Term 3 has certainly started with a bang. Four weeks in already there has been a great variety of activities and learning opportunities for our students to engage in. A huge thank you to our staff for ensuring our students are provided with these amazing experiences. It is so wonderful to see our students embrace these offerings and really apply themselves to ensure they achieve their very best. Well done students!

The theme for 2024 is ‘Everyone Belongs’ with the aim to elevate student voice and empower young Australians to join the national conversation.  Students are at the heart of the awareness week and are a big part of the solution to prevent bullying. This topic is delivered throughout the year as part of our formal personal development (PDHPE) curriculum as well as through other occasions in class and at assemblies.

This week especially is an opportunity to bring our whole school community together to send a powerful message that bullying and violence are never okay, and to promote the Department of Education and school’s bullying prevention strategies.

Beyond the nationally agreed definition of bullying which all Australian schools now use are three key features:

1. involves a misuse of power in a relationship
2. is intentional, ongoing and repeated
3. involves behaviours that can cause harm.

This year’s Book Week theme is ‘Reading is Magic’.  Each year we celebrate Children’s Book Week by holding a whole school dress up parade which will be held next Tuesday. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to come creatively dressed as a favourite book character. Parents are welcome to come and view the parade.  

This year’s Science Week theme is ‘Species Survival - More than just sustainability’. The theme aims to highlight the importance of science and innovation in ensuring the survival and thriving of different species in an ever-changing world.  

Stage 3 students have been investigating the effects of sudden geological changes and extreme weather events on the Earth’s surface. We have learnt how advances in science and technology have assisted people to plan for and manage natural disasters to minimise their effect. 5SL and 6HW have also participated in this year's Wet and Wild Competition. This research challenge integrates technology, research and language skills in the areas of geography and science. Students from around the state compete to find the names of 16 organisms using mixed up sets of clues over four weeks. Well done to 6HW who made the Scientific Superstars list last week!

Schools in the Department of Education are committed to reducing the distraction of mobile devices to provide optimal learning environments for all students. For the purpose of this procedure, mobile devices include mobile phones, wearables such as smartwatches, handheld devices and other emerging technologies which have the ability to connect to telecommunication networks or the internet. All students must keep mobile phones switched off and ‘away for the day’ during school hours and whilst on the school site. Wearable devices, such as smartwatches, must have notifications switched off so that phone calls, messages and other notifications cannot be sent or received during school hours. Students and their parents may apply for an exemption from this requirement based on certain medical, disability and wellbeing considerations.

Our valued School Administrative Manager (SAM), Mrs Fiona Frank, will be leaving us on 26 August. Mrs Frank and her family have relocated to the Lake Macquarie district, and she has secured a relieving SAM position in that locality. On behalf on the school community, I wish to thank Mrs Frank for her professionalism and friendship over the last few years at the school. She will definitely be missed.

Many thanks to those parents who have already notified the office about their child starting Kindergarten in 2025. If any current SGPS parent has a child who will be starting school next year or if any of our families have neighbours in that position, please inform them Samuel Gilbert PS is now taking enrolments for next year. It is important to get enrolments in as soon as possible as this assists our planning for 2025. Enrolment forms are available online https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/going-to-a-public-school/enrolment/primary-school-enrolment

The raised school crossing is provided to help children cross the road safely. Parents are encouraged to use the crossing rather than cross the road directly outside the school administration entrance as this is an unnecessary risk. 

When children use the crossing, please repeat the school’s message and encourage your child to observe the following: 

• The school-crossing supervisor (Lachlan) will ask all pedestrians, both children and adults, to wait on the footpath 
• When a suitable gap appears in the traffic from both directions, the supervisor will extend the STOP sign to face the traffic and proceed to the centre of the road with the STOP sign displayed 
• Watch for the School Crossing Supervisor’s instruction 
• Walk across the crossing; please do not run 
• If on a bicycle, dismount before crossing 
• Hold onto footballs, tennis balls and anything else that might cause a distraction while crossing 
• When all pedestrians have cleared the crossing, the supervisor (Lachlan) then returns to the footpath. 
• With hand raised towards pedestrians means STOP immediately.

Opportunities currently exist for parent involvement. Coming up are the Fathers’ Day Stall, Fathers’ Day Barbeque and Jersey Day, Great Fete 2025 preparations, Council Election Barbeque and Cake Stall as well as volunteering to assist in our canteen during the school week. Please get involved when you can.

I also encourage families to attend our P&C (Parents & Citizens) meetings. These meetings serve as an effective conduit between the school and families, providing a platform for rich conversation and valuable feedback. Your involvement and input are crucial to enhancing our communication and ensuring the success of our students. Let us work together to create a supportive and thriving educational environment for our children.

The Vietnam War was Australia's longest military engagement of the 20th Century. On Sunday, 18 August, we commemorate Vietnam Veterans' Day on the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in 1966. We remember the sacrifices of those who died and say thank you to almost 60,000 Australians who served during the 10 years of our involvement in the Vietnam War.

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

Thank you to the many parents and family members who attended our Open Afternoon last Wednesday. The students were very excited to dance, play and sing for you. We hope you enjoyed their performances as much as they did and took advantage of the time to walk through our wonderful classrooms. 

Thank you also to the Year 6 families for their contribution to the very successful Sausage Sizzle. Donations of sausages and drinks from Year 6 families and parent help on the BBQ were greatly appreciated. Thank you also to the “Peeled Onion” of Guildford West for their donation of 8kgs of onions. An amazing $2500 was raised to go towards the end of Year 6 celebrations and school gift. 

The Zone Athletics Carnival will be held at Blacktown International Sports Park on Monday 26 August. Congratulations and best of luck to all students competing. Mr Whybrow is the team manager so please see him on arrival at the ground and when you depart. Allow plenty of time as parking and traffic in the area is always very difficult. 

Congratulations to the Boys Basketball KO team who defeated Regentville PS last week in the 5^th round of the NSW PSSA Knockout competition. They will meet James Erskine PS in the next round of the competition. Good luck boys!

Congratulations to the Boys Football Knockout team on their Round 5 win against North Rocks PS this week. The boys had a convincing 7-1 win. In round 6 they will meet the winner of Blaxland East PS or Kings Langley. 

To both our Tri schools and Premier’s Debating teams on their recent wins. A full report follows later in the newsletter. 

Congratulations to Miss Stacey’s Dance groups who competed in the very challenging Platinum Dance Eisteddfod last Saturday. Stage 1 placed 2^nd and Stage 3 won a “golden ticket” through to the finals day. Although it was not possible to compete in this due to the short notice it was certainly an excellent achievement. Stage 1 and Stage 3 also received costume awards. Congratulations to Miss Stacey and her dancers. 

We are always interested to hear of the wonderful achievements and activities being pursued by our students outside of school. Recently we have heard of Franklin L (6H) who has been selected in the Talented Athlete Program ( TAP) by Basketball NSW for the Under 13 camp. This program targets the state’s best junior school age athletes and selects only 50 students across NSW. Congratulations Franklin. 

Evan D.( 6H) has also been selected into a junior development program (LEAP) by Little Athletics NSW for long distance running. Only 7 other young athletes across the state have been selected in this category – congratulations Evan. 

One of our younger students has also been making his mark in the less common sport of Epee. Competing in the U8 Boys NSW Volker Hrovat Epee Cup, Evan H. (1/2Z) was awarded a bronze medal. Congratulations Evan!

Congratulations to the students from Stage 3 who participated in the Festival of Music on Tuesday evening at the Opera House. There was only high praise for the quality of the performance and the behaviour of our students. Well done Mrs Spears, Mrs McLeod and students. 

A reminder to ensure permission notes have been returned for participation in the rehearsal and concert on Tuesday 27 August. Children will travel to and from the rehearsal by bus but parent transport is required to and from Penrith Panthers for the evening concert. Traffic can be very heavy at the end of the day so please leave plenty of time to ensure arrival by 6:30pm. 

Our Green and Gold Mufti Day held last week raised $750. This will be used to support students with levies incurred if selected to represent NSW in a PSSA sport this year, with any remaining money directed towards our school based charity, Stewart house.  

In Week 6, on Wednesday 28 August, Stage 3 will be holding a mufti day to support their term 4 Fun Fair. Further details will be sent out shortly via the app. Dress will be free choice.

This week we have encouraged a particular awareness amongst students of the ways they interact with one another. These are ongoing conversations at school and ones we hope are continued at home. The way we speak to one another, the words we use, the things we do all have an impact on an individual’s sense of belonging. In a number of instances language being heard on social media is being used at school without a real understanding of the negative connotations it has for some students. We ask families to talk with their children about our values of empathy and respect and how important these are in their day to day interactions at school to create a community where every individual can feel safe with a sense of belonging. 

Recently assessed by the NSW Healthy Food Information Service our school canteen menu has met the requirements of the Food and Drink Criteria of the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy. This certification acknowledges the school’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of our students by maintaining a healthy school canteen. Congratulations to our canteen manager and staff.

Our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students have been collaborating to create a PAX vision (vision of Peace) for their school. The PAX vision is a collaborative process between teachers and students that helps them ‘get on the same page’ and extends far beyond asking students to make a list of classroom rules. PAX vision uses multi-sensory language enabling students to self-define and self-monitor. This process reduces behaviours that interfere with peaceful, productive learning.  

Ask your child about their class’ PAX vision or better yet, go and have a quick look after school. All classes will look slightly different because the input of students will be different and relevant to the experience they want at school.

Identifying students as PAX Leaders and prompting them to identify themselves as PAX Leaders allows them to associate positive behaviours not only with what they should do but who they are. PAX Leaders promote teamwork and group cohesion, while reducing argument conflict. When students identify the positive as who they are and what they are part of, they are less likely to engage in unwanted, problematic behaviour and more likely to make positive choices.

Thank you to the 170 parents out of 496 families who answered our parent survey on School Reports Semester 1 2024.

From the survey responses received:

• 92% of our school community valued the school reports written for students in Semester 1.
• Parents found this reporting format similar or more informative than previous formats.
• Parents in general found the indicators useful but found the language of the Mathematics descriptors less accessible than the English descriptors.
• 72% of parents found the learning goals for English and Mathematics informative.
• 75% of parents found the General Comment informative and many used the comments section to offer feedback.

There was an overwhelming amount of positive feedback in the comments section.

‘It is very informative and clear structured.’

‘Liked how it linked to the new curriculum.’

‘Happy with the format and detail.’

‘Great effort by teachers, clearly shows that you pay attention to our child and understand their strengths and weaknesses.’

‘Loved hearing how my son is doing at school. Found the report easy to follow and read, very helpful. The whole family loved it. Thank you.

‘Learning goals were clearer. Easy to understand what my child can and can not do with outcomes provided.’

‘I felt the report was fairly consistent with others and continued to provide value to families wanting to understand how their child is progressing.’

‘…It’s also nice to see effort as well as academic achievement reflected in the report.’

‘They were clear and concise and had ample information in them about our child.’

Whilst all feedback has been read and will be used to support in making school reports as accessible and useful as possible for our school community, we do also need to comply with the mandated requirements from the NSW Department of Education.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/reporting-to-parents

From the comments received, the following can be addressed:

A copy of a de-identified breakdown of cohort / grade achievement can be accessed from the front office. Although not printed directly onto reports, these are available on request for all grades from 1-6.

Whilst the formal teacher interviews are held prior to reports so that parents are able to discuss prior to the middle of the school year, an ongoing partnership between parents and teachers is important to student success. Parents are encouraged to make an appointment to speak with the classroom teacher at any point of the school year, including after receiving reports.

Student absences are automatically entered onto school reports at the end of Week 8, Term 2 to meet a deadline as close to the printing of reports as possible.  Absences from Week 9 and 10 of Term 2 are included in the Semester 2 reports.

Learning goals are an indication of next steps in learning. Learning is a life long journey. Regardless of whether a student has not yet met, met or excelled in an area of learning there will continue to be expected growth. Our classroom teachers are well-equipped to support, meet and extend learning needs of all students.

We thank you for your honest communication and feedback and look forward to continuing your child’s learning journey in partnership with you.

A fun day out was had by all Year 1 and Year 2 students who were able to spend a full day of learning at Sydney Zoo. All classes had their own guide to walk them through the first half of the day, introduce them to the animals, get up and very close to some wildlife, and after lunch they had some time to walk around with their teacher and explore the reptile sanctuary, Australian animal section and aquarium. I was lucky enough to spend a large part of the day with our Year 2 group. Their behaviour was exemplary as I’m sure was Year 1's.

Cathie Barclay & Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

Across the four Kindergarten classrooms, students enjoyed a range of science activities including designing their own paper planes, watching short science-related videos and exploring which materials were used to make the objects they can see around the school. They have also been using a range of robotics equipment with their Year 6 buddies in the lead up to Science Week.

With Book Week just around the corner, there are even more reasons to feel inspired and get into the spirit of reading! While there are plenty of wonderful books to choose from for great entertainment and storytelling, there is also a great variety of books to help your child develop important literacy and numeracy skills while having fun reading!

Next time you are choosing to read with your child, try some of these suggested titles to help them further extend their learning.

Books for conversation and word building:

• Dunbi the Owl – Daisy Utemorrah
• Possum Magic – Mem Fox, illustrator Julie Vivas
• The Day the Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt, illustrator Oliver Jeffers
• The Little Refugee – Anh and Suzanne Do, illustrator Bruce Whatley
• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs – Jon Scieszka, illustrator Lane Smith
• The Very Cranky Bear – Nick Bland

Books that have rhyme:

• Miss Spider’s Tea Party – David Kirk
• No Way Yirrikipayi! – Alison Lester
• Pig the Pug – Aaron Blabey
• Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas – Aaron Blabey
• Sebastian Lives in a Hat – Thelma  Catterwell, illustrator Kerry Argent
• The Cat in the Hat – Dr Seuss
• Animalia – Graeme Base

Books about numbers and counting:

• Counting with Tiny Cat – Viviane Schwarz
• One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab – April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre, illustrator Randy Cecil
• One Woolly Wombat – Kerry Argent

Books about adding and subtracting:

• Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-seek – Eileen Christelow
• Ten Little Beasties – Rebecca and Ed Emberley
• The Shopping Basket – John Burningham
• Uno’s Garden – Graeme Base

Books about patterning:

• Anno’s Counting Book – Mitsumasa Anno
• Caterpillar and Butterfly – Ambelin Kwaymullina
• One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish – Dr Seuss
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

Happy reading and learning!

Amanda Keane
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, CURRICULUM and INSTRUCTION 

Our Father’s Day Stall will be held during Week 6 on Monday 26 and Wednesday 28 August. A big thank you to Dannii Meisch who is co-ordinating the stall. Dannii does an amazing job of organising the stall items for our students to purchase. Please check which day your child/children are scheduled to attend the stall and send in cash with your child on their allocated day. Items are priced between $1 - $10 and children are welcome to purchase more than one item. There will be an opportunity for students to purchase any remaining items from the stall before school on Friday 30 August. 

We need volunteers to help Dannii run the Stall and serve the children. If you can assist on the day, please sign up here.

Monday 26 August 
6H, 6W, 6C, 6J, 6K, 5S, 5L, 5E, 5P, 4O 4G, 4M, 4SL, 3/4B, 3SB, 3S, 3O, 2P, 2N

Wednesday 28 August 
2SB, 1G, 1K, 1B, 1/2Z, KM, KE, KT, KF

Our annual Jersey Day BBQ is scheduled for Friday 30 August 2024 from 7:30am-8:30am. Our students love welcoming their Dad’s, Grandpa’s and special Father Figures onsite to share some time together at school. Cost is $5.00 per person and includes a freshly cooked bacon and egg roll and a drink. Please book and pay by next Friday 23 August https://www.trybooking.com/CUALB

Can you help? We have not yet received an offer to help Coordinate the Father’s Day Breakfast. The school and OOSH staff have kindly offered to assist on the day. We have a number of P&C Exec away for work on this day so if you can help with this event, please reach out to Katie at president@sgpspc.org.au as soon as possible. 

Thank you to those who have volunteered already to assist on the day. We loved having our Dad’s support our Mother’s Day BBQ and we would love to see our enthusiastic Mum’s and Grandma’s assist at the Father’s/Jersey Day BBQ. If you can assist, please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/fRAgyrB.

We are calling on volunteers to register their interest in forming the 2025 Great Fete Committee. If you would like more information about what is involved or would like to register your interest, please complete this EOI form by Friday 30 August 2024.

The SGPS P&C will be holding a BBQ and Cake Stall for the upcoming NSW Local Elections on Saturday 14 September. Due to renovations at other local schools, we are anticipating a larger than usual number of voters attending SGPS. 

We are seeking volunteers to help cook and serve at the BBQ or serve at the Cake Stall on the day. If you can spare an hour, please consider volunteering. Year 6 students are also welcome to assist serving.  To view available shifts and times, please sign up here.

The P&C has scheduled an evening of Interrelate family sessions for Tuesday 17 September 2024. 

Interrelate’s Tricky Talks program involves two one-hour live online presentations:

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

More details will follow on the School app shortly. However, if parents would like to register to attend, the link is open now: https://events.humanitix.com/samuel-gilbert-ps-tricky-talks-17-09-2024. Registrations are capped at 120. 

Please note that when completing the registration form, there is a drop-down menu that enables parents to register for the session that they wish to attend with their child. Both sessions will be an hour long with a small break in between. Whether you choose to attend only one session or both, the cost is $41.50 per family including GST.

• Father’s Day Stall – Monday 26 & Wednesday 28 August
• Jersey Day BBQ Friday 30 August 7:30am-8:30am
• P&C Meeting Tuesday 10 September, 7:30pm
• Election BBQ Saturday 14 September
• Interrelate (Years 3 – 6) Online on Tuesday 17 September
  - Where Did I Come From: 6:00pm-7:00pm
  - Preparing for Puberty: 7:15pm-8:15pm
• Parent/Son Camp Saturday 26-Sunday 27 October

For more information about the SGPS P&C, who we are and what we do, 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 Vice President
etye@sgpspc.org

Well done to our three Bands for their very entertaining performances at last week’s Open Afternoon.

NSSWE Band Festival at Chatswood Concourse – Performance Band ONLY

Samuel Gilbert Public School Performance Band will be performing in the 2:30pm concert on Sunday 15 September. Please find approximate timings for this performance below and note that the exact arrival time will be allocated to you very soon:

• Earliest arrival time: 1:00PM
• Concert start time: 2:30PM
• Student dismissal time: 5:00PM

An email with more details in regard to exact meet time and location, uniform and ticket purchase will be sent in the coming weeks.

Please RSVP to this event in Bandforte ASAP if you haven’t already.

I will be stepping down from the co-ordinator role at the end of this term as I no longer have children in the Band Program. The SGPS Band Committee has a long and proud history of staff and parent support to enable the Band Program to be facilitated on a voluntary basis, thus keeping fees as low as possible for families.

In order to continue this legacy, the committee is looking for some additional parent members, and in particular someone to take over the role of coordinator. The role can be subdivided into some smaller roles or shared if you would like to work alongside a friend(s). Thank you so much to those who have contacted me about the roles already.

The Co-ordinator role that will be vacant as of Term 4 could be divided into the following roles:

• Communications Co-ordinator
• Enrolments Co-ordinator
• Instrument Co-ordinator

We greatly appreciate your consideration of contributing your time to continue the successful running of the Band Program. Please contact sgpsbandcoordinator@gmail.com if you have any further questions or would be interested in taking on a role on the Band Committee.

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

It’s finally here!!!! Next week, Week 5, is Book Week, on Tuesday of Book Week we will be holding our character parade, all students and staff are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book character, parents and siblings can come in costume too! We will parade in our costumes for everyone to see. So come along and enjoy the fun and entertainment of all the creative and interesting outfits on display – yes, I have selected a new costume for the event!

We will also be holding special edition morning read days, on Monday we will have a guest reader helping to read one of the Children’s Book Council of Australia books of the Year, on Wednesday another guest reader will be helping to read another Children’s Book Council of Australia books of the Year and on Thursday I will be reading two special book week story books; Wild about book week by Sarah Speedie and The Lost Library by Jess McGeachin.

CAN YOU TEACH A FISH TO CLIMB A TREE?
Jane Godwin Illustrated by Terry Denton

Children will initially find the series of posed questions in this imaginative book, both preposterous and comical, a great device to engage them in reflections and discussions about self-acceptance, diversity and understanding others. Quirky, loose ink and watercolour illustrations, abounding in small humorous details, enhance the succinct narrative inviting children to follow the unfolding visual stories and create their own. The pace builds with the increasing silliness in the first half, which is followed by a more considered, thoughtful second half, cleverly incorporating fascinating facts about remarkable attributes of various animals (and human babies). Powerful yet with a light touch that feels fresh and unique, this interactive picture book will sit well in homes, libraries and educational settings. 

THE CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
A useful guide including all critiques from our panel of 2024 CBCA expert judges, arranged by category. 

The Thursday Morning Read is returning for Term 3 and will be continuing every 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. 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.

Just a couple of friendly reminders about the twice a term Book Club catalogues that are sent home. 

• Book Club is sent home twice a term, early and mid-term. 
• Closing dates for ordering are usually Friday Week 5 and Friday Week 8 to allow for deliveries before the break. 
• Orders need to be made online via the Scholastic Book Club website, instructions can be found at the back of the Book Club catalogue.
• NO CASH PAYMENTS can be accepted by the school, please don’t send cash to the school.

The Premiers Reading Challenge opened on 26 February 2024. 

You must complete your online Student Reading Record by Friday 23 August 2024 (11:59 pm) to complete the Challenge. 

Please use this information to access the Premier’s Reading Challenge to register your child/ren for the challenge:

How to Log-on to the Premier’s Reading Challenge:
Go to the NSW Department of Education portal login page, https://portal.education.nsw.gov.au/studentPortal/portal.education.nsw.gov.au Students need to enter their username and password here.
If you do not know your username or password for the PRC website, please see the PRC coordinator at your school, or ask your teacher to help you find out your login details. 
 
 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.  The URL to use is: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/. Public school students can also log in directly to the PRC websiteusing their Department of Education (DoE) username and password.  These are the same details a student would use to access the Student Portaland the computer network at school.  If you are unaware of your username and/or password, please contact your class teacher and ask for your Student Portal username and/or password.

Rules:
For all the rules and booklists for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, please visit the Premier’s Reading Challenge website: https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/logon.html 
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 Week for 2024 will be arriving at Samuel Gilbert Public School in Week 5. To celebrate our week of children’s literature some events have been planned:

MONDAY 19 August, 8:20am Special Morning Read event: 
Come to the tiered learning space to hear two of the 2024 Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year Winning books.

TUESDAY 20 August, 11:30am - 12:30pm Book Character Parade:
All parents and classes are welcome to come and enjoy the wonderful costumes that will be on display. Everyone is to gather outside the new hall to see students (and staff) parade to show off their costumes. Remember your costumes should be of BOOK characters, not movie characters!

WEDNESDAY 23 August, 8:20am Special Morning Read event: 
Come to the tiered learning space to hear two more of the 2024 Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year Winning books.

THURSDAY 24 August, 8:20am Regular Morning Read: 
Come to the tiered learning space to hear some fun Book Week books:

1. Wild about book week by Sarah Speedie
2. The Lost Library by Jess McGeachin

• All students are permitted to borrow up to 4 books at a time, however they must use a book bag to carry and protect their books, this bag may be the excursion bag available from the uniform shop, a canvas shopping bag or any other suitable bag, the only requirement is the books must fit inside the bag. 
• If you have any concerns about lost, damaged or overdue books, please come and see me in the library before or after school to discuss what actions (if any) are needed to satisfy your concerns.
• 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. 
• When registering for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, please remember to FIRST log into your child’s departmental page, this has a link to the PRC which, when clicked, will automatically log you in and register your child as a participant. For more information, please read the Premier’s Reading Challenge section above.
• To complete the Premier’s Reading Challenge, you must complete your online Student Reading Record by Friday 23 August 2024 (11:59 pm). 
• Treasure Hunt #3 has begun with a added level of challenge for a fun new set of experiences to help students explore the library and the different services at resources we have on offer. Have you found all 22 ghosts hiding in the library?

Yours in reading,

Adam Hands,
Librarian

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

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

Please refer to the P&C website for details. Please note that plain navy blue track pants can be worn only on sport days, not as general uniform.

Thank you for all the donations. They are greatly appreciated. 

Please bag the item/s, label the bag with your child’s name and class, explain what you want done and return to the school office or canteen. I will collect the item/s, exchange as requested, and return the item/s to the classroom.

Due to canteen hours, deliveries of Munch Monitor clothing orders are on Mondays and Fridays only. 

Kind Regards,

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

Welcome to week 4. In the last week the canteen received our NSW Healthy School certificate for another three years. The menu has changed a little to meet the standards.

There are no more daily deals but most of the items are now found in the hot food section. The Stonebaked meat lovers has been removed. Dumpings are now available on Tuesday and Thursday. Stonebaked Ham and Pineapple and Margarita are both available on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Garlic bread is still available everyday.

The roster is now available on the school app so please sign up and keep our prices down. 

Regards,  
Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

Gardening Club at Samuel Gilbert continues to grow and the students have been busy over the past term moving the garden beds to their new location on the top oval, weeding and preparing the soil in readiness for planting new seeds and growing winter vegetables.

At present we have growing in our garden beds, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes (both sweet and regular varieties), sweet peas, tomatoes, radishes, capsicum and companion plants to prevent insects from attacking our crops.

As is always the case with growing plants, some will die off during the colder winter months and we unfortunately lost our corn, onion, shallots and pumpkin crops due to the cold weather.

The school wide composting program continues to be completed daily to utilise the fruit and vegetable scraps from Crunch N Sip fruit break time, to create rich compost to improve the soil for our garden beds.

Our most recent project in the gardens have included installing a protective netting system to shelter the crops from pests such as possums, birds and the numerous forms of vegetable loving insects. 

Students have also been taking home many varieties of plants grown from seed that were excess to our needs in the garden beds and they have been experimenting with their own growing techniques at home.

We look forward to being able to watch our current vegetable crop mature, so we can enjoy the taste of the freshness of home grown produce.

Mrs Meyers and Mr Wicks

Our debaters have been very busy over the past few weeks with several debates being held.

Last week, our Trischool’s Debating Team headed off to Castle Hill Public School for Round 3 for the Trischool’s Debating Challenge. 

The team of Bronson, Isla, Alaura and Ivy were faced with the topic: “That the government should impose lower tax levels on people who live healthy lifestyles” We were assigned the affirmative side of the topic and after presenting some strong arguments and rebuttals our team was awarded with the win. 

Our Trischool’s Teams have now three wins and one loss from four debates in their competition and are doing exceptionally well for being first time debaters.                                         

Also, last week our Premier’s Debating Team competed in Rd 3 of the Premier’s Debating Competition against Kellyville Public School. The team of Amani, Zach, Kabiite and Olivia were faced with a tough topic:“That parents should pay their kids whenever they do chores or homework.” We were lucky enough to win the toss and elected to take the affirmative case for the topic. Unfortunately, the negative side was able to present a stronger case and we suffered a narrow loss.

This week our Premier’s Debating Team debated in Rd 4 of the Premiers Debating Competition against Ironbark Ridge Public School. The team of Airlie, Lucy, Alisha and Ella were assigned the topic “That primary school students should run compulsory weekend sports competitions”. 

We lost the toss and were again given the affirmative case and after 1 hour of being locked away in a room preparing their case, the team performed outstandingly in presenting very convincing arguments and rebutting the oppositions arguments with great skill. 

After a long deliberation by the adjudicator, Samuel Gilbert was awarded the victory and the team now sits with 3 wins and 1 loss from 4 debates and will await results from other schools to see if we are crowned zone champions for a second year running.

Mr Wicks & Mrs Pellizzari
Debating Coordinators

Our Stage 1 students recently embarked on an exciting excursion to Sydney Zoo, where they had the opportunity to learn about animals and their habitats in an engaging, hands-on environment. The day was filled with wonder as students observed a wide range of animals, from majestic lions and curious meerkats to colorful birds and slithering reptiles.

During the visit, students participated in interactive sessions where they learned about the unique characteristics of each animal and how they adapt to their environments. They also explored different habitats, gaining a deeper understanding of how animals thrive in various conditions.

The excursion not only enriched their knowledge of wildlife but also sparked their curiosity about the natural world. It was a memorable day that combined fun with education, leaving our young explorers eager to learn more about the wonders of nature.

Week 5
Monday, 19 August 
Book Club talk for Year 1
Wednesday, 21 August 
Stage 2 and 3 public speaking finals from 9am
  
Week 6
Monday, 26 August
Stage 2 Dance Performance