working through what was best for the kids and the community.  We are very thankful for the cooperation of all of our suppliers who agreed to waive any charges and move the booking to the new date.  We thank all of our dedicated Sponsors (listed below) for their understanding and support. We are also so thankful for all of our community members who donated and turned up on the Sunday 17^th August to our Upcycle stall and Cake and Lolly stall – it was nice to still have such a great sense of community on what was a more low-key day.

We look forward to putting an amazing event on for the whole community in November this year when it will be a little warmer, and (hopefully) a lot drier!!”

Well the good news is that the event has been re-scheduled to Saturday 29 November. Further event details will follow.

The P&C would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all those who supported the Great Fete with their time and resources. Thank you to our parents, carers, grandparents and family members for your donations, for selling raffle tickets, baking and volunteering. To everyone who helped, thank you. We would also like to thank our Principal Greg McLaren, the School Executive and school staff for their support. 

We are also very grateful to our Fete sponsors and supporters. A special shout out to our Principal Sponsor, Manor Real Estate for their support as well as:
Greentech
Signature Solar
Vertex Electrical & Air Conditioning
Sophie Lea Photography
Shine Bright Dental
Robert Cliff Master Jewellers
Ozzy Outhouse Hire
Data Driven
Ignite Music
Knightsbridge Bakehouse

The planning associated with the Great Fete would not be made possible without the hard work of the Great Fete committee led by Katie Pike, our SGPS P&C President and supported by a team of dedicated committee members. On behalf of our school community, thank you to the Fete Committee for the work you have done in advance of the event. We look forward to the Great Fete in Term 4.

The Father’s Day Stall this year will be held next week on Tuesday 2^nd and Wednesday 3^rd September. Left over stock will be sold on Friday 5 September. Please check which day your child/children are scheduled below to attend the stall and send in cash and a plastic bag to attend the stall. Items are priced between $1 - $10 and children are welcome to purchase more than one item. We need volunteers to help run the Stall and serve the children so if you can assist on the day, please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/FNpBcBc 

 Our annual Father’s Day BBQ is scheduled for next Friday 5 September 7:30am-8:30am. Our students love welcoming their Dad’s, Grandpa’s and special Father Figures onsite to share some time together at school. Please book and pay by Wednesday 3 September here: https://www.trybooking.com/DFCFK. Also, if you can help, we need volunteers to cook and serve. Please sign up at https://signup.com/go/ZoneWrF. A big thank you to Matt and Fiona Young for their organisation of this event.

We are looking for someone to co-ordinate the organisation of this year’s Parent/Daughter Camp. The role is largely an administrative one. This event is a fabulous opportunity for parents to engage in camp activities with their daughters in Years 3-6. Without a co-ordinator, unfortunately the event won’t run. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Katie Pike at president@sgpspc.org.au.

* Father’s Day Stall – Tuesday 2^nd September, Wednesday 3^rd September and Friday 5^th of September
* Father’s Day Breakfast and Jersey Day – Friday 5^th of September
*P&C September Meeting – Tuesday 9^th September 7:30pm in the Library
*P&C October Meeting: Tuesday 14^th October 7:30pm School Library
*P&C AGM: Tuesday 11^th November 7:30pm (General Meeting followed by AGM)

More information: For more information on events and news please check out the following:
*Website: www.sgpspc.org.au
*Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SGPSPC
*School website: www.samuelgilbertnsw.edu.au
*School app: You can find the link to the school app on our front page of the www.sgpspc.org.au website

Kind regards,

Elizabeth Tye
SGPS P&C

Dear Parents and Carers,

Regrettably, due to weather and safety concerns, we did not perform at the Great Fete as originally planned. The event has been postponed to Saturday, 29th November. We will keep you updated with any further details as we get closer to the new date.

The Training Band will be performing during the K-2 Assembly in Week 9 of this term, on Friday, 19th September. 

We invite all parents who are able to attend to come and watch your child perform. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

In Term 4, we will be inviting expressions of interest to current Year 2-5 students to join the School’s Band Program. Why not start thinking about this now? Below is some helpful information to assist you in making an informed decision.

Did you know?
Research in Australia indicates that learning a musical instrument enhances cognitive skills (problem-solving and memory), boosts academic performance, develops fine motor skills, fosters creativity and improves social and emotional well-being through increased confidence and connection with others. 

The SGPS P&C offers your child the opportunity to develop many cognitive, creative and academic benefits through the playing of a musical instrument in our Band Program. 

Have you considered signing your child up for Band?

Talk to your child about which instrument they might like to play. You can introduce them to different instruments by viewing this link https://youtu.be/CCTeSjpDsIs 

Please save the date for the Band Information Night on Tuesday 28^th October. All interested parents and students are invited to attend. Further details will be provided shortly. 

We look forward to fostering a love of music and supporting our students in their musical journey!

Kind Regards,
Band Co-ordinator Samuel Gilbert Public School Band

We have had a bad week for children not having lunches. We have had over 30 children with no lunch this week. Please make sure you put your orders through correctly or that your children have enough lunch.  If you have ordered lunch and then your child is sick please cancel their order or ring the school and ask to speak to canteen and we will see what we can do. 

Thanks,
Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

On Tuesday last week SGPS hosted our school finals of the Hills Public Speaking Competition, showcasing the public speaking skills of our students from Year 3 to 6. The confidence and eloquence that which our students spoke was evident across all year levels.
Well done to everyone for demonstrating great courage and communication skills. We are proud of all our students’ efforts throughout Year 3 to 6 and look forward to seeing even more confident speakers in the future!
Here is the list of our winners and runners up.
Year 3:  
Winner: Keaton (3G)  
Runner Up: Rose (3G)
Year 4:  
Winner: Zaria (4W)  
Runner Up: Aiden (4N)
Year 5: 
Winner: Blake (5S)  
Runner Up: Lara (5P)
Year 6:  
Winner: Jiya (6H)  
Runner Up: Ted (6W)

Our winners will be representing SGPS at the Hills Public Speaking Finals at Dural Public School on Tuesday 23^rd September and we wish them the best of luck for the finals.

Mr Jerome Wicks
Public Speaking and Debating Coorindator 

We have welcomed a number of new students who speak other languages to Samuel Gilbert P. S. this term from either overseas or other schools. 

EAL/D (English as an additional language or dialect) students across the school have continued to participate in small group or one on one EALD lessons with Ms Meyers to help improve their skills in using the English language. Kindergarten groups have been learning about families and writing sentences using verbs and basic punctuation. A phonics game using fly swats has been very popular. Stage 1 groups have participated in parallel lessons studying parts of Component B from the English syllabus where we have focused on grammar and writing sentences. One on one lessons have a targeted focus on phonics as well as reading and comprehending texts. Older EALD students have been practising using correct punctuation and grammar to write more accurately.

These stunning works are currently on display outside 2SB so please come and have a look.

Week 7
Monday, 1 September
K-1 Spring Carnival
SASS Recognition Week
Tuesday, 2 September
Primary Proms Rehearsal
Fathers' Day Stall
Wednesday, 3 September
Tri-Schools Debate 11am-1pm - SGPS hosting
Fathers' Day Stall
Thursday, 4 September
Stage 2 Incursion
Friday, 5 September
Jersey Day/Fathers' Breakfast
Fathers' Day Stall

Week 8
Monday, 8 September 
Stage 3 Canberra Excursion years 5 & 6
Tuesday, 9 September
Stage 3 Canberra Excursion years 5 & 6
P&C Meeting at 7:30pm in the Library
Wednesday, 10 September
Stage 3 Canberra Excursion years 5 & 6
Thursday, 11 September
Stage 2 Incursion
Student voice meeting Amelia S. and Sahir P.