Reading

Even though all our school library books are due back for the end-of-year clean up, this certainly doesn’t mean reading needs to stop!

In fact, the holidays are a perfect time for children to explore new stories, practise their skills, and enjoy reading in a relaxed and fun way.

We’re incredibly lucky to have wonderful local libraries in our region. The Goondiwindi Town Library offers a fantastic range of books and services, including the option to order titles in and receive an email when they’re ready for collection. Goondiwindi, Texas and Inglewood libraries also have great collections and run super-fun holiday workshops and activities that students can join in. Check out the flyers below!

Keeping reading going over the holidays doesn’t need to be complicated. Some simple ideas include:

Visiting the local library once a week to borrow something new
Setting up a family reading time or reading challenge
Listening to audiobooks on long car trips
Keeping a small “holiday reading journal” to draw or write about favourite books
Encouraging children to read anything that interests them — books, magazines, fact files, recipes, instructions, comics and more!

Finally, I want to acknowledge the incredible growth our students have made in their reading this year. After reviewing our DIBELS data, it is clear that students have shown outstanding progress in foundational reading skills such as phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, reading accuracy and comprehension. These improvements are a credit to the students’ hard work, the support of families, and the commitment of our teachers.

Well done to all our readers — we are so proud of your efforts and achievements this year!

Music

Instrumental Music

Our GSPS Instrumental Music families were treated to a wonderful evening of instrumental and choral music last week at the GSPS Music Showcase! All four of our large ensembles performed with enthusiasm and skill for our families and loved ones. I was so proud of the efforts of our Instrumental Music students.

As the year begins to wind up, please see the following dates of note:

Monday 1 December - Instrumental Music Recruiting and Information Sessions. All current year 2 and 3 students have attended a Recruiting and Information Session for participation in the GSPS Instrumental Music Program in 2026. Notes and information will be coming home this week, please return these before the end of the school year to secure your childs place in the program.
Thursday 4 December - All school-owned instruments to be returned to Mrs Brown, with the exception of the Concert Band students (they will return them after the Presentation Assembly on Monday 8 December).
Monday 8 December - The Concert Band will be having our final rehearsal at 8:00am in the hall. They will then be performing the Australian Anthem and Mamma Mia at the GSPS Presentation Assembly. At the conclusion of the assembly, these students will return their instruments to Mrs Brown in the Music Room.

Thank you for a wonderful year of instrumental music, thanks to the hard working members of the Music Sub-Committee for all of the support throughout the year, I appreciate you!

If parents are looking to purchase an instrument for next year, please don't hesitate to make contact with me regarding advice on brands and sizing of instruments.

Classroom Music

There's no slowing down for choirs at GSPS! We performed at last week's Music Showcase and both choirs did an amazing job performing their songs. We loved combining with the Concert Band to sing "We Shake the Ground" a fabulous song we all really enjoyed. It was composed by the Australian composer Joe Twist with lyrics by Debbie O'Shea, a music teacher in Brisbane. We had lots of great feedback about the big finale. This hadn't been tried before, and it seems to have been a winner.

The choirs are singing at a Christmas Lunch hosted by the Oaktree Retirement Village next Thursday. We will wear some Christmas head wear and sing some of our favourite songs for them.

Our final performance will be at the Presentation Assembly in Week 10. Then we can finally enjoy a Choir Party on Tuesday at lunch time in Week 10.

Thank you to all the students who participated in the choirs this year. I have seen such growth in your singing and performance skills over the year. Thank you also to parents who support their children in this activity and members of the music sub-committee who are always there when we need them. Thank you to all the teachers at GSPS who support the choirs at our school, your patience, understanding and encouragement is truly valued.

News from the Library

We hope you have all enjoyed reading this year. The library has lent over 40,000 books this year to students and classrooms.

Our Book Club catalogues and Book Fairs have been very well supported through the year, and we appreciate the parent helpers who volunteered their time to make it happen. The school receives a commission from the sales of these events, which is used to replenish our library stock.

We still have a few students with overdue books, and these students have been sent home with an orange reminder note late last week. We would appreciate your assistance in helping them to locate and pop in their bag so they can be returned when they arrive at school.

Happy reading over the holidays, students can continue to access their SORA App to read online, and the Town Library is also very well stocked.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Dates to Remember

December

January 2026