In our final newsletter of the year, I would like to congratulate all our teachers, support staff, parents and carers, dedicated grandparents, and most importantly our students for their achievements in 2025. Our school is truly a thriving learning environment, and we take great pride in offering a holistic educational experience for our students. I sincerely thank everyone for the ongoing support I have received as Principal. As highlighted throughout the year, it has been very encouraging to see that both external assessments and grade-based evaluations reflect significant progress among our students. We always knew this, but it is wonderful to celebrate such outstanding news.

What a memorable day for our greater community. An amazing happy place whether the students enjoyed the rides and activities, food and drink, entertainment, upcycle, special guests or the many special stalls. A massive thank you to the fete coordinator Mrs Katie Pike ably assisted by P&C members and other school parents as well as school and OOSH staff. The school P&C Great Fete successfully brought current, former and potential new families together at the same time at the school.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, several of our talented students had the honour to represent our school at the NSW Public Education School Spectacular, at Qudos Arena, Homebush. In front of the Governor of NSW, our students were an obvious standout with their voices joined by over 5000 other students from selected schools in our state. Accompanied by our students, Mrs Spears was gifted a front row spot on stage. Thank you to each student and their family for the huge commitment. Also, a huge thank you to Mrs Spears for her hours of preparation with our students.

Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure in sharing an afternoon tea with most of the nineteen recent gold star recipients. Most of our special guests were accompanied by family members to share the special occasion of earning a gold star badge. Congratulations to each student.

Next Wednesday, we are looking forward to providing an outstanding presentation assembly at Cherrybrook Technology HS. Our student captains, Sophia T and Ted G, will be our hosts. Congratulations to all award recipients. Thank you to our event coordinators, Ms Barclay and Mrs Freeman.

We will sadly farewell just under one hundred Year 6 students on 19 December. We wish them the very best with future endeavours and trust they have fond memories of their time at Samuel Gilbert PS. We are very proud of the student leadership displayed by all Year 6 students. They will be missed. Special mention to our exceptional student leaders. We also acknowledge all students able to fulfil other important student leadership roles and experiences especially, senior library monitors, our performing arts, sport, peer tutors and other student leaders. Over the next fortnight, Year 6 will experience a few tributes leading up to their completion of primary school with a farewell dinner and a graduation assembly. 

We sadly farewell 55 families as their youngest child finishes Year 6 with nine families from other grades relocating. Warm regards to all of these families as they will forever be part of the Samuel Gilbert ‘family’. Thank you for investing in your child’s learning at Samuel Gilbert PS and for your child/ren I wish for a bright future. Many of our departing families offered a lot of their time, expertise and support to the school community.

The end of 2025 marks a very important milestone for our wonderful Kindergarten students. It is the completion of their first year at ‘big school’. They experienced so many wonderful learning opportunities and at differing rates achieved so many educational successes. We are very proud of each one of these students.  

Congratulations to Lucy for a winning entry in the NSW Education Minister’s Christmas Card Artwork Competition. Lucy’s artwork will feature on state deputy secretary, Mr Mark Baraket, Christmas cards. Mr Baraket oversees Early Childhood in the NSW Education Department. 

This success follows other students outstanding artwork submissions to be represented on the local member, Mr Hodges MP, Christmas cards as well as a winning entry for the NSW Children’s Guardian’s state Christmas cards. Well done to all students.

Today the staff and student captains celebrated the volunteers at the school. From P&C members, SRE & SEE (scripture), and other parents and carers who add value to our students and the school. We are so grateful to all volunteers.

Thank you to all families who have contributed to their Term 4 Statement of Account. As you know your voluntary contribution allows us to offer quality educational experiences and activities for our students. If you are yet to contribute to your account, I would be grateful if you could do so as soon as possible so that school finances can be finalised by the end of the year. Please contact the school office on 8855 9500 if you wish to discuss any items on your account.

We very much appreciate your support to enhance your child’s experience at school.

I encourage any parent or carer with difficulty paying their school statement to contact me to confidentially discuss options. 

We are currently planning for next year and would appreciate any news you need to share about your child in the current Kindergarten to Year 5 if they are not returning to Samuel Gilbert PS in 2026. Please also let the school office know if you are holidaying and returning to school later than 1 February. As usual, student numbers in all grades will direct how we arrange classes across our whole school.

School will resume at 8.50am for 2026 Years 1-6 students on Monday, 2 February. We look forward to welcoming 2026 Kindergarten when they commence their formal learning journey on that Monday at a time communicated to their family.

As this is our final Newsletter for 2025, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents, carers and friends of our school once again for your ongoing support, advocacy and contributions to the school in 2025. On behalf of the entire Samuel Gilbert PS staff, a Merry Christmas, and a safe and happy New Year to all!

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

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

There will be no supervision at school for children not attending the assembly. 

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

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

LINK: https://links.cths.nsw.edu.au/sgps25

Information;

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

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

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

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

Congratulations to the Boys Senior Softball team and the Boys Junior Tee Ball teams who were the PSSA Premiers for 2025. Unfortunately the Senior Boys Touch team were defeated in the finals but we congratulate them on being the runners up. 

A number of students will have their art work displayed by Deicorp on a banner at their building site in the Showground village precinct.

Thank you to Miss Stacey for holding auditions for the Before School Dance classes in recent weeks. These groups are always extremely popular and unfortunately many students miss out. It is particularly difficult for the children in the younger grade of each Stage to be selected ( Year 1. 3 and 5). We hope that there will be the opportunity for some of those who missed out to join a Lunchtime dance group in 2026. On Monday the Boys Group will have a final audition for boys who have returned their permission forms and all groups will be posted on the app by the end of next week.

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

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

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

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

A reminder that if using the Kiss and Drop area for afternoon pick ups you are required to stay in your car so that you can move along the bay as the cars ahead of you leave. Ideally you should join from the end to keep the flow of traffic moving. Lately a few cars have been parked and the driver absent from the vehicle. This causes great disruption to the flow of traffic. 

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

Children should only enter the car from the passenger side. 

In partnership with Castle Glen Child Care Centre, we welcomed the pre-school room students to Samuel Gilbert for a taste of ‘big school’. Almost all of the students who attended were enrolled to come to SGPS in 2026. Our preschoolers walked down to our school library hand in hand, where our teacher librarian read them ‘The Day the Crayons Made Friends’ by Oliver Jeffers. They then had a quick look around the library and walked to the SGPS canteen to buy an icy snack which they ate under the trees in the lower courtyard. We thank Mr Hands and our canteen staff for their help in getting our youngest students ready to start school.

Thank you and well done to Amelia S. and Sahir P. for representing Samuel Gilbert PS at the Network Student Voice meetings. Both students have ably provided opinions, ideas and feedback and made some friends in their local network along the way. This initiative will continue next year with two new students chosen to represent our school and discuss the important issues in education with our Director, Educational Leadership, Mr Matthew Fuller.

As this is the last Newsletter for the year we would like to wish all families a safe and happy holiday season. We wish all families who are ending their time with Samuel Gilbert the very best of luck in their new homes and new schools. We look forward to welcoming current families and those commencing at Samuel Gilbert to our school in 2026.

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

With the summer holidays feeling like they are just around the corner, it’s time to start planning some holiday activities. Learning can continue outside of the classroom these school holidays. Explore the following collection of fun mathematics activities with your child.

• Give your child a map of a venue that you are visiting, like the zoo, a farm or even a shopping centre, and put them in charge of navigation. Encourage your child to suggest the route you should take and have them navigate you through it.
• Next time you're heading on a long car journey, let the children take control of the music but under one condition: their playlist has to match the length of the journey!
• Solving a Rubik's cube is not easy on the first try, but there's actually a cool set of algorithms to help your child complete the puzzle.
• Whether your child is playing in the pool or sandpit or at the beach, give them containers of different sizes and shapes. Then, get them to estimate which container holds the most, and ask they why think that before testing it out.
• Make some paper planes with your child, and then throw them to see which ones fly the furthest. Which design results in the longest flight length.
• If you've got a child who enjoys getting crafty in the kitchen or a child that has a sweet tooth, get them to bake different shaped cookies with various toppings. This activity allows them to get as elaborate as they want and experiment with flavour – all while working with shapes.
• On a long car journey, at the local park or even at the supermarket, play a game of I-spy that involves everyone looking around for different 3D objects. For example, you might say “I spy with my little eye, something that is shaped like a cone”.
• Car cricket is a fun game to play when you are out and about. Runs are based on the colour of the cars you pass, with a red car getting a player out. There are many scoring variations based on different colour cars and vehicle sizes, and you can even make up your own.
• With your child and their friends splashing around in the pool, get them to estimate the number of strokes they’ll need to swim from one point to another. Try this with a range of different swimming strokes.
• Art is a great way for children and teens to learn about different shapes. They could draw their family pet, siblings, or even you!

Mathematics is all around us- even during the school holidays! You will find plenty of fun and exciting things to do together. Learning mathematics never stops! Have a safe and wonderful holiday with your families and loved ones. Happy learning!

Amanda Keane
Relieving Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

A huge thank you to Katie, our Great Fete Coordinator who, together with her team and parent volunteers pulled together an amazing community event. Please read Katie’s summary below.  

On Saturday we were finally able to hold our biennial Great Fete, and it was worth the wait!  The weather was warm and dry, and unfortunately a bit windy, but it didn’t dampen our spirits😉 

It was amazing to see so many in our community turn out for this special event, enjoying delicious food, great market stalls, fun rides and excellent entertainment.  The Great Fete was held as our major P&C fundraiser for the year, and we are so thankful for the support of the whole community in making the day a huge success.  We are still working on the final figures, but all funds raised from the Great Fete will go back into the school to provide facilities and resources for the students to learn and grow with.

The Great Fete could not happen without the countless volunteer hours spent by our Great Fete Committee to organise everything required to run the event.  I would like to say a huge thank you to:
Paddy Jessing;
Jaimy McGilvray;
Kally Mitchell;
Alan Sivandi;
Victoria King;
Jana Meyer;
Dani Miesch;
Lauren Wright;
Margit Hennessey;
Gemma Gould;
Kylie Jones;
Sally Sivandi; and
Jason Atkins. 

I am so thankful for all of you in our school community who gave your time to help set up for the fete, run our stalls during the event, and to those who came the following day to get everything packed up.  It all happened so smoothly because of your help.  And finally, I would like to say a special thank you to the following people who made significant contributions to the day:

• Scott Tenant who donated his and his team’s time as our electricians for the event; 
• Matt and Fiona Young who ran the bump in schedule and helped with fete operations throughout the whole day;
• Sam Crow, Olivia Simmons and Nilufer Hira who assisted with the Upcycle stall all fete day and set up/pack down days;
• Mahiyar Hira who assisted with the BBQ all fete;
• Nimisha Solanki who assisted with the Cake stall all fete;
• Mrs Curic who gave an incredible performance with her wonderful back-up dancers;
• Mr Lau and Mr Hands who were our fantastic MC’s for the day;
• All of our SGPS teachers and staff who ran the Lucky Dip stall and also helped with so many different jobs throughout the day; and
• Our Principal Mr McLaren who has supported us with this event all year.  

It is a privilege to be able to put an event like this on for this community, and leave a legacy for those to come who will benefit from the funds raised.  I hope that you all enjoyed it.

Kind regards,
Katie Pike
Great Fete 2025 Coorindator

The P&C is spreading the joy of the upcoming holiday season with a Christmas themed Fun Run.  A big thank you to Lauren Wright for coordinating this event. Please note the following:

•             K–2 “Aussie Christmas” Fun Run – morning session between 9:30am-10:50am. Come dressed in your best Aussie Christmas outfit. Bring a hat and water bottle. Please apply sunscreen before coming to school. 

•             Years 3–6 Colour Explosion Run – after recess between 11:10am-1pm. Please wear white clothes that can get dirty and coloured. Bring a spare set of clothes to wear after the run. Any child not wanting coloured powder on their clothes are advised to wear school uniform. 

For further details, please see the permission note. This day is guaranteed to be fun, colourful and unforgettable for all students, with the much anticipation Year 6 colour bomb send off! But we can’t run it without your support.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
If you’re free anytime between 8:30am and 1:00pm on Monday 8th December, we would LOVE your help. Even one hour makes a difference!

⭐ Volunteer sign-up link: https://signup.com/go/OAqJwME  ⭐

Have you used all your Munch Monitor Funds yet? The P&C recently advised that we are switching from MunchMonitor to Flexischools commencing 2026. This means that Munch Monitor will conclude at the end of Term 4, 2025 and all remaining funds should be used prior to the end of the school year. 

Thank you for your support as we transition to Flexischools in 2026. 

As the school year draws to a close, we would like to acknowledge and thank our 2025 volunteers. Without you, we would not be able to raise all important funds and resources for our students or build a positive school community. Whether it is volunteering at a P&C event, helping at a Mother’s/Father’s Day stalls, cooking on a BBQ, serving on the Band Committee, being a Class Parent, assisting with the Band Program, helping in the Canteen, in a class room, on an excursion, in the Library or volunteering in any other capacity - thank you to all those parents and carers who have supported our school community in 2025.  

The P&C continues to be indebted to those volunteers who have made significant contributions to our school community. Life membership of the P&C is awarded to recipients who meet the minimum service requirements and other elements of exemplary service. The pre-determined criteria for Life membership is published and nominations are evaluated against set criteria. Following our recent AGM, the P&C are delighted to acknowledge David Cox who was voted as the recipient of our P&C Life Membership for 2025.

David Cox has been a P&C Member from 2014-2024 and has served as General Executive Member from 2015 through to 2023. David was President from 2017-2019 and Vice President in 2020 and 2021. He also served as Fete Coordinator, bringing our school and community families, staff and local businesses together to raise funds for our school. David was also a key contributor as the parent representative on the building committee for our recent school build. 

We would also like to thank our departing Year 6 families for their contribution to our school community. Many of these families are ending a significant number of years as part of the Samuel Gilbert family. Thank you for your service to our school, we wish you and your family all the very best, you will be missed!

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank our School Executive and School staff for their hard work and commitment to our school in 2025. Our P&C is so fortunate to have the ongoing support of our dedicated school executive as well as our teaching, learning and support staff. On behalf of our parents and carers, thank you to all our SGPS staff for all that you have done in 2025 – both the seen and unseen, to make a difference to our children and to strengthen our community. 

Finally, we wish our SGPS families a very merry Christmas and a wonderful, safe holiday and a Happy New Year! We look forward to serving alongside you in 2026. 

• Fun Run – Monday 8^th December – K-2 Aussie Christmas Theme and 3-6 Colour Run. 
• Final P&C Meeting for 2025 – Tuesday 9 December 7:30pm in the Library. All welcome. 
• Kindy 2026 Parent & Carer Cheers and Tears – 9:30am, Monday 2 February (Local Bean Café)
• Interrelate for Years 3-4 & Years 5-6: Thursday 19 March 2026. 

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

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

Kind regards,

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

In Week 7, we had a wonderful combined band performance at the Fete last Saturday, bringing together Concert and Performance Bands. They performed really well and demonstrated great teamwork to open the Fete.

In Week 8, on Tuesday, 2nd December, the Training Band performed for the residents of Mountainview Retreat Retirement Village. They were a big hit! The residents particularly appreciated the music and the Christmas cards the students made for them. We look forward to going back again next year.

Also, in Week 8, on Thursday, 4th December, we held our end-of-year celebration performance. All three bands showcased what they have learned throughout the year and bid farewell to our Year 6 students moving on, as well as any other students leaving the school this year.

Looking ahead to Week 9, the Performance Band will have their last rehearsal on Monday, 8th December. They will also perform at the Presentation Day on Wednesday, 10th December, at Cherrybrook Technology High School.

Lastly, I kindly ask all students who are leaving the school at the end of the year who are hiring instruments from the school or have bought their child a new instrument to return their hired instrument on Thursday, 11th December, to the Burragli rooms before school. I will be there to collect them from 8.30am. Thank you for your cooperation.

A huge thank you to Mrs. Skinner, our Musical Conductor, who took on all three bands this year. She has done an amazing job, and we are incredibly grateful for her dedication and leadership!

We also extend our thanks to our 2025 Band Committee – our Band Program would not be possible without the parents and staff who have volunteered their time throughout the year. We would also like to acknowledge in particular the contribution that Jaimy McGilvray and Ben Miesch have made to the success of our Band Program and wish them and their family all the best as they transition to High School.  

Thank you to all band members and parents for your continued support throughout the year. We look forward to even more musical fun next year!

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

As the year comes to an end, our stock will become unavailable or reduced, please check Munch Monitor for availability.

Munch Monitor will finish at the end of 2025 and Flexi Schools will begin in2026. Please use all your money on your Munch Monitor

Account by Tuesday the 16th December. Please set up your Flexi Schools account ready for 2026.

We need your help next year as a volunteer. Please check the sign up and help whenever you can. To be a volunteer you need a

Working With Children Check(volunteer) which is free, that is available at Service NSW.

A massive thank you to our volunteer for 2025 we couldn’t do it without you.

Thank you to Brian Vumbaca who donates all our fresh produce it is much appreciated.

We will be closed for presentation day on the 10^th December. Last day for lunch orders will be Tuesday 16^th December. Wednesday the 17^th and Thursday

The 18^th we be closed for cleaning and only counter items( ice blocks etc ) will be available. Friday the 19^th we will be closed completely.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Thanks,
Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

Wow! 2025 is rapidly coming to an end, what a fantastic year it has been, a very successful Book Fair was held, way back in Term 2, Term 3 saw our ever-popular Book Week events, along with our huge Book Character Parade, we have read over 80 different picture books at the Thursday Morning Read and the children of Samuel Gilbert Public School have borrowed over 18 651 books.

As I finalise the library collection for 2025, I would like to take this opportunity to ask all families to please check around their house, under beds and on shelves for any books that need to be returned to the school library. I shall soon be sending home overdue notices, if you have any questions or need any clarifications please contact me to discuss next steps to resolve any issues.

A huge, special thankyou to all the families who collected a bag of books for covering, these books will be added to the library collection and will be available for borrowing next year.

Even though borrowing ended in Week 6, Library lessons will continue as normal through to the end of the year and the library will also remain open at lunchtimes Monday to Thursday each week.

If any parents have any questions about book recommendations or reading suggestions, please feel free to pop in to see me for a friendly chat, I am available each morning from 8:15am until the bell rings and most afternoons (except Tuesday) from 3:00pm until 3:30pm.

A most heartfelt thankyou goes out to all families who have helped with covering books this year, your support through completing this final, crucial, step to prepare books to be added to the collection is deeply appreciated. If you are interested in helping in the library next year, I always have books for covering. 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.

Jelena Curic is a writer of literary fiction, crime fiction and comedy for adult readers.

In 2023, she attended the WestWords Academy – a year-long development program for emerging writers – and in 2024, she was selected for the WestWords Accelerator program, during which she developed her novel manuscript. She has had work published in the organisation’s anthologies Bad Western Sydney: The Second Case and Living Stories: The Other City, as well as the Short Stories Unlimited Anthology Leaving Home and Written Off Literary Journal. Jelena was shortlisted for the Born Writers Award in 2023 and 2024.

She has read at Bravewords, was a panellist at BAD Crime Festival 2024, alongside Candice Fox and Dinuka McKenzie, and was accepted into the 2024 Accelerator program with Westwords and Parramatta City Council. Her debut novel, Sing To Me, will be released in September 2025 through Westwords Books.

Along with writing novels, short stories and comedy pieces, she is also the resident diva in the Croatian community, singing most weekends. As well as working in the school office at Samuel Gilbert Public School during the week.

Her debut novel Sing to Me was published by WestWords Books on 1 September 2025.

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 fulfil 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 8:20 am in the tiered Learning Space in the Library. All are welcome, students, siblings, parents, and grandparents, come along and listen to two fun stories before school. 

The final bookclub for 2025 was closed for orders on Monday 1^st December, this will allow time for the orders to be processed, delivered and distributed before the end of the year. Thank you to everyone who purchased books throughout the year, each purchase earns the school points that can be spent on additional resources to expand the library collection.

Yours in reading,

Adam Hands
Librarian.
 

This term, 1JE has been learning how to play the recorder, and what an exciting journey it has been! Students have been practising Eye of the Tiger and have impressed us all with their ability to learn not only the recorder notes, but the lyrics as well.

Last week, they proudly hosted the school assembly and delivered an engaging, energetic and thoroughly entertaining performance. Their confidence, teamwork and enthusiasm shone brightly, and we are so proud of their amazing effort.

Well done, 1JE!

Week 9
Monday, 8 December
P&C Fun Run. Years K-2 9:30am -10:50am. Years 3-6 Colour Explosion Run 11:10am-1pm
Tuesday, 9 December
2025 & 2026 Prefect morning tea
Wednesday, 10 December
Annual Presentation Day Assembly at Cherrybrook Technology High School. 11am-1pm
Friday, 12 December
Buddy Picnic Lunch

Week 10
Monday, 15 December
Year 6 Dinner Hills Lodge
Stage 1 Party Day
Tuesday, 16 December
Kindergarten Party Day
Wednesday, 17 December
Last day to return SGPS home readers
Year 6 Party Day - Luna Park
Year 5 Party Day - Strike Bowling
Stage 2 Motivate Sport Day
Friday, 19 December
Year 6 Farewell Assembly
Last day for students