As this is the final newsletter for the term, I wanted to share a couple of celebrations and some staffing updates.

Firstly, it is a celebration of your children and the choices they are making.  Our students on the whole have been making great choices each and every day.  We know this based on data and the way that we hear students speak and see students play.  Yes, we do occasionally still have difficult days, but if we compare the first eight weeks of school over a number of years, we see greater evidence with practise of our school values: being resilient and safe as well as displaying respect and empathy.

As we move towards term two there are a few staffing updates. Mrs Buckley will be teaching class 1B. We are extremely grateful to Mrs Ross for her dedication to teaching and pastoral care of 1B in term one. Mrs Ross will be working with other classes throughout 2026.

We say farewell and thank you to one of our school general assistants, Mr Lachlan Barnes. Mr Barnes also was known to the school community as the former Transport NSW crossing supervisor for Ridgecrop Drive. We wish Mr Barnes the very best with his studies and career goals.   

Student Voice

Today, joined by Deputy Principal, Ms Appave, our elected student captains, Caressa P and Blake M had the opportunity to speak at the local ‘Network of Schools Student Voice’. The network group will meet once a term to bring student issues to each meeting. Thank you to Blake and Caressa for contributing to this forum.

This week is Harmony week in Australia. This year’s theme is ‘Everyone Belongs’.  This is a time to signify cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home; from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come from many countries around the world. Our school enrols students from a wide diversity of cultures and communities with many different religions, beliefs and practices. 

Yesterday the school celebrated Harmony Day. Students were encouraged to wear their families’ traditional and cultural clothing. Alternatively, orange was the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Students choose to wear something orange during Harmony Day to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia. Tomorrow the P&C canteen will offer a variety of food with origins linked to various cultural groups.

Samuel Gilbert Public School is making sure the sacrifice of Australian war veterans and serving defence personnel is not forgotten.   In the lead-up to the National Day of Remembrance, students will be making artworks, studying literature, writing poems and age appropriately learning the story of Australia’s military history and the impact of conflicts.

The school will respectfully remember those courageous men and women who made a major contribution representing and defending our great nation. The assembly for the students will take place at 9.15am Thursday, 23 April. Visitors are welcome to attend.  Our school captains and prefects will be conducting the assembly. Our school performance band will be performing too. This year, we will officially open the dedicated ANZAC Day garden at the corner of the school oval. 

ANZAC Day is 25 April.

We wish all the school community members celebrating Nowruz a happy new year this Saturday. This is New Year’s Day for many Iranians or Persians. The United Nations officially recognises the ‘International Day of Nowruz’. Nowruz is now celebrated by many ethnicities worldwide. 

Please note the last day of first term is Thursday, 2 April with school resuming in term 2 for the students on Wednesday, 22 April.  The school staff will return to school on Monday.

If you should notice suspicious activity on our school grounds during the holiday period, please act. School security can be contacted on 1300 880 021 or Castle Hill Police 9680 5399. If you notice damage to school property, anti-sociable conduct or suspicious activity on the grounds after school hours please do not hesitate to call the abovementioned numbers.

As this is our last newsletter for the term, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and enjoyable school vacation.

Greg McLaren 
PRINCIPAL

Over the past fortnight Years 3 and 5 have completed their NAPLAN assessments with nearly every student having the opportunity to complete all 4 tests. 

Year 3 completed their writing assessment using pencil and paper with all other tests being completed online. Unfortunately for Year 5 this meant that the Wednesday Writing task had to be postponed as the state experienced technical difficulties. However, we were pleased to have every child complete the test over the testing window.  The stimulus material for writing encouraged students to write a narrative about The Rock. Pictures to stimulate imaginations included a lizard on a rock, a rock painted with a funny face, a rocking chair, a rock band, a rock fossil of a shell and an interesting rock formation. We hope the students enjoyed the opportunity to showcase their creative writing. 

At this stage less than 40% of our Year 6 students have had their High School enrolment applications completed online. Please be aware that every student needs the application completed whether seeking placement at a government school or not. Ideally these will be completed by this week to enable us to support you with any questions or problems before the final closing date of Friday 28 March. The application can be accessed using the enrolment tab on the school website. Thank you to those who have already finalised this application. A reminder that the address used for the application must be the same as that on record with Samuel Gilbert. If you have moved it is important that you update this information with our school office. If you will be moving but have not yet done so, at this stage you will need to do an out of area application for the high school that is the local school for that address. Please don’t hesitate to speak to the office or Ms Barclay if you require additional help. 

On Monday 30 March school class photos will be taken. Additional information and a request for permission for your child to be included in the class photo will be sent via School Bytes. 

This week we have been celebrating Australia’s rich cultural diversity and reminding students how important the sense of belonging is for the well being of all students. As one of the world’s most successful multi-cultural countries we encourage recognition of the fact that cultural diversity is at the heart of who we are.  We thank the canteen and many volunteers for organising a special lunch on Friday so that students can explore a taste from a culture different to their own. We also wish to recognise the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which falls on Saturday 21 March. At Samuel Gilbert we strive to create a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for all students by identifying and challenging racism. 

Next Wednesday we will be holding our Cross Country carnival for students in Years 2 – 6. If you are able to assist on a checkpoint please contact the office with your name and phone number. We expect all children to participate unless there is a medical reason that prevents them from doing so. Please let your class teacher know via note or email if your child should not compete. The first six children from each age category ( Boys and Girls) will go on to represent Samuel Gilbert at the Zone Cross Country Carnival on Thursday 7 May. The age categories are: 12/13 Year Olds, 11 Year olds, 10 Year olds, 8/9 Year olds ( this age group is combined) and a non competitive race for the small number of 7 year olds in Year 2. Seven year olds do not progress to Zone level. We encourage children to do a little bit of training over the coming days to prepare for the run. 8/9 and 10 year olds will complete the 2 km Junior Course while the seniors will run 3 km. Parents are welcome to come and watch from the designated area.

As this is the last Newsletter for the term we would like to wish all families a safe and restful holiday break. We look forward to seeing parents during the last week of term at our Training Band’s Hot Cross Buns performance, the Easter Hat Parade or our Whole School Badge Assembly.   

Cathie Barclay and Gilliane Appave
DEPUTY PRINCIPALS

Curriculum update

The NSW Curriculum Reform aims to strengthen and streamline what is taught in schools. It provides an opportunity to refresh and re-energise learning for students by clearly identifying the essential knowledge and skills within the curriculum. This allows teachers to dedicate more time to deep learning and to build strong foundations in English and mathematics.

Following the successful implementation of the new English and Mathematics syllabuses, in 2024 NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) released new syllabuses for Creative Arts, HSIE (Human Society and Its Environment), PDHPE (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education), and Science and Technology. Collectively, these are known as CHPS. The new syllabuses have been a key focus for Samuel Gilbert teaching staff since the first release in 2024.

At SGPS, staff are now actively engaged in ongoing high-quality professional learning to build teaching capacity for the implementation of the CHPS syllabuses. The new HSIE syllabus is currently being taught across Kindergarten to Year 6, with an ongoing focus on evaluation and feedback.

At the same time, staff have been strengthening their understanding of the new PDHPE syllabus, with implementation scheduled to begin later this year. This process will then continue for Creative Arts and Science and Technology, in preparation for mandatory implementation in 2027.

The CHPS syllabuses have been designed to provide more purposeful and relevant learning opportunities for students, allowing for a deeper understanding of content and greater engagement in their learning.

For further information on NSW Curriculum visit:

https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/

Amanda Keane
Relieving Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction

KT have had a jam-packed and fun-filled first few weeks of learning! We have been busy getting to know our school routines and settling into kindergarten life. In Literacy, we have already learnt ten new sounds and are beginning to read and write words using them. We found the Green Sheep hiding in our classroom and went on a Principal Hunt to find Mr McLaren. Wow! He is tricky to find! In Maths, we have been exploring patterns by searching all around the school for them before creating our own. We also discovered what a pattern core is and had lots of fun identifying and building repeating patterns together.

We have also enjoyed many special experiences. We loved meeting our wonderful Year 6 buddies and had a great time playing sport with them and showing them our favourite things to play with in our classroom. KT has achieved so much already, including winning the Possum Award at our first assembly and being named Best Class at our second assembly! We also took part in Clean Up Schools Day and Harmony Day. A highlight for many students was visiting Harold in the Life Education van, where we learnt about friendships and the important signals our bodies give us. It has been a fantastic start to the year, and we are excited for all the learning and fun still to come!

This week, 1B’s highlight has been celebrating Harmony Day! We have loved sharing our family cultures and traditions, learning more about each other and working together to create a beautiful class Harmony Day poster. We finished our celebrations with a fun mini dance party and sing-along to ‘Come Together’ from our music program. It has been a wonderful reminder that our differences are one of the things that make us special and valuable members of 1B.

On Friday afternoon in Week 7 Samuel Gilbert held our “Clean Up Australia / Samuel Gilbert Day”, after having the original date washed out due to rain. Before the day students watched a video on the importance of cleaning up our local environment and classes made a series of pledges to take some form of action on an environmental issue that was important to them.

Some of the pledges included:

· We pledge to pick up our rubbish.

· We pledge to make things out of recyclable goods as the Earth is not our trash can.

· We pledge to recycle our drink containers by using the “Return & Earn Program”

During the clean-up students collected an amazing amount of rubbish from around the school and the local bushland areas that surround the school. There was a HUGE amount of rubbish collected and it filled almost ¾’s of one of our big skip bins.

The things we collected included plastic and glass bottles, cans, broken pieces of metal, plastic tubing, old sporting equipment, used vapes, lots of food wrappers and even parts of real estate signage. Look at the photos attached.

Our school environment has become a much better place after the clean-up and thank you to all the classes who participated with enthusiasm to make our environment a cleaner place to live, work and play.

Thank you so much everyone at Samuel Gilbert.

Mr Wicks

Teacher

As was reported at our last P&C Meeting, the school has arranged for six new main learning displays (MLDs) to be installed in 3 Kindy and 3 Year 1 classrooms. This has been made possible through the funds provided by the P&C. The SGPS P&C is a not-for-profit organisation. All money raised by the P&C is provided back to the school.  Thank you to all our parents and carers who support our P&C and our fundraising initiatives, we are so grateful for you!

Tomorrow, some of our students will continue their celebration of Harmony Day with a special lunch order. Harmony day is a day to celebrate our community's cultural diversity. A big thank you to Sarah and our Canteen staff and volunteers for all their assistance in providing a special multicultural lunch to our students. With over 450 lunch orders being provided, we appreciate all their time and effort!

If you have recently signed up to join the Class Contact List, revised contact lists have now been provided to our class parents, and you should be added to your class What’s App group shortly.

If you are not in the correct class or you would like to update your details, please complete the form below and we will redistribute any updated data to your class parent.

                                                                                                                                                  2026 Class Parent Contact List

Please note that all parents and carers who have consented to join a What’s App Group, have agreed to abide by the P&C Communication Code of Conduct. If you are a new parent or you have any questions about the SGPS Class parents, please contact Elizabeth at etye@sgpspc.org.au.

In Term 1 this year, we welcomed a number of new faces to our P&C meetings. Our P&C and the services provided are not possible without our parent and carer volunteers. Our P&C is well supported by our School Executive who give their time to attend and update our parents. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our school. All our parents and carers are invited to our first meeting for Term 2 on Tuesday 12 May at 7:30pm in the Library and online.

Are you a P&C Financial Member? As a financial member of the P&C, you can have a vote on matters that can impact you and your child. It costs $1 and the member form can be found here: https://www.sgpspc.org.au/services. You can return the completed form and the $1 membership fee to the School Office. As a P&C Financial Member, you also receive the Meeting Agenda, meeting link and minutes directly in advance of the P&C Meeting. It is an easy way to get early insight into upcoming events and feel more involved in our school community.

P&C Survey

Your voice matters. If you would like to give the P&C some feedback that will help shape future events and activities, please use the following link:

 P&C Feedback Survey 2025

Volunteers help the P&C to provide cost-effective services to our school community. Thank you to all our parents and carers who have already signed up to volunteer in the canteen in Term 1. As reported at our last P&C meeting, our volunteers are making a difference and we appreciate you!

Canteen and Uniform Shop Sub-Committee: Are you interested in supporting our Canteen or Uniform shop? We are still looking to form our 2026 Canteen and Uniform shop sub-committees. Thank you to those who have indicated that they can assist. We are looking for one or two more volunteers. The commitment is a meeting once a Term. If you are interested, or would like to know more, please contact our P&C President, Paddy at president@sgpspc.org.au as soon as possible.

Tonight, the P&C has scheduled an evening of Interrelate family sessions. It is not too late to join us. 

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)

You can register to attend via this link: https://events.humanitix.com/samuel-gilbert-ps-tricky-talks-19th-march-2026

Please note that when registering the Ticket information, there will be a drop-down menu that allows you to register for the session you wish to attend with your child. You may select Session 1 or 2 or the Family Evening Session which provides access to both Session 1 and 2.  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 $45.01 per family including GST.

If you have any questions regarding the program, please do not hesitate to contact Elizabeth at etye@sgpspc.org.au. 

We are looking forward to our Training Band’s first concert at the Hot Cross Buns Breakfast on Tuesday 31^st March (Week 10) commencing at 7:30am. A big thank you to Greg and the Band Committee for organising this event. All Training Band parents and extended family members are invited to attend.

Do you need any winter uniform items? A reminder that in Term 2, students transition to winter uniform. The winter uniform requirements may be viewed on our website at: https://www.sgpspc.org.au/uniform. A reminder that our Uniform shop hours are Monday 8:00am - 1pm and Thursday 8.00am - 1pm. You can also place an online order via Flexischools. Orders will be filled and returned to your child’s class.

• Interrelate for Years 3-4 & Years 5-6: Thursday 19 March 2026 at 6pm and 7:15pm 
• P&C Canteen Harmony Day Lunch – Friday 20 March 2026
• Hot Cross Bun Breakfast for Training Band – Tuesday 31 March 7:30am. 
• Canteen Easter Raffle and Donations – 3 April
• Mother’s Day Stall – Tuesday 5^th and Wednesday 6^th May
• Mother’s Day Breakfast – Friday 8^th May 7:30am
• P&C Meeting – Tuesday 12 May at 7:30pm in the library and online

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

  Online Band Camp Information Night:  You should have received an email this week with a link to join our Band Camp Online Information Night on Monday, 23rd March at 6pm (Week 9). During this session, you'll have the opportunity to meet the School's Band Committee and ask questions about the upcoming Band Camp in May or any other             band-related topics.

Band Photos: Scheduled for Monday, 30th March (Week 10). Parents will receive more details via email as the date approaches.

 Hot Cross Buns Festival (Training Band):   Tuesday, 31st March (Week 10). All Training band parents are invited to attend a typical rehearsal followed by a few performances.

Castle Hill High School Workshop and Performance (Performance Band): Wednesday, 1st April (Week 10).

Hired Instrument Servicing for Performance and Concert bands only Hired Instruments will be serviced over the school holidays.   

 Drop-off of hire instruments: Thursday, 2nd April (Week 10). Instruments will be returned at the first rehearsal of Term 2.

Final Rehearsals for Term 1:Will take place during Week 10, up to and including Thursday.

Anzac Day Service:  Performance Band to play on Thursday, 23rd April (Week 1).

School Assembly: Concert Band to perform on Friday, 15th May (Week 4).

Band Camp at Benedict Retreat:  All band members are invited to attend on Monday and Tuesday, 25th-26th May (Week 6).

Grandparents Day: All bands will perform on Tuesday, 9th June (Week 8). And everyone is welcome to attend.

GWS Music Festival:  All bands will perform on Sunday, 14th June (Week 8).

Winter Concert: All bands will perform on Wednesday, 24th June, 6-7pm (Week 10).

Looking ahead, Term 3 and 4 will feature many more exciting events, including workshops, assemblies, and the ASBOF Festival, providing plenty of opportunities for our band members to showcase their talents!

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 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 are nearly at the end of term 1 and it has been a very busy term.
Harmony Day lunch orders are tomorrow and we have 482 orders. We hope the children enjoy their special lunch.

Next week will be the last week for Sushi orders as we don’t have them in term 2 and 3. We will increase Dumplings to Tuesday and Thursday in Term 2 and 3.
We will also include the Chicken Massaman Curry on the menu.
Reminder all tickets and donations for the Easter Raffle are due in by Friday the 27th March.

Thanks,
Jenelle, Sue and Kiarn

I would like to remind everyone of the borrowing organisation. 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.Library borrowing fact: So far in this year, 4 195 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 first Treasure Hunt of 2026 has closed! A new hunt will open in Term 2, Hint – you might want to brush up on your fictional locations!

Scholastic Book Club orders for Issue 2 will close the afternoon of Friday 20^th March, please get your orders in, following the online ordering procedure on the brochure to order some great books. You may see some of the Thursday Morning Read titles on offer.

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. 

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.

Scholastic Book Club orders for Issue 2 will close the afternoon of Friday 20^th March, please get your orders in, following the online ordering procedure on the brochure to order some great books. You may see some of the Thursday Morning Read titles on offer.

The 13-Storey Treehouse is a 2011 book written by author Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton. The story follows Andy and Terry, who are living in a 13-storey treehouse, struggling to finish their book on time despite many. According to the book, the 13-storey treehouse has: "A bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a tank full of man-eating sharks, vines you can swing on, a games room, a secret underground laboratory, a lemonade fountain, a vegetable vaporiser, a marshmallow machine that follows you around and automatically shoots marshmallows into your mouth whenever you're hungry, an observation deck, a giant catapult, a room full of pillows and a library and theatre room”. The book has spawned a series of sequels, each of them adding 13 stories and new characters. The series concluded with the 13th entry, the 169-Storey Treehouse.

Yours in reading,

Adam Hands
Librarian.
 

WEEK 9

March 23 - Naplan - Final catch up day

                    Year 2 Swim School (23rd -27th March)

                    DigiEd

March 24 - Halogen Leaders Day

March  25 - Cross Country Carnival

WEEK 10

March 30 - School Photos

March 31 - Training Band Performance

April 1 - Castle Hill High School Band visit

April 2 - Easter Hat Parade

               Combined Scripture Service

                Whole School Assembly - SRC Badge Presentation - Parents welcome