This year marks the 40^th year of quality teaching and learning at our school. The school staff and P&C are scheduling several activities to commemorate this special milestone.

We are giving advanced notice of one planned event for next term. On Friday, 21 August the school will hold an open evening. All current, past and prospective families as well as past and present school staff are invited to attend. The special occasion will include food trucks, coffee vans, memorabilia display, student and community activities, performance groups, open classrooms and fireworks.

A couple of times each term, I have morning tea with our elected Year 6 student leaders: Blake, Caressa, Kailen, Kirsten, Lara, Lachlan, Joel, Parnia, Emily, and Asher. I am always impressed by the innovative ideas this group brings forward. They offer valuable insights from a student perspective on ways to improve the school experience for their peers. This week, the leaders discussed maintaining a safe playground, sports shirts recycling and multicultural learning experiences. Many of their suggestions are then discussed through our larger Student Representative Council (SRC). Our student captains also have the privilege to share our student views through the broader Minister’s Student Voice meetings.

The theme for this year’s Gifted Awareness Week is ‘Varied Voice, Shared Future’. The term ‘gifted’ is often mistakenly linked solely to students who are high-achieving and do not require additional support. As High Potential and Gifted Education is a priority area for our school, we strive to expand the conversation by highlighting the diverse experiences of gifted students, particularly those who may show their abilities in unexpected ways. Some students can face various challenges, including frustration, irritability, anxiety, perfectionism, low mood, low self-esteem, low motivation, and social isolation.

Our school undoubtedly hosts the most impressive Book Fair in the State, thanks in large part to Mr Hands’ exceptional organisation and creative use of costumes to encourage a love of reading. Representatives from the providers of the books, Scholastic, visited the school last week with the State Manager praising how our school library creates a warm learning environment and promotes reading. Students have the opportunity next week to purchase books to enjoy, and the school will earn a commission from these sales, which will be used to purchase additional reading materials for the library. Let us always remember—reading is cool both at home and at school.

Throughout the week, students are invited to the administration area to showcase their learning achievements and high-quality work. To recognise these accomplishments with staff and special visitors, I record their names in my Gold Book. This book highlights outstanding mathematicians, writers, artists, scientists, athletes, diligent self-improvers, well-mannered students, and more. Each ‘gold’ achievement is also acknowledged with a Principal’s sticker.

Our school is committed to building a safe and happy environment for students, staff, parents and the broader community. We encourage parents and carers to advocate strongly on their child’s behalf and, as part of this, expect them to raise concerns about their child.  Sometimes these concerns may relate to the way a child may have been treated by another student at this school. 

It is natural for parents and carers to feel protective of their children. However, you must not raise any concerns you have about the behaviour of another child directly with that child (or his or her parents while they are at school) but should instead report your concerns to the school executive.  We strongly encourage that parents and carers do not use social media to vent their concern. Your concerns will be taken seriously and responded to promptly by the school.

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. As mentioned previously, this event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 9 June, the day after the King’s Birthday public holiday. More information will be provided through the school App.

Influenza is spread from person-to-person through the coughing or sneezing of infected people. Remind your child about these good hygiene practices to minimise the spread of infection:

è Anyone who is sick with influenza symptoms should stay home until their symptoms are gone.

è Cover the nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Throw the tissue in the garbage bin after use.

è Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

è Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

If you or your child develops influenza-like illness, seek the advice of your family doctor as you would with any other illness.

The seasonal influenza vaccine, which protects against the pandemic influenza strain as well as two other influenza strains, is now available free to eligible people. More information about the vaccine is available from the NSW Health Immunisation Unit's vaccination page.

Please discuss with your child the importance of looking after their belongings as also mentioned by the school staff in this week’s assembly. Ensure school jackets and jumpers are labelled. During the day children get hot and take them off. They cannot be returned to them if the name is not clearly on the item. Hats still need to be worn every day. Some hats have seen better days and may need replacing. The uniform shows the rest of community how proud we are to be at this school.

Greg McLaren 
PRINCIPAL

A huge thankyou to the P&C for the fabulous Mother’ Day celebration held last week, led by Paddy Jessing and Kally Mitchell. Thankyou also to the many volunteers, Dads, Mums and OOSH staff who worked on the Mothers’ Day stall and on the morning of the breakfast. 

The event was a huge success with children, mothers and grandmothers enjoying a choice of a hot or cold breakfast, coffee and special activities in the hall with each other. 

It was wonderful to see so many happy faces enjoying time together in this way. 

Next Friday 22 May is National Walk Safely to School Day. Now in its 27th year, this Australian initiative encourages primary school children to walk, scoot, or cycle to school to promote healthier habits, road safety and reduced traffic congestion, particularly encouraging children under 10 to hold an adult's hand when crossing the road. 

We encourage families to take part by walking ( cycling or scooting)  all the way to school or by parking a few blocks away and walking the rest. We’d love to see some photos of your children taking part in Walk Safely to School Day. 

The new CDC bus route, 3064/3664 servicing Middleton Road and Showground Village is now operating. Please let children know that they need to be at the top of the front stairs directly after school as the bus leaves promptly at 3:00pm. 

A reminder that students must have a valid Opal Card and tap on and off when catching the bus. 

This week Stage 2 and Stage 3 have held the Samuel Gilbert Multicultural Speaking Finals. The standard of speeches from all speakers was extremely high making selecting only one winner from each grade a very difficult task for our judges. All speeches were engaging and reflected a wonderful understanding of multiculturalism in Australia. Every student spoke with confidence, personality and sincerity. 

The Stage 3 winners were Zaria K. and Parnia NS. who chose the topics “Towards Peace” and “Welcome to the World Cup” respectively. 

The Stage 2 winners were Rhianna S. and Keaton W. who chose to speak on “Growing Together” and “Every Family Has a Story”.

Congratulations to the 4 students who will represent Samuel Gilbert at the Western Sydney Local Final on Thursday 18 June at Jasper Road PS. We know you will do an amazing job. 

109 students are eagerly awaiting band camp which will be held again this year at the Benedict Retreat Centre in Grose Vale. Thanks to Ms Appave, Mrs Medcalf, Mr Wicks and Mrs O’Connor who will be attending the camp with the students. Students from 4O and 6W not attending camp will join the other Year 4 and Year 6 classes for the Monday and Tuesday of the camp in Week 6. 

Congratulations to the Senior Girls Netball and Senior Boys Football Knock Out teams who both won the first round of their knockout competition. Both teams had convincing wins with Netball defeating Carlingford West PS 38-22 and Football defeating Riverbank 8-0. 

The girls played their second round yesterday against Parramatta West PS and were very convincing winners. Their Round 3 match will be against the winner of a match between Governor Philip King PS and played at SGPS. 

The boys will play Kings Langley PS next Tuesday at Bella Vista PS.

Boys Softball will meet Metella Road PS for their first round match next Wednesday, 20 May while the Girls Touch team will play their Round 2 match against Carlingford West on Wednesday 27 May at Castle Glen between 11:10 and 12:10. 

We wish all teams the best of luck in the upcoming rounds. 

Most teams will train on Friday mornings if the weather is fine with the exception of the Boys Football team which will train on a day to be confirmed. 

Girls Football, League Tag and AFL will train at 8:00, Netball at 8:10 and Newcombe Ball at 8:20am.. 

The eSafety Commisioner provides detailed information and resources to help families stay safe on line. The following links provide advice to parents on working with their children to ensure they are cyber safe. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSjiJydc_4IbIAgAFjSrgf7wmxV7nazycqVGPxoX9BNxRsh5SG7YmdXcjZUkwwG7VjYP-XPhNtPngmB/pubhtml

https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/cybermarvel/parents

Last week marked the beginning of the Trischools Debating Competition, with our teams competing against Sherwood Ridge Public School in two engaging debates.

Team 1, made up of Audrey W, Mikayla L, Savannah T and Ethan W, took the affirmative position on the topic, “Primary school classes should have a class pet.” The team confidently presented their arguments and effectively rebutted the opposition’s points, earning a well-deserved victory.

Team 2, consisting of Maggie H, Danbi H, Parnia S and Ira B, debated from the negative side on the topic, “Schools should force students to wear a uniform.” They delivered a range of strong and persuasive arguments, impressing the adjudicator and securing another win for our school.

We look forward to Round 2 in Week 7 for our Trischools teams, while our Premiers Debaters will begin their competition in Week 5. We wish all students the very best as they continue to develop their debating skills and represent the school with confidence.

Mr Wicks
 Debating Coordinator

On Thursday 7th May, nearly 50 Samuel Gilbert students competed in the Castle Hill Zone Cross Country Carnival at Masonic Oval in Baulkham Hills. Our students joined competitors from 17 other schools, with over 100 students participating in each race. Throughout the day, Samuel Gilbert students represented their school with pride, sportsmanship and respect. It was a highly successful event, with Samuel Gilbert placing 3rd overall and several students qualifying to represent Castle Hill Zone at the Sydney West Cross Country Championships later this term on June 8.

Our junior racers were the first competitors of the day and, for many, it was their first experience competing at zone level. In the 8/9 Boys race, Harvey Cu finished in an impressive 3rd place, while Harvey Cl placed 7th, earning both boys a place at the Sydney West Championships.

Following the junior events, it was time for the senior races. The 11 Years Girls and Boys tackled the challenging 3km course for the first time with outstanding success. Aria F claimed 1st place convincingly in the 11 Years Girls’ race and will progress to Sydney West. Olivia W and Leonard Y both achieved 10th place in their respective races, they will be reserves for the Area Carnival. 

The 11 Years’ Girls and 8/9 Years Boys’ team also won their age championship — a fantastic achievement! 

The final races of the day featured the 12/13 Years Girls and Boys. Celene H finished 4th and will advance to Sydney West, while Mia D placed 9^th earning a place as a reserve. 

Congratulations to all of our runners on a wonderful day of competition and achievement. We wish the best of luck to all students who will be representing Castle Hill Zone at the Sydney West Championships to be held at the Sydney Equestrian Centre on Thursday 9 June 2026.

Kat Stephens 

School Cross Country Convenor

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

The Year 1 Number Screening Check is a short statewide assessment that tells teachers how your child is progressing in early number sense. All Year 1 children will be individually assessed by a teacher during Week 4 to Week 6 of this term.

This screening check observes how your child can recognise numbers, order numbers, count, compare, and add and subtract. Some children find developing number sense challenging, so it is important these children are identified quickly. The main purpose of the screener is to provide your child’s teacher with information which will allow them to plan for your child’s learning and any specific support they may need. Your child will sit with the class teacher and will be asked to answer 30 questions. The screener normally takes up to 15 minutes. If your child is having difficulty, the teacher will stop the screener. The screener is carefully designed not to be stressful for your child.

Number sense is the ability to understand, relate to, and work with numbers effectively to participate in daily life and make sense of the world. If children are having difficulty with developing number sense skills, it is important these children are identified in the early years of learning. Why is number sense important? A good foundation in number sense supports your child to understand more complex mathematical concepts in the later years of primary school and high school.

If you have any questions about the Year 1 Number Screening Check, please see your child’s teacher.

Amanda Keane
Relieving Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

6W has been buzzing with excitement over the past term and a half! 

In Term 1, we were thrilled to be paired with our wonderful Kinder buddies. From the moment we met their smiling faces, we loved helping them feel welcome at Samuel Gilbert Public School. Every Wednesday has been packed with fun as we’ve worked together, shared laughs, and created special memories — especially while helping them design their fabulous Easter hats for the Easter Hat Parade! We can’t wait for even more adventures with our buddies throughout the rest of the year.

Term 2 has already been action-packed! In English, we’ve been diving into the powerful story of WWII through the eyes of a young Russian soldier, Sergey Aleshkov, in the novel Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad. We are especially excited because 6W and our sister class, 6S, are joining forces to perform a dramatic play inspired by the novel for our upcoming assembly item. Be sure to come along to the Week 8 Primary Assembly for a sneak peek into our amazing performance — it’s one you won’t want to miss!

It has been a busy and exciting start to the year for 6S!

One of the highlights for our class has been working with our buddies each week. The Year 6 students absolutely love spending time with their younger buddies and have enjoyed building strong relationships with them throughout the term. Recently, we helped our buddies create Easter hats for the Easter Hat Parade and worked alongside them to practise their phonics through a range of fun and engaging games. It has been wonderful to see the care, patience and leadership shown by our students.

6S has also taken part in several exciting whole-school experiences, including Cultural Infusion Day and DigiEd activities. These opportunities allowed students to explore new ideas, celebrate culture and develop their creativity and technology skills in engaging ways.

Students have also been involved in the Wet and Wild environmental education problem-solving competition, where they worked collaboratively to tackle creative challenges and deepen their understanding of Australian wildlife and environmental sustainability. These opportunities have encouraged teamwork, creativity and critical thinking skills. 

Another highlight this term was visiting the Life Education Van. Students enjoyed participating in the engaging lessons and, for many Year 6 students, it was a little sad saying goodbye to Harold for the last time before heading off to high school next year!

Meanwhile, our next big project is already taking shape! 6S and 6W are combining to perform our assembly item based on the novel Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad. Rehearsals are now in full swing and students have been enthusiastically practising their lines, acting and performance pieces. We cannot wait to share our performance with everyone in Week 8 this term!

Mrs L Spears

6S Classroom Teacher

On Thursday 30th April, Samuel Gilbert PS competed in the 2026 Hills Paul Kelly Cup. We were off to a strong start winning all our group games against Arden Anglican (38-0), St Bernadette’s (30-7), and Excelsior PS (58-0) by comfortable margins. It was wonderful to see our boys display great sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the games. It was a tough Semi Final against Kellyville PS but we emerged victorious 22-0 thanks to a revitalised second half performance. In the Final, we played against Santa Sophia who proved to be too strong of an opponent as the siren blew with a scoreline of 5-19. Congratulations to our boys for playing so well throughout the day, especially those who were new to AFL.

Mr Lau

Term 2 Events 

This Friday, 15^th May (week 4)

The Concert Band will be performing at the school’s Assembly. Mrs Skinner is very pleased with how the band is progressing. If you’re available, please come down and watch them perform!

Band Camp (week 6): 

Monday 25^th May and Tuesday 26^th May 

Our most anticipated event of the year! Mrs Skinner and Mr Goddard along with seven specialist tutors, are preparing and rehearsing selected pieces.

There will be four dedicated Teachers and fun activities for all the students to enjoy, creating memorable experiences for everyone.

We are seeking two – four volunteers to assist with the truck/transportation of the instruments at 7:30am on Monday 25 May and Tuesday 26 May for the return trip. Without the instruments, we have no Band Camp so if you can assist, please contact Greg Pratley as soon as possible at sgpsbandcoordinator@gmail.com.

Grandparents Day (week 8): Tuesday, 9^th June featuring performances from all bands.

GWS Music festival (week 8): Sunday, 14^th June featuring all three bands.

Winter Concert (week 10): Wednesday, 24^th June 6-7pm featuring all three bands.

ASBOF (week 4) Sunday, 16^th August featuring Concert Band and Performance Band. More details to follow.

Friday, 18^th September (week 9) Training Band will perform at the Assembly.

Additional Term 3 events are to be confirmed.

Please Note:  

All event details will be posted on Bandforte: https://www.bandforte.com.au

Please use Bandforte to confirm your child's attendance at all events and to notify us of any absences to normal rehearsals due to sickness, dental appointments, or other commitments.

If you do not have access to Bandforte, please contact the Band Coordinator via email:    sgpsbandcoordinator@gmail.com

Kind regards,

Band Co-ordinator Samuel Gilbert Public School Band

We hope that all our Mum’s, Grandma’s and Mother Figures enjoyed Mother’s Day especially when celebrated with gifts from the P&C Mother’s Day Stall. A big thank you to Paddy and each and every one of our fabulous parent and carer volunteers for your time and effort in making our Mother’s Day Stall and Breakfast such a success last week. 

Next week is National Volunteer Week and we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our amazing volunteers who serve our school community. Where there is a need, our SGPS family shows up. And it does not go unnoticed! Research shows that children benefit when their parents or carers are actively involved in their education and school life. The P&C facilitate programs, services and events for the benefit of our students and their family. Our uniform shop, canteen, Band program and every P&C event does not happen without volunteer effort. Thank you to all our volunteers who make an impact on our school community by giving their time, talents and resources. We appreciate you! 

As was reported at our recent P&C Meeting: 

• Our Mother’s Day stall provides our students with a unique opportunity to make decisions about what to purchase and how to use money as well as the opportunity to acknowledge their Mum’s, Grandma’s and Mother Figures. Our Mother’s Day stall this year was without a co-ordinator so a big thank you to Kally Mitchell for organising the gifts and to Paddy Jessing and Reetu Kumar and all our volunteers who helped make this much-loved event happen. The stall generated a profit of $2,700.00 – a wonderful result! Thank you to all our volunteers who helped serve on the stall too! 
• We sold over 450 tickets for the Mother’s Day Breakfast this year, making a profit of $2,000.00. A big thank you to Paddy Jessing who did a fabulous job in co-ordinating the event for the first time and Samantha Crow for coordinating the coffee van and hall setup with activities. A huge thank you as well to our volunteers and SGOOSH and Canteen staff for assisting on the day.   

With plans underway for further the next stage of our playground improvements, all funds raised by the P&C are used to benefit all our students. Can you help with the next initiative? If you would like to be involved in any of the events or activities of the P&C, please reach out to our P&C President at president@sgpspc.org.au.

Grandparents Day will be held on Tuesday, 9th June (Week 8) immediately following the June long weekend. This is one of our most loved and well attended school events of the year. Parents are invited to help by providing cakes, biscuits, scones or slices for our Grandparents (and Grandparent figures) to enjoy on this special day. We seem to run out every year and so we would like to invite every family to contribute something towards the morning tea. 

Volunteers will also be needed to help with serving coffee and tea and preparing platters (9am-11:30am). Food can be brought to the canteen on the canteen before school on the day. 

If you can assist on the day, please sign up here.

For further information, please see the note issued on the school app. 

Thank you to our volunteers and Canteen staff for their support of this event. 

You can still make a difference in our school community in 2025! Why don’t you come along to our next P&C meeting for Term 2. Join us on Tuesday 9th June at 7:30pm. We would love to see you in person the School Library or alternatively, online.

If in the meantime you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our President, Paddy Jessing at president@sgpspc.org.au.

Upcoming Events

• Band Camp: Monday/Tuesday 25^th-26^th May
• Grandparents Day: Tuesday 9^th June 2026 – parent morning tea donations and volunteers needed.
• P&C Meeting @ 7:30pm Tuesday 9^th June 2026 in the School Library/Online
• P&C Meeting Tuesday 11^th August, 7:30pm

Kind regards,

Elizabeth Tye

SGPS P&C  

etye@sgpspc.org.au

We are in need of volunteers in the next few weeks, especially Friday’s. Please look up the sign up and help us out.
Please make your child/ children have lunch we still have a few children each day without lunch.
Thanks Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn 

 Library borrowing fact: So far in this year, 7 954 items have been borrowed. It is wonderful to see so many children borrowing books from the library, keep up the great efforts! Having access to quality literature is so important for all children, please encourage your children to bring their library bag on their library day to borrow books.

Monday:          1L, 1E, 1B, 1O, KK, KJ

Tuesday:          3JK, 3S, KT, KB, 3R

Wednesday:    4O, 4H, 2ZT, 5W, 5G

Thursday:        5PE, KA, 2SB, 5C

Friday:             4P, 2N, 2M

Only a few days to go! Our annual Bookfair will be occurring this term! 

When is it all happening?

Week 5: Books arrive Thursday 21 May

Week 5: Sneak Peak Day Friday 22 May

Week 6: Sales Start Monday 25 May

Week 7: Final Sales Wednesday 3 June

Week 7: Books depart Thursday 4 June

Come along and have a look at some fantastic examples of children’s literature, buy a book or two for home or maybe purchase a book to donate to the school library. The Bookfair will be open for parents, friends and family daily:

8:20am-8:50am and 3:00pm-4:00pm (except Tuesday afternoons).

I look forward to seeing everyone there, and if you keep watch, you may even see a book character or two appearing throughout the Bookfair.

The Thursday Morning Read is on every week, 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 some 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 look forward to seeing lots of you on Thursday morning.

Our second Treasure Hunt of 2026 will be starting Monday, Week 3 – 4^th May 2026. Careful, there is a special trick to this challenge. 

If you have some time, please pop in and see me for a bag of books and some clear contact to cover some of our new acquisitions for the library collection. This is a great opportunity to see some of the popular books that your children may be interested in borrowing and give you the opportunity to encourage them to borrow some new books to read. Keep an eye on the School App for notifications that there are books in need of covering.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge has started, please register your children to participate in this wonderful program, successful completion of the challenge will earn a certificate for your child’s efforts and, if the challenge is completed consistently across a number of years, a medallion at the end of the challenge. 

2026 Key Dates:

Challenge opens: Monday 23 February 2026

Challenge closes to students: Friday 18 September 2026

Challenge closes to coordinators: Friday 25 September 2026

How to Log-on to the Premier’s Reading Challenge:

Log into 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 DET Portal, please speak to your child’s class teacher. 
 
 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.   

Rules:

For all the rules and booklists for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, please visit the Premier’s Reading Challenge website.

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.

 Important Term 2 Dates in the Library

Book Club 

Wk4: Orders for Issue 3 close – Friday 15 May

Wk6: Issue #4 Order forms distributed

Wk8: Orders for Issue 4 close.

Bookfair

Wk5: Books arrive Thursday 21 May

Wk5: Sneak Peak Day Friday 22 May

Wk6: Sales Start Monday 25 May

Wk7: Final Sales Wednesday 3 June

Wk7: Books depart Thursday 4 June

Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC)

Ongoing until Friday 18 September, 2026.

Yours in reading,

Adam Hands, 

Librarian.