It is my absolute pleasure to warmly welcome everyone back for Term 2. I am thrilled to be working alongside our dedicated school staff and wonderful students throughout this term.

Parent and carers, thank you for your continued support of and trust in the highly respected and effective Samuel Gilbert PS. Towards the end of this term parents will be provided with a Student Progress Report detailing their child’s achievements and application for the first half of the year.

Last week the school staff returned Monday and Tuesday to experience professional learning and prepare for the term ahead. The professional program included active learning for the whole first day to strengthen the great work already happening at Samuel Gilbert PS in areas of student inclusivity, disability and neurodiversity. 

The Cybermarvel program is a joint online safety initiative of education departments in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, ACT, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Mrs Corso and Mrs Pellizzari invited our students to participate in the program’s competition.

Last week, the school was notified that the Be Cybermarvellous Challenge judging panel of teachers and cyber security experts were impressed by the quality of work and selected Samuel Gilbert PS as the winning school. Well done to our champion students, Amelie T and Georgia J who recorded a role play of a child connecting with strangers online in an online game. They talk about how this can be dangerous and to go to a trusted adult for help.  Congratulations also to our champion students, Melissa K, Elsa C, Danbi H and Shriya I, who created a website titled ClickSmart that provides a step-by-step guide to protect your device from malware. They advise us all to update software, use strong passwords and secure the home network.

Last week, our school community proudly came together to commemorate ANZAC Day. Our students were outstanding during the school’s ANZAC Day service. Mr Chris Kirk from the Castle Hill RSL sub-branch was our guest speaker. A veteran of two tours during the Iraq War, Mr Kirk spoke effectively to the students about respecting those who have served, the losses caused by wars, and ways our students can contribute positively to their families and society. Our student captains and prefects did a sterling job leading the assembly. The performance by the band was truly moving. Thank you to all families who contributed flowers for our creative event coordinator, Mrs Corso, to design a symbol of reflection. We were represented at the Castle Hill RSL sub branch ANZAC Day Dawn Service by our student captains, Caressa P and Blake M accompanied by Mr Wicks.

The school is extremely grateful to our active P&C for providing necessary funding to purchase eight interactive display boards for Kindergarten and Year 1 classes. The P&C also gifted the school a new electronic noticeboard, which has been placed near our Gilbert Rd gate. Six new shade shelters were purchased through P&C funds for our carnivals. I encourage all families to support all P&C activities as these directly benefit your child’s experience at Samuel Gilbert PS. The next P&C meeting will be held in the school library at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, 12 May.

Over the next couple of weeks, sixteen student teachers will join classes throughout our school as an additional support for students. These tertiary students are from Sydney University, Macquarie University and Western Sydney University. We welcome Ms Hindmarch, Ms Zhang, Ms O’Donnell, Ms Leong, Ms Touqeer, Ms Fabian, Ms Kouchoo, Ms Partlett, Ms Jackson, Ms Burnett, Ms Yu, Ms Saleem, Ms Zhong, Ms Lim and Ms Ziraki. We know they will not only contribute to student progress but learn a lot about the joys and expectations of the teaching profession.

Congratulations to our Mrs Percossi on joining the prestigious rank of being a grandparent. Beautiful twins, Hugo and Louie, were born during the school holidays and are gaining strength day by day.

Best wishes to all our mothers and grandmothers celebrating Mothers’ Day Sunday week, 10 May. I hope you are pampered by those who love you and the day is one of enjoyment. We also remember those mums and grandmothers who are no longer with us.

Thank you to our P&C who will be organising the Mothers’ Day breakfast on Friday 8 May as well as the stall for the students next week. I trust our mums will be pleased with the selected gifts.

Greg McLaren 
PRINCIPAL

Thanks to Mrs Johns in the office for following up on our high school application process and to the parents who completed their child’s enrolment application last term. 

This was an important step in the transition to high school process. Parents who have not completed their applications, either online or with the assistance of our school administration staff, will now need to submit an application directly to the high school of their choice. 

Between Monday of next week and Friday 22 May the Round 1 offers for non local school preferences will commence.

The Selective School Placement test will be held at 10:00 am this Saturday 2 May at Castle Hill High School. We wish all our students the best of luck for this test. 

Samuel Gilbert is fortunate to have a culturally diverse community. This week our students enjoyed learning a little more about cultures from around the world. This whole school event provided students with an exciting opportunity to explore and celebrate the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our diverse community. Presenters of Bollywood Dancing, Aboriginal culture, Italian comedy theatre, Brazilian Drumming and the Music of West Africa had our students engaged and actively participating in five well coordinated workshops. 

The workshops fostered understanding, respect and curiosity among students. We thank Mrs Neldner for organising the event and our artists and facilitators who shared their skills and stories.

The weather conditions were perfect for our Cross Country Carnival held at the end of last term. A huge thankyou to the parents who assisted on checkpoints and to those who attended to cheer our runners on. 

Next week the first 6 place getters in each race will represent Samuel Gilbert at the Castle Hill Zone Cross Country Carnival at . Congratulations and good luck to these runners. 

Mr Lau will be attending as Team Manager. 

Congratulations to Selene L who represented Sydney West and Samuel Gilbert at the NSW PSSA Swimming Carnival on Tuesday. Selene placed a commendable 6^th place in the 12/13 yrs Backstroke final. Congratulations Selene. 

Congratulations to Celine H. who competed for Castle Hill PSSA at the Sydney West Basketball Carnival at Penrith last term. Both the boys and girls teams had an extremely successful day, representing CHPSSA with great pride. Throughout the rounds both teams convincingly won all three matches by a large margin, while also demonstrating excellent sportsmanship by pulling back on defence to ensure all teams had the opportunity to participate and enjoy the games.

In the semi-finals, both teams continued their strong form, recording convincing wins to advance to the grand finals.

Celine’s team faced Penrith in a highly competitive grand final. In an exciting and closely contested match, they were trailing with just four minutes remaining before demonstrating exceptional teamwork, composure and determination to come from behind and secure a 24–18 win.

Particular congratulations to Celine who was selected into the Sydney West Basketball team to compete in May at the NSW Championships in Coffs Harbour:

Fabulous hats, happy faces and an amazing Easter Bunny topped off a great first term. It was wonderful to have so many parents and grandparents join us for this fun filled day. 

Our captains Blake and Caressa visited Showground Village at the end of term to accept a generous donation from the Woolworths store of a $250.00 voucher for the school, along with a few Easter treats for themselves. We thank store manager Amelia and her team for supporting Samuel Gilbert. 

Thanks to our local Woolworths Metro store who recently donated a $100 voucher for school use along with a large supply of Woolworths Bricks to be used in classrooms. We greatly appreciate the support of our local community.

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

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

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

 Mrs N.Medcalf (Learning and Support Teacher) and Ms G. Appave (Deputy Principal)

We’re delighted to share some very exciting news with you

Students are required to attend school every day, whether it’s the first or last day of the term, Mondays, Fridays or days dedicated to sports carnivals, school excursions and incursions.

If your child is absent from school, please let us know why as soon as possible, even if it’s just a few minutes at the start or end of the school day. If students are late to school parents do need to attend the front office with them to obtain a late notice before they go to class. Of course, there will be times when your child is unable to be at school, like when they are unwell. Medical appointments should take place outside school hours where possible, and family holidays should be taken in term breaks.

If we haven’t received an explanation for an absence and a letter is sent home, we ask that you complete the note and return to school so that we have can update our records. 

If your child is feeling anxious about coming to school and you need support, please reach out to your child’s teacher or to us directly. There are also helpful resources for parents and carers on the NSW Department of Education website.

Thank you for being a part of our school community and for partnering with us to ensure students access the endless benefits of regular school attendance.

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

Samuel Gilbert Public School recognises that all students should be known, valued and cared for. Every child should be given the opportunity to be engaged and challenged at school so they can grow and succeed. Having a strong focus on high expectations ensures a whole school learning culture is established, encouraging quality learning for all students.

At SGPS, we offer opportunities for students to develop talent across the four domains of potential- the creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional domain.

These opportunities include:

• enrichment, extension and extra-curricular programs
• inter-school programs and competitions
• system-level enrichment offerings such as School Spectacular and representative school sport pathways.

This term I will be working with students from Years 1-6 in extension writing sessions. I will also be leading an enrichment program for Stage 2 Mathematics. Stage 3 continues with its existing extension Mathematics program.

These small groups will provide individualised learning opportunities designed to assist students reach their full potential. The groups will be fluid with students moving in and out of them depending on the content being taught and student need. Placement in the groups will be determined using internal and external data.

Support your child according to their age. Some ideas include:

• provide explorative activities in your child’s areas of interest
• engage in discussions and conversations about the world around them
• encourage questioning, exploration and curiosity
• monitor play activities to ensure a healthy balance, particularly when younger
• discuss how learning is about making mistakes, struggling at times, and not always about being the best at everything all the time. Try using role model examples in their area of interest, so they understand that life doesn’t always give them what they expect
• praise and celebrate effort – working together to understand that effort and achieving one’s personal best are important in maintaining a healthy perspective. Try discussing characters from the books they are reading to highlight the types of behaviours that return positive outcomes
• champion your child’s successes and coach them through their setbacks – point out that mistakes are evidence of learning and experiencing struggle often encourages resilience, persistence and eventual success. Try discussing the great inventions we experience in life today, which are thanks to those who paved the way in making mistakes and yet persisting despite initial failures
• work on areas of strength without ignoring those areas which also need support
• access extra-curricular opportunities
• work with your child’s teacher on how best to support your child’s learning needs at home and at school.

Amanda Keane
Relieving Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

KA have been enthusiastically exploring phonemes as they begin their journey into reading and writing. Each new sound introduced has sparked excitement and curiosity, with students eager to practise and apply their learning. We are now blending these known sounds to read and write simple texts, building confidence every day! Our engaging phonics lessons combine handwriting, sound recognition, rhyming, syllables, and the important skills of blending and segmenting phonemes, creating a fun and supportive environment for early literacy development. 

What a start to the year we have had in 1L!

What an incredible term it has been in 1L! We have been busy, curious and enthusiastic learners and we are so proud of everything we have achieved.

We were thrilled to celebrate Harmony Day and our wonderful Cultural Infusion Day, where students had the opportunity to explore and appreciate the richness of cultures from around the world through the arts. Highlights included the energy and rhythm of Brazilian drumming and the theatrical magic of Italian Commedia dell'arte — experiences that had our students dancing, laughing and discovering the joy of cultural expression. We are so grateful for these opportunities to build empathy, curiosity and a love of diversity in our young learners.

We also had a fabulous time creating our Easter Hats in preparation for the Easter Hat Parade — the creativity and effort our students put in was truly wonderful to see!

In the classroom, our mathematicians have been getting hands-on, exploring 2-dimensional shapes and investigating number bonds — building strong foundations through play-based and investigative learning. In English, we have been travelling through a wonderful variety of literature, using stories and texts to develop our oral language, writing skills and comprehension.

Our students have also been shining in PDHPE, learning a choreographed dance with Miss Stacey and developing a range of skills across different sports. And of course, our creativity has been flowing through Visual Arts, where students have had the chance to explore and express themselves in truly imaginative ways.

I am so proud of every single one in 1L — they bring so much joy, energy and enthusiasm to learning every single day. Thank you for your continued support at home. We look forward to another wonderful term ahead!

We are excited to announce that the NRMA Science and Road Safety program will be visiting our school on Monday 18th May! Using hands-on science shows, hovercrafts, skill-testers and engaging theatrics, the program makes learning about road safety fun and memorable for our students. After the visit, why not ask your child to share all the important road safety lessons they learned throughout the day — together we can help keep our school community safe on the roads, always!

Last term concluded with the Training Band performing on Tuesday, 31^st March in front of their parents for the first time at the Hot Cross Buns Festival, which was enjoyed by all. A big thank you to Mrs. Skinner for her incredible work over just eight short weeks. The children should be very proud of their achievements! Also thank you to the Parents who volunteered their time to help set up. A special thanks to Crystal and Jesmine for your assistance.

The Castle High School Band visited our school in week 10 on Wednesday 1^st April and played with our Performance Band in the Old Hall. We are very grateful to Mrs. Skinner, Mr. Goddard, and Ms. Barclay for making this possible. It was a very good experience for our Band members to play with High School students and to encourage them to continue playing.

Additionally, we announced the Band Captains and Band Leaders for 2026:

- Performance Band: Danbi Huh and Cian Synnott  (Band Captains)

- Concert Band: Kassie Wang  (Band Leader)

- Training Band: Artin Bina   (Band Leader)

Congratulations to those four Band members, well deserved.

We also want to thank Mr. Goddard for his dedication and efforts in Term 1, for taking on the role as Conductor for our Performance Band this year. Mr Goddard is doing an excellent job and we appreciate his collaboration with our Musical Director Mrs Skinner to make this year a successful one.

Last Thursday, the Performance Band was very grateful to perform at the school’s ANZAC Day service. This is a significant day for Australians, and it was both an honour and a privilege for the students to be part of the ceremony.

Considering that the students had only just returned from holidays and that it was their first rehearsal that morning, they played exceptionally well. We are proud of their effort and dedication.

- Friday, 15th May (week 4): The Concert Band will perform at the school’s Assembly. Parents are welcome to attend.  

- Band Camp (week 6): Monday, 25th May and Tuesday, 26th May – most students have confirmed attendance, which is great! But we also need permission given, so if you haven’t please reply as soon as possible.

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

- Sunday, 14th June (week 8): GWS Music Festival at Rouse Hill Anglican College – all bands will be performing.  

- Wednesday, 24th June (week 10): Winter Concert – all bands will perform.

Parents please put these dates in your diaries.

More events will be announced for Term 3 as we get closer.

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, or specialist appointments.

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

Kind regards,

Band Co-ordinator Samuel Gilbert Public School Band

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Mum’s, Mother Figures and Grandma a wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday 10 May. This year, our P&C is excited to be celebrating Mothers' Day with a stall and breakfast. 

Students are invited to attend the Mother’s Day Stall which will be held on Tuesday 5 May and Wednesday 6 May during school hours. While the days and times for attendance are subject to change, please see below the scheduled days and times that students are expected to attend the Mother’s Day Stall next week. If your student is absent on their allocated day, left over stock will be sold before school near the canteen on Friday 8^th May. 

Please note that items in the Mother’s day stall will be priced between $1 and $10. Students are able to purchase more than one item if they wish. There will be gift bags available for purchase however students may also bring with them a bag in which to return their items home. A big thank you to Paddy Jessing for her hard work in organising the stall and Breakfast this year and to all our wonderful volunteers for their time and effort in making the much-loved stall a success. Thank you also to Cathie Barclay and the School staff for their support.

All our Mum’s and Mother Figures are invited to attend our Mother’s Day Breakfast on Friday 8 May from 7:30am-8:30am in Courtyard 1 (near the Canteen) with their student(s). We have a special morning planned. There are hot and cold breakfast options available for $7.00 per person. To book, please use this link: 

https://www.trybooking.com/DLROK

Bookings for the Breakfast will close 8pm on Wednesday 6 May for catering purposes. 

No orders will be accepted on the day. Thank you for your understanding.

Can you help at our Mother’s Day events?

Our Mother’s Day events will not be possible without our volunteers. Thank you to all those who have already signed up to help. We still need you! All parents/carers are welcome to assist us with the stall next week on Tuesday 5 May and/or Wednesday 6 May. And if our Dad’s in particular have an hour to spare on the morning of Friday 8 May, why not come down and assist with the serving of the breakfast for our Mum’s and Mother’s Day figures? We would appreciate your help! Sign up here for either or both events:  

https://signup.com/go/ENnExgN

Our first P&C meeting for Term 2 is to be held on Tuesday 12th May at 7:30pm in the school library or online. We are an active P&C which reflects the wonderful school community that has been built through many years of active parent involvement. How can you make a difference to your child’s school while your child is at SGPS? Join the P&C, we would love to welcome you. If you have previously attended an online P&C meeting, you will already receive a meeting link. If you have never attended a P&C meeting online but would like to, please email secretary@sgpspc.org.au to receive the meeting link.

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.

Kind regards,
Band Co-ordinator Samuel Gilbert Public School

A very special term has arrived! 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.

Library borrowing fact: So far in this year, 6 293 items have been borrowed.

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. 

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.

Book Club 

Wk2: Issue #3 Order forms distributed – Wednesday 29 April – Thursday 30 April

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.