Educational Achievement 

Reading

At GSPS, we love seeing our students grow as readers and writers. Reading and writing go hand in hand — every time children read, they’re learning from the authors they enjoy. They start to notice how stories are built, how words can make us feel something, and how ideas come together. When they write, they use all those things they’ve picked up as readers — and that’s when their creativity really shines!

We’ve also had plenty to celebrate lately. Almost 300 students completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge this year — what an incredible effort! Students were awarded these certificates last week. 

26 of our talented young writers received Highly Commended or Major Awards in the MacIntyre Young Writers competition. It was so great to see so many students enter the competition and to read some of their creative pieces. 

These achievements show that our students are giving things a go, working hard, and finding joy in reading and writing. It’s all about having a crack, learning along the way, and celebrating every success — big and small.

As we head into the final weeks of the school year, our students are busy finishing off their learning units and completing end-of-year assessments. It’s wonderful to see the effort and focus they’re showing as they demonstrate everything they’ve learned this year.

This can be a busy time, and it’s important for students to keep showing resilience andperseverance — giving their best effort, even when things feel challenging. Regular attendance makes a big difference too, helping students stay connected with their classmates and teachers right through to the end.

We’re so proud of the determination our students are showing and encourage everyone to keep up the great work as we finish the year on a high!

Music

Instrumental Music

All instrumental music students are currently preparing pieces to perform at the Music Showcase on 27 November.  We will have performances by the Concert Band, String Orchestra, Beginner Concert Band and Beginner Orchestra as well as both the GJV and GSV choirs.  

The Concert Band will also be performing the National Anthem and a piece at our Presentation Assembly on Monday 8 December.

I will be completing a recruiting drive for all current year 2 and 3 students at the end of this term with information about participating in the 2026 Instrumental Music program.  Students in year 3 students can learn strings (violin, viola, cello and double bass), and students in year 4 can also choose strings in addition to woodwind (flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone), brass (trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, French horn), percussion and electric bass guitar. 

The Music Sub-Committee ran the BBQ and a raffle at Mackenzies Home Timber 

& Hardware on Saturday morning. I would like to sincerely thank the helpers and committee members for all of their efforts on Saturday and throughout the year.  Their hard work allows GSPS to buy and maintain our fleet of instruments, expand our library of sheet music repertoire and give all students at GSPS the opportunity to experience quality performances throughout the year such as the Creative Generations excursion.  Also, a huge thanks must go to Mackenzies Home Timber & Hardware for the generous donation of raffle items and BBQ.

Classroom Music

In both Goondiwindi Junior Voices and Goondiwindi Senior Voices, we continue our preparations for the Music Showcase on November 27th. We are trying hard to learn two or three new songs each, so we are ready to sing something new at this concert. We are also working on an exciting, combined choir piece called "We Shake the Ground" by Australian composer Joe Twist. 

"Bigger Better Brains" the music education organisation created by Dr Anita Collins, says that concerts are so much more than an opportunity for parents to watch their children perform. They are "windows into the transferable skills children develop through learning music: Focus, Resilience and Teamwork.

In the classroom, year 5 & 6 continue to learn some chords and notes on the ukulele and Year 4s have been doing some great work on playing a class composition on their recorders.

Amongst many other things, Year 3s have been learning a folk dance to do while singing "Alabama Gal". This is lots of fun, and challenges how we work as a team.

News from the Library

All library books are due back on Friday the 28th of November, this is the end of week 8. Please ensure all books are back on time.