Dear Parents and Carers,

Without doubt our students are well catered for at Samuel Gilbert PS. As Principal, I am extremely proud of our student achievements largely due to school staff and parents’ joint involvement. School staff at Samuel Gilbert PS should be congratulated for their willingness and commitment to the many additional unpaid hours they offer to programs for our students. That is beyond the important delivery of the curriculum in the classroom and dedication to professional learning. We strive to provide a high standard of primary school experience enabling opportunities for our students, now and in the future. Feedback about how effectively the school operates is always welcome for enhancement. We thank those parents and carers who show respect and appreciation to our teaching and support staff as we all raise a standard beyond the School Community Charter:
https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/public-schools/going-to-a-public-school/media/documents/school-community-charter.pdf
For the continuation of additional programs our students/your child experiences we greatly encourage larger parental involvement in school P&C events and extra curricula programs.

Spreading the illustrious name of Samuel Gilbert PS further in the greater community this term are the many debating teams, public speakers, choral, dance, instrumental groups. Thank you to our talented student performers as well as their supervising teachers. We also thank our conductors and volunteer parents.

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.

The L&ST committee meets fortnightly during each term to review the learning programs of students who have been referred. These children are those identified as gifted and talented, needing further numeracy and literacy support as well as others in need of additional learning support. The L&ST also reviews students who are being funded through various State or Commonwealth programs. Both teachers and parents can refer a student to the L&ST. Referrals to the L&ST may be for reasons related to gifted and talented opportunities or support for learning difficulties. If a teacher refers a child, the parent is informed. Conversely, if parents would like to refer their child, I would hope that the parent would have met with the class teacher to discuss the reasons for the referral and then jointly complete the referral forms. In some circumstances, the parent does not want the teacher informed. If that is the case, referral forms can be obtained from the school office, completed and returned to Ms Appave, Deputy Principal, to take to the L&ST meeting.

Please click on the link below to give us feedback on how your child's learning needs are being met at SGPS.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L-ST32023

Ten years ago with the implementation of Every Student, Every School, the Department of Education made changes to the way students can receive additional support with their learning. As part of the framework, the position of a Learning and Support Teacher (LaST) was established. The position is held by the diligent Mrs Noni Medcalf at our school. The role of the LaST is to improve outcomes for students with additional learning and support needs. Students require different levels of support which can be given to them in a variety of ways to suit their needs. Working collaboratively with the classroom teacher, planning teaching programs, modelling best classroom practice, providing specialist advice and assisting teachers with professional learning are a few strategies the LaST teacher can apply when assisting our students and staff.

If your child is covered by parenting (plan) agreements or consent (custody) orders can you please provide an updated copy to the school as soon as possible.

SASS Recognition Week is from 4-8 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: Ms Frank, Ms Martinuzzo, Ms Curic, Ms Nicolussi, Ms Johns, Ms Irvine, Ms Forbes, Ms Stevens, Ms Nixon, Ms Rasalingam, Ms Payam, Ms Kathilingham, Ms Prinsloo, Mr Tuala, Mr Cellich 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.

The next P&C meeting will be held next Tuesday evening. 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 new school library at 7.30pm every second Tuesday of the month during the school term.

Students return to school for Term 4 on Monday, 9 October.
Parents are reminded that students are required to wear their summer uniform from Day 1, Term 4 (9 October). At times, children may misplace their belongings so please name / label all items.

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

Last Friday the combined effort of P&C, school staff and OOSH staff provided approximately 450 egg and bacon rolls to over 170 families to celebrate Fathers’ Day. It was a fantastic event and a great opportunity to celebrate the men in our students’ lives. Many dads and children donned their favourite jerseys in recognition of Jersey Day and the need to engage in conversations around saving lives through organ donation. Thank you to everyone who assisted on the day and also to Kally M and the band of fabulous mums who coordinated a very popular and successful Fathers’ Day stall across the week to ensure all dads received that special child selected gift on their big day!

Addison C. from 6C was acknowledged on Tuesday as the winner of Transurban’s competition to choose a name for Australia’s first electric incident response vehicle. From schools across NSW Addison’s entry was selected as the winner by a panel of judges due to the fitting description that Addison provided:
 “The colours remind me of a beautiful dragonfly that relies on us to keep its home, the environment alive. We can do that with your incredible, electric creation. Name it after the dragonfly for its colours and speed and make the world as green it can be!”

Given that dragonflies are native to Australia (there are 320 species and about 100 of these occur around Sydney), the judging panel thought the name was befitting, as these large conspicuous insects are generally found near freshwater habitats and are quite commonly found around the creeks near the M2 motorway.

Addison won herself a $300 Mastercard voucher but also a food garden for our school (including a self-watered raised garden bed on a stand and $300 to spend on soil and plants). Thank you Addison and a huge congratulations on your successful entry in this competition.

On Thursday 24 August our Athletics team of 50 students participated in the Zone Athletics Carnival at Blacktown International Sports Park. Their combined effort across all events resulted in Samuel Gilbert PS winning the carnival. A great achievement and our congratulations are extended to all athletes.
Particular congratulations to the following students who will represent Castle Hill at the Sydney West Carnival on Thursday 12 October at the Sydney Athletic centre at Sydney Olympic Park. Good luck to all competitors.

Further congratulations to Anna T who was equal age champion for senior girls. A great collective effort from all competitors.

Thank you Mr Whybrow for your work as team manager and for coordinating this event.

Last Tuesday a large number of our singers and dancers represented us at the Hills Peforming Arts Festival.  Congratulations to all students and also to Mrs Medcalf who was the conductor of the massed choir, which sounded amazing! Our dance groups did us proud and we thank the many parents who attended to enjoy their performances.

It has been a busy past week for our dancers who competed in the Hawkesbury Eisteddfod last Wednesday. Despite being a number of group members down in the Stage 2 and 3 dances due to Band Camp, the groups performed extremely well, with Stage 1 and 2 groups placing second, Stage 3 placing third and Mrs Medcalf’s group being highly commended. Congratulations to all groups and thanks to Mrs Medcalf for her coordination of the groups and Mrs Buckley, Mrs Corso and Miss Glass for accompanying the groups.

Last Wednesday and Thursday 85 students had the opportunity to spend 2 days focussed on their music at the beautiful Benedict XVI Retreat in Grose Vale. A huge thankyou to Jaimy McGilvray for her wonderful coordination of the camp ensuring a positive experience for all. Thanks also to the band committee for their assistance, Ms Botton, Mrs McLeod and Mr Wicks for their attendance and supervision of students and Mrs Skinner and Mr Dalton for ensuring a wonderful musical experience. Opportunities such as this are only possible with the coordinated efforts of parents and school and we encourage all families involved in the band program to lend support when they can. Transport of instruments is always a challenge for band events and we thank the parents who on this occasion put themselves out to make it happen.

Next Wednesday, Year 6 will have the opportunity to hear Senior Constable Ethan West speak to them about the challenges of staying safe in a teenage world. Ethan recently addressed parents at our Stage 2 and 3 Information Evening about issues such as cyber safety, scammers, vapes etc and although confronting, parents found his advice and knowledge extremely valuable. We encourage families to talk to their children about the content of Ethan’s message. Year 5 will be addressed by Ethan later next term.

Years 2, 3 and 4 are currently involved in the Department of Education Swimming and Water Safety Program. We hope all children develop their water confidence, swimming skills and stamina over the 10 day program. There were many happy faces at the pool on Tuesday with the warm weather arriving at the perfect time.

Today the Boys Football Knockout met King Park PS in the regional final of the Boys Football competition.Unfortunately King Park were the better team on the day defeating Samuel Gilbert. Congratulations to Mr Whybrow and the team for progressing so far in this competition.
The Boys Softball Knockout team have been anxiously awaiting their Round 4   match against Camden South Public School.
It appears that Camden South will be the home team with us likely to play them in the first few weeks of Term 4.  If any boys will not be available during this time please let Ms Barclay know before a date is set.

Our Spring Carnival on Tuesday 5 September was a sunny success! Our youngest students from Kindergarten and Year 1 participated in running races and athletic activities appropriate for their age and level of physical development. We had parachute activities, quoit throwing, sack races, the good old egg and spoon race and some tricky relays. It was lovely to see so many parents and grandparents in attendance to share the carnival with us. We thank all of the Kindergarten and Year 1 teachers for their expert supervision with particular thanks to Mrs Zebib and Mrs Kim who coordinated the event.

As this is the last newsletter for the term we would like to wish all families a safe and relaxing holiday. We look forward to welcoming students back to school on Monday, 9 October for a busy and productive Term 4. 

Cathie Barclay & Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS 

Thank you to all who have volunteered to make our recent events possible. A big thank you to Kally Mitchell for coordinating the Father’s Day stall again this year and to Jaimy McGilvray and Dannii Meisch for their support in selling and packing up. The Father’s Day stall this year was an amazing success, raising $2,941.00. Thank you to all who volunteered on the stall. We do hope that all our Father’s, Grandfather’s and Father figures enjoyed their special gifts and cards.
Our Father’s Day BBQ/Jersey Day was well attended again this year. Thank you to our volunteers but especially to our wonderful School and OOSH staff who stepped in to support the event, without whom it would not have been possible to serve our families.  Thank you to our wonderful Concert Band for providing the entertainment also.

At SGPS we are very fortunate to have a dedicated P&C Band program coordinated by our volunteers on the P&C Band Committee. Last week, a number of our students attended Band Camp and enjoyed developing their music skills with expert tutors, activities with Motiv8 sports and some beautiful weather at Gross Vale. A big thank you to our Band Camp Coordinators, Briony Geekie and Jaimy McGilvray for their fabulous organisation of the camp alongside our dedicated Conductors, Heather Skinner and Hayden Dalton. We are very grateful to have such talented conductors who worked with tutors on camp to support and develop our students in their musical endeavours. Band Camp would also not have been possible without the support and attendance of our school staff including Mrs McLeod, Ms Botton and Mr Wicks. 

We apologise that the fundraiser bricks are not yet laid. The bricks have been received and our landscaper is ready. We have been waiting for remediation work to be done in the nominated area before approval can be given by the school for the bricks to be laid. Thank you for your patience, we hope to have further information soon. 

Each year the P&C organises a Mother/Daughter or Father/Son camp on an alternate basis for Years 3-6. This year SGPS Mother/Mother figures and daughters are invited to come along for a weekend of fun at the YMCA Camp Yarramundi. This is a P&C organised social event and is purely optional. We always receive positive feedback from our families about the fabulous time shared on these weekends. 

Weekend: Sat 18th November 2023 (10am) - Sun 19th November 2023 (2pm)
Cost: $185/person ($370 for Mother and one Daughter)
Address: Camp Yarramundi, Springwood Rd, Yarramundi

For more details or to secure your place, please follow the information published on the school app. 

The P&C have coordinated an evening of Interrelate family sessions on Tuesday 24th October for Years 3-6. The sessions are to be conducted online.
There will be two sessions:

1.       Where Did I Come From? 6:00-7:00pm (recommended Years 3-4); and
2.       Preparing for Puberty 7:15-8:15pm (Years 5-6 and optional 3-4).

Both sessions are an hour long and whether you choose to attend one session or both, the cost is $41.50 (ins GST) per family. Space is limited to 120 families, so it is a good idea to register early. A note with the link to register will go home shortly.

All are welcome to attend the next P&C Meeting on Tuesday 12 September at 7:30pm in the Library.

Please note these events for your calendar. 

• October P&C Meeting Tuesday 10 October
• Interrelate (Years 3 – 6) Online on Tuesday 24 October

          Where Did I Come From: 6pm & Preparing for Puberty: 7:15pm

• November P&C General & AGM: Tuesday 14 November
• Mother/Daughter Camp – 18-19 of November – This event is for Mum’s and daughters in Years 3 – 6.

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 

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

All our Band students had an amazing time at Band Camp last week! They made huge progress on an array of new repertoire with many hours of Band rehearsals and tutorials as well as enjoying some fun activities with Motiv8 Sports. Thank you so much to Mrs McCleod, Mrs Botton and Mr Wicks for giving up their time to accompany the students on camp. A huge thank you also to the parents who helped transport Percussion to and from Camp and Jaimy McGilvray for all her efforts in organising the Camp. Overall it was a huge success.

Rehearsals will continue for all Bands through until the end of Term.

We look forward to commencing our recruitment program for our Bands in 2024 next Term. If you have a child who will be in years 3-6 next year, and would like to join the Band, keep an eye out in the next Newsletter for more information about an Information Evening early next term and how to complete an Expression of Interest.

Monday, 9 October – Rehearsals commence

Sunday, 22 October – Invitational Concert at Harvey Lowe Pavilion (all Bands)

Friday, 8 December – Carols Evening (Bands TBA)

Keep an eye out for further information about Performances and Events in Term 4 coming soon via email.

Kind Regards,

Briony Geekie
Band Co-ordinator Samuel Gilbert Public School Band

Monday 8.30am -9.30am & Wednesday 2.30pm – 3.30pm

Only one family per time will be served in the shop.

Please book through the P&C website: //www.sgpspc.org.au/uniformshopappointment// and follow any updates from the P&C or school about COVID safe measures.

The shop will be open at the normal times during Week One of Term 4.

Trackpants size 6: these are out of stock until summer delivery in September. Please advise by email if you wish to cancel your order, or are willing to wait until they come in.

Navy socks shoe size 13-3 and lemon socks size 2-8: due in with summer orders. 

Summer stock is due to arrive late Term 3, early Term 4.
Sport shirts have arrived.

We have plenty of items available at very good prices. Donations always welcome. These can be left at the School Office, the Canteen or at the Uniform Shop. Please block out previous child’s name on items if at all possible.

Parents with older children at the school are encouraged to order online on Munch Monitor where possible, for delivery to older sibling’s class.
Please consider purchasing second hand stock for the emergency set of clothes for your Kinder child’s school bag.
Dates and times have been outlined in the Transition leaflet for K2024 fittings, and, times for parent purchases during the Kinder programme Term 4. Please queue outside the shop, and I apologise for any delays.

We will be doing our yearly stocktake in Week 10 of Term 3. However, the shop will continue to be open at the normal times. Anyone who would like to assist in the stocktake, even for a short time, please contact me by email.

Kind Regards,

Sheryl Naylor
SGPS P&C Uniform Shop Manager
Email: //uniformshop@sgpspc.org.au//

School Holidays are fast approaching. Canteen will be closed on Friday, 22 September for cleaning. No lunch order on that day and depending on stock levels we will be selling counter items only. Last day for lunch orders is Thursday, 21 September.
Canteen will reopen on Monday, 9 October.
As usual, we will be reducing stock levels over the next few weeks before the holidays.

Canteen are desperate for your help on Tuesdays and Fridays. If you can spare an hour or 2 on any Tuesday or Friday please contact us.
We currently need volunteers this Friday 8 September, morning and afternoon shift. Without volunteers we have to have more staff working which in turn means the P&C have to pay staff and the prices may have to increase to cover this.
Volunteers are also needed Tuesday, 12 September - 11:30am to 2pm. Friday, 15 September - 9:00am to 11:15am and 11:30am to 2pm.

We are still having children come in with large notes (i.e. $10 or more). Please don't send your child in with large notes as there is a good chance we don't have enough change.

There are some days we have had up to 10 students come to canteen without lunches. Please ensure your child comes to school with food or has an order. Please check Munch Monitor orders when placed. This is proving very time-consuming especially when we don't have volunteers to assist.

Have a safe and lovely Spring Break and see you back on Monday, 9 October.

Canteen Supervisors and  2023 Canteen Committee

Debating continues its revival at Samuel Gilbert and there has been great success in recent weeks.

 After finishing the regular competition with 3 wins and 1 loss, our Premier’s Debating Team competed on Wednesday 23/8/23 against Dural Public School, in the Zone Final of the Premier’s Debating Challenge.  
The team of Kate, Anna, Chloe and Junie were faced with a very tough topic,“That we should only ever give feedback in primary school instead of grades or marks” 
We lost the toss and unfortunately had to take the negative case for the topic. 

After 1 hour of being locked away in a room preparing their case, the team performed outstandingly in presenting very convincing counter modelled arguments and rebutting the oppositions arguments with great skill. After a long deliberation by the adjudicator the team was awarded victory and the team and audience were extremely happy with their efforts.
On the same day as the Premiers team competing in the Zone Final, the “Trischools Debating Challenge” was launched between Samuel Gilbert, North Rocks and Castle Hill Public Schools. This challenge involves each school hosting debates for students who are learning the skills required to become successful debaters. 

The team for the first debate was Anji, Marisa, Airlie and Kyra and they were the affirmative team with the topic of “That primary school should dedicate one morning per week to teaching computer skills to students”. 
The team for the second debate was Serena, Alisha, Lucy and Amairaa and they were the negative team with the topic of “That the school week should be shortened to four days per week”. 

It was a hugely successful launch of the new “Trischools Debating Challenge” competition with our Samuel Gilbert debaters winning both debates. On that very successful day in Week 6 we held three debates in two competitions and won all three debates. HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all members of the debating teams and three wins from three is very special. See how happy the students were in the photo below.

Yesterday our Premiers debating team of Alexandra, Anna, Chloe and Junie competed against John Purchase Public School in the Regional Final of the Premiers Debating Challenge.

The topic was very challenging, “That parents should be allowed to leave children in Year 5 and above unsupervised in the evening”. 
Our team chose the affirmative side of the topic and unfortunately, we were beaten on the day and our run in the Premiers Debating Challenge has come to an end.

We are extremely proud of the efforts of the Premiers Debating team and wish our Trischools debaters all the best next week against North Rocks Public School.

Mr Wicks
Classroom Teacher - Stage 3 

Week 9
Monday, 11 September: Swim Scheme continues all this week
Tuesday, 12 September: Primary Proms Rehearsal and concert
Tuesday, 12 September: P&C Meeting at 7:30pm in the Library
Wednesday, 13 September: Kindy Teddy Bear's Picnic
Wednesday, 13 September: Snr Constable Ethan West addressing Year 6
Wednesday, 13 September: Tri-Schools Debating at North Rocks PS
Friday,15 September: PSSA Summer sport resumes 


Week 10
Monday, 18 September: Festival of Choral Music
Monday, 18 September: Miss Stacey 2024 Dance Auditions
Tuesday, 19 September: Kindy Readiness Evening
Tuesday, 19 September: Hills Public Speaking competition at Dural PS
Thursday, 21 September: Whole School Assembly