National Walk Safely to School Day supported by the Prime Minister of Australia is a community initiative that aims to raise awareness of the health, road safety, transport and environmental benefits of regular walking. This can provide for the long-term wellbeing of our children. Apart from the physical benefits, regular walking also has a positive impact on their mental health and academic performance.

Last Friday, to reinforce the abovementioned community message our school received generous support from NSW Police. A huge thank you to Senior Sergeant Graham Doak (father of Bronson Yr6) who enabled the walk safely to school message to be visibly represented through police presence as well as the police vehicles and motorcycles. The police officers interacted with our students in a very positive way discussing ways of being safe. Again, our sincere thanks to Snr Sgt Doak and the police in attendance for all that they do to keep us safe.

It was extremely pleasing to witness our students carefully selecting a book or two for which they will not only enjoy but also improve their reading ability. We are grateful to the school community for valuing this project. This year’s sales from the Book Fair were around $12000. A large portion will be offered to the school to invest in new books for the students to borrow from our library. The Book Fair (aka Book Flare) was a success largely due to Mr Hands finesse and inspirational coordination.

A perfect score of 100% was awarded to our school as determined by the local school director. Within Public Education there are several systemic accountability measures to ensure that the school processes and practices, as well as monitors and supports, compliance consistent with the numerous policy implementation requirements. Our school takes the implementation of policy and procedure very seriously especially those extended to the safety and wellbeing of all students. The school was able to provide strong evidence to all twenty-one audited areas.

At this time of the year many students will represent our school. Through PSSA representations and school State Knockout competition our students are thriving through displaying determination and sportsmanship. Our debating teams have also made waves this term, showcasing their skills in critical thinking and public speaking. In the world of performing arts, our talented students have practised their instruments, and/or rehearsed for upcoming dance and choral festivals so we acknowledge their creativity and passion.

These activities are a fantastic way to build new friendships, develop their skill, and contribute to our school community. We continue to support our representatives and cheer them on as they strive for excellence through participation.

A reminder that Grandparents’ Day is scheduled for Tuesday, 10 June (the day after the King’s Birthday public holiday). Information about that event was included in last week’s School App notification. The students and school staff are looking forward to this very special day.

If you have a child who is eligible to commence Kindergarten in 2026, or know of families with children who turn 5 years before 1 August, 2026 could you please contact the school for information to enrol. Further information detailing the transition to Kindergarten program will be distributed in Term 3. If you are aware of any families transferring to our area, please pass on our contact details so we can make the necessary arrangements for their transition.

This term, the school welcomes four practicum teachers from Macquarie University, Ms Katie Ekstrom (KB), Ms Vinuj Punsara (3M), Ms Hillary Pao (5C), Ms Sheena Naicker (6K), and from University of New England, Ms Kira Walker (5S). We hope they all have a wonderful experience in their weeks here and enjoy many years in the rewarding vocation of teaching.

National Sorry Day is an annual event that has been held in Australia on 26 May, since 1998, to remember the country's Aboriginal people since British settlement.

The Australian Curriculum for K-10 states, “that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority is designed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures”. 

It does not matter whether we were 'personally responsible'; we can claim a sense of nationalistic sorrow for the people affected by policies enacted in the name of Australia, the same way we can claim nationalistic pride in the sacrifices made by the brave ANZACs or proud victories of Australian sporting teams.

Greg McLaren
PRINCIPAL

Last Thursday our students competed in the Castle Hill Zone Cross Country Carnival at Masonic Oval Baulkham Hills. Congratulations to all runners for their participation on the day. Particular congratulations and best wishes to Mia DP., Aria F. and Olivia W. who will go on to represent our school and Castle PSSA at the Area Carnival to be held at the Sydney Equestrian Centre on June 26, 2025. Also congratulations to our 10 year old girls who were the winners of their age division on the day. Thanks to Mrs Neldner for managing the team.

Congratulations to the Senior Girls Knock Out Touch Football team who won the first round of their knockout competition against Pitt Town PS this week by 14-6. The girls played a strong game against a less experienced Pitt Town side. Well done girls, good luck for the next round.

Unfortunately due to wet weather the boys Touch KO match against Carlingford West PS and the Senior Girls Netball Round 2 match against Parramatta East were postponed this week.

Our debaters are off to an outstanding start with three debates and three wins!
Year 5 debaters Mia DP, Ethan W., Claudia M., and Kaitlin M., successfully convinced the adjudicator of the first Tri Schools debate against Castle Hill PS That schools should ban students wearing school uniforms?"  Not an easy topic to argue as the affirmative but they were outstanding despite it being their first debate.
Rahim I., Danbi H., Evie A. and Olivia C. were equally convincing as the negative team against Sherwood Ridge PS arguing against the topic That the school holidays should be extended throughout the year. 
Finally our Premiers Debating team of Kirsten L., Jiya S., Emelia C. and Alaura M secured the third win by defeating Dural PS by arguing as the affirmative team That the school day should be extended by 1 Hour.
Congratulations to all debaters and Mr Wicks on such a successful start to the debating season.

If you have not yet done so please ensure your child has returned their signed digital device agreement to the office or class teacher.

Thank you to all families for your wonderful support of this year’s Book Fair. Children have certainly loved selecting some beautiful books for their home libraries. To those who have donated books to the school our sincere thanks. They will be enjoyed by hundreds of students over the years to come. A huge thank you to Mr Hands for making the event such a success.

Families of Stage 1 Boys and Stage 3 Before School Dance groups have been contacted about the decision to withdraw from the Synergy Friday matinee event. We will still be performing in the 7:30pm evening performance and attending the rehearsal on the preceding Thursday. If you have not yet completed the online permission information for attendance at the rehearsal and evening show please do so as soon as possible. If your child is not attending it will require a change of choreography for the entire group. We remind families that dance is a team event and there is an expectation that students will be available for performances. We are looking forward to seeing our students on stage for the first time this year!

On Wednesday 21 May Kindergarten booked the hall for a day of learning about their environment. Each class had their own puppet show where they explored relationships with living and nonliving things. Kindergarten learnt how to keep animals happy and each student took a photo with the visiting ranger.

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

Vocabulary refers to the words we must know and understand to communicate effectively. It is the knowledge of words and word meanings. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognise or use in print. 

Vocabulary plays an important role in word recognition. Your child is more likely to be able to read a word if they find a match between the word on the page and a word they have learnt through listening and speaking. This also supports them to read related words.

Vocabulary is also the key to reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what most of the words mean. As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

Your child may have come home from a day of learning at school and discussed with you the three-tier model for vocabulary development. Tier 1 words are the common, everyday words that most children enter school knowing already – either in English or their first language.  They do not usually require explicit instruction, however, where they do, particularly for students learning Standard Australian English, they are easily explained and understood, as they are highly concrete nouns, verbs and adjectives. Some examples are 'small', 'big' or 'walk'. Tier 1 words will continue to be acquired from everyday life including through school life. 

Tier 2 words occur across a variety of domains and subjects. They appear more frequently in texts than in oral language, so children are less likely to learn them without engaging with texts. They usually have multiple meanings based on the context they are used in. Tier 2 words are essential for building formal academic language and they add precision and sophistication to texts. For example, ‘miniscule’ is a more precise way of saying the Tier 1 word 'small', or 'saunter' instead of 'walk' or 'atrocious' instead of 'bad'. These words require explicit teaching as they are unlikely to be part of children’s everyday oral language.

Tier 3 words are often limited to specific topics and domains and are likely to be new for all students. Some examples of Tier 3 words might be 'Pantheon', 'diameter' and 'epidermis'.  In general, we learn these words when there is a specific need.

To help your child learn new words at home, consider asking them where the word fits into the three-tier model and how do they know. Also build vocabulary into everyday routines - as you talk with your child, or when reading with them. Define new words together and work with your child so they can become more familiar with challenging words.

Amanda Keane
Relieving Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

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

May has been a busy month. The Election BBQ and cake stall and the Mother’s Day Stall and Breakfast have all been recently held, thanks to our wonderful volunteers.  As was reported at our recent P&C Meeting: 

• On Election Day, the BBQ sold over 800 sausage/bacon/egg roll variations between 8am and 2pm, generating a net profit of over $3,000. While the cake stall saw a drop in donations of baked goods, all items were sold at full price. In total, the profit on the day was $4,200.00. Thank you to Matt Young and all our volunteers who came to help on the day. 
• Our Mother’s Day stall provides our students with a unique opportunity to make decisions about what to purchase and how to use money as well as the opportunity to acknowledge their Mum’s, Grandma’s and Mother Figures. Our Mother’s Day stall this year was without a co-ordinator so a big thank you to Michelle Pratley and Kally Mitchell who helped make this much-loved event happen. The stall generated a profit of $3,500.00 which was on budget – a wonderful result given that costs for products have increased while we have kept prices within the $10 limit. Thank you to all our volunteers who helped serve on the stall too! 
• We sold close to 400 tickets for the Mother’s Day Breakfast this year. While costs are still being finalised, a big thank you to Sam Crow and Olivia Simmons who did a fabulous job to co-ordinated the event for the first time as well as Daniel Karjadi who donated his time and services to run the video booth on the day. 

If you would like to be involved in any of the events or activities of the P&C, please reach out to Katie at katie.pike@sgpspc.org.au.

Grandparents Day will be held on Tuesday 10 June. This is one of our most loved and well attended school events of the year. Parents are invited to help by providing cakes, biscuits, scones or slices for our Grandparents (and Grandparent figures) to enjoy on this special day. We seem to run out every year and so we would like to invite every family to contribute something towards the morning tea. 

Volunteers will also be needed to help with serving coffee and tea and preparing platters (9am-11am). Food can be brought to the canteen before school on the day. For further information, please see the note issued on the school app. Thank you to our Canteen staff for their support of this event.

The P&C have welcomed a new Business Manager, Sarah Upton. Sarah will be assisting with the co-ordination of the Uniform Shop and Canteen behind the scenes. Welcome to Sarah! 

You can still make a difference in our school community in 2025! Why don’t you come along to our next P&C meeting for Term 2. Join us on Tuesday 10th June at 7:30pm. We would love to see you in person the School Library or alternatively, online. Please reach out to our Secretary for the online meeting invitation.

If in the meantime you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our President, Katie Pike at katie.pike@sgpspc.org.au.

Kind regards,

Elizabeth Tye
SGPS P&C

Our Bands are busy preparing for an ambitious program for Term 2. Parents are reminded to take note of the upcoming Band events and check BandForte for updates.

It is vital that all students are practising at home in preparation for our upcoming Term 2 performances. Why not ask your young musician to play for you at home as they prepare?

• Date: Tuesday, 10th June  
• Time: 10:50 am – 11:30 am (during Morning Tea Break)  
• All three bands will perform

• Dates: 16th and 17th June (overnight camp)  
• A packing list will be issued to parents next week

• Date: Sunday, 22nd June  
• All bands will be adjudicated; there will be a workshop on stage with the adjudicator following each performance  
• Attendance: Compulsory. It is vital that all members of each band attend to ensure the full team can perform  
• Performance Times:  
• Concert Band: Arrive at 1:00 pm; depart at 2:30 pm  
• Performance Band: Arrive at 2:00 pm; depart at 3:30 pm  
• Training Band: Arrive Saturday at 3:00 pm; depart at 4:15 pm

• Date: Monday, 30th June  
• All bands will perform in the new hall  
• Students Arrive at 6:15 pm  
• Concert: Approximately 6:30pm-7:30pm

• Date: Sunday, 10th August  
• Participants: Performance Band and Concert Band only
• Importance: This is the Blue-Ribbon event for these bands this year; full attendance is essential to ensure the team is complete.  
• Performance Venue & Times:  
• Concert Band: Arrive at Wenkart Theatre, Knox Grammar School, at 8:25am  
• Performance Band: Arrive at Wenkart Theatre, Knox Grammar School, at 9:50am

Please check Bandforte to keep up to date with the latest information.

Thank you for your continued support of our talented musicians and our fabulous Band Program.

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

Term 2 is off to a massive start! Our Annual Book Fair has just finished and was another resounding success! Our fantastic school community has purchased over $12,200 worth of books! This is a massive achievement and will result in a commission for the school to purchase many new resources to support literacy development for all students. Thank you to everyone who purchased a book and especially those who purchased books especially to donate to our school library. We had a few special visitors during the Book Fair, how many did you meet? There was the Wizard, Genie, Crumbly Cookie, Paper, Scissors and Rock and finally, a Roman Emperor.

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.

Yours in reading,
Adam Hands,
Librarian.

Grandparents' Day is coming up on Tuesday 10th June and we need volunteers to help us serve tea/coffee and help prepare platters of food. If you are able to help us, come and see us or ring the school and they will put you through to speak to us. We will also need donations of cakes, biscuits, slices etc for the grandparents for morning tea. Please remember no nuts and Gluten free options are very welcome.

We have a new Nudie juice on our menu apple/strawberry flavour.

Thanks,
Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

Week 4
Friday, 23 May 
Year 1 Reading Club from Castle Hill Library

Week 5
Monday, 26 May
Year 1 Excursion to Hambledon Cottage and Elizabeth Farm
Tuesday, 27 May
Year 2 Excursion to Hambledon Cottage and Elizabeth Farm
Paul Kelly Cup
Wednesday, 28 May
Hills Performing Arts Festival Massed Choir Rehearsal at SGPS
Thursday, 29 May
Boys Touch Football Knockout

Week 6
Monday, 2 June
Year 6 Grade Fun Photo and Concept Shots
Tuesday, 3 June
Stage 2 Final of Spelling Bee
Boys & Girls Football Knockout at Bella Vista
Thursday, 5 June
Stage 3 Spelling Bee Final

SEE TERM 2 SCHOOL PARENT PLANNER FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE