From the Principal 

Message from the Principal

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely break over Easter and the ANZAC Day weekend. 

As usual, we have hit the ground running here at Gilgai Plains. You will have received the Term 2 calendar via Compass which has many important dates and events coming up. There is lots happening in Term 2, starting with our Mother’s Day celebrations coming up next week. Please keep checking Compass for information.

Over the holidays we had a specialist relocatable bought in which will serve as one of our Science rooms. This will soon be painted to match the existing double story portables around it. We have had our sandpit extended and we are waiting on some amazing new sand play structures which will be put in over the coming weeks. I will talk further about our plans for more major projects in the coming newsletters.

ANZAC Day Commemoration at Gilgai Plains

Last Thursday morning, our school community came together to commemorate ANZAC Day—an important annual event at Gilgai Plains. This solemn occasion gives us the opportunity to remember and honour the courage, service, and sacrifice of all those who have served in war and peacekeeping efforts.

Our student leaders prepared and delivered thoughtful speeches, confidently sharing their reflections and knowledge about ANZAC Day with our school community. Their poise and depth of understanding were impressive and moving. A special thank you to Sofia in Year 3, and her dad Shane. Sofia shared her dad’s medals and spoke about the significance behind them and how important they are to her and her family.

We are proud to have members of our school community—including parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and staff—who have served, or continue to serve, in the Australian Defence Force. This year’s service was a chance to say thank you to them, and it was truly heartening to see our students show such respect and understanding during the ceremony.

During the service, I spoke to the students about the “ANZAC spirit”—the resilience, bravery, and camaraderie shown by the original ANZACs, which continues to inspire Australians today. We discussed how this spirit—characterised by purpose, responsibility and kindness—can be applied in everyday life, whether it's tackling challenges at school, helping at home, or simply being a supportive friend (mateship). These qualities align closely with our school values and remind us of the importance of being kind and looking out for one another.

A heartfelt thank you to the families who were able to join us for the service. We know it's not always easy to attend every event during the busy school week, but we hope your children came home proud and eager to share what they learned about the meaning of ANZAC Day.

Thank you to the school leaders who represented our school on Friday morning at the ANZAC Day Ceremony held at the memorial in Craigieburn. The students laid a wreath from Gilgai Plains Primary and showed great respect and maturity that we have come to expect from our wonderful students.