From the Principal 

Hello and Ramadan Kareem,

The month of Ramadan has begun for our Muslim families at Gilgai Plains. Ramadan is the ninth of the Islamic calendar, and is the most sacred month for Muslims around the world. Many of our families will be fasting from dawn to sunset for 30 days, including prayers, charity and reflecting on the Quran. The end of Ramadan is Eid al Fitr, also called the Festival of Breaking the Fast. We wish all of our Muslim families a wonderful celebration with family and friends. We are very lucky at Gilgai Plains to be often spoiled with some of the delicious offerings from Mona in the office!

Harmony Day

We are privileged to have a culturally diverse community at Gilgai Plains Primary School.

Harmony Day is a celebration that takes place on March 21st to recognise the rich multiculturalism of our country. It is a day of inclusion and respect so that everyone may feel a sense of belonging. 

This year, we again invited students to wear clothing representative of their culture or the colour orange for our special assembly that was held on Tuesday. Thank you to all of our families who supported their children in celebrating this special day. Watching our students proudly wearing bright orange or clothes from their cultural heritage was such an uplifting experience for our staff. We are so lucky to be part of this rich and diverse community.

Curriculum Day - Friday 24th March

This term’s Curriculum Day for staff, focuses on revising and improving our Instructional Model for teaching.The Instructional Model describes the teaching strategies, methods and activities that teachers use to address specific instructional goals and objectives. It is one of the most important elements of the teaching and learning process and provides direction for our teachers to ensure that our students meet their educational goals.

Our teachers will be working on a model that delivers explicit and direct instruction to our students. This model delivers strategically planned lessons that explicitly teach new concepts to mastery, in all areas of the curriculum.

We are very fortunate to have teachers who are committed to continually learning and improving their practice to improve the educational outcomes of our students.

Wellbeing

If you are looking for some external services to support your child or your family, this Government Health Direct service is a great place to start. Please see the attached link https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/australian-health-services 

School Council

It is fantastic that we had such great parent interest in our School Council vacancies this year. Thank you to all parents who nominated - I really do appreciate your willingness to use your personal time to support our school.

I would like to introduce you to the parent and community body of our 2023 School Council.

And finally…

I am taking long service leave during the final 2 weeks of this term. I am heading off to Japan with my husband. It is the first time for me and I am so excited to immerse myself in the culture and to eat my way around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. 

Lisa Stafford will be the acting Principal whilst I am away so the school is in very good hands. 

I will see you all at the beginning of next term. I hope the students have a lovely break from school. If you observe either Easter or EID, I wish you a wonderful celebration with family and friends.

Please read on to meet your 2023 School Council.

Sam Cleary- President

My name is Samantha (Sam). My children are in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 4, I also have a teenager. As a former educational leader my passion is advocating for children’s well-being and family connections. This was my driving force for being in the school council and I love actively driving positive change…

I love Gilgai Plains core values and particularly Zest!  I feel our community is quite helpful and resourceful and am so glad I found it to be a part of and that my children’s education is formed by such a wonderful school community! 

I look forward to being your School Council President for 2023 and being involved in the amazing things to come. 

Amanda Fortuno - Vice President

Hello, my name's Amanda, I have a daughter currently in grade 1 at the school. 

I am the Vice President of our School Council and I love every minute of it. 

Being a part of a school council that is very warm and welcoming, voicing and working in partnership with other council members, the wonderful principals and teachers, students, parents and the community is very rewarding to me. Looking forward to another great year at a great school 🙂 

Kini Vinayak - Treasurer

I am an accountant and have been living in Kalkallo since 2018. My son, Atharv, attends grade 1 at Gilgal Plains and my better half works at the school as a teacher. As a member of the school council, I hope to be part of the decision making that helps shape the future of our country. I love being part of our diverse and friendly community.

Simone Evans - Community Member

Thank you for allowing me to be a member of your school council for Gilgai Plains Primary School, it’s a privilege to be a part of such an incredible school. My name is Simone Evans, and I am the Centre Leader for Kalkallo and Mickleham North Community Centres. I have a strong background in community and recreation development, and I am excited to complete my second term on school council.

Gilgai Plains Primary School and Kalkallo Community Centre have a common goal to work together to deliver some exciting and rewarding events and educational workshops for our local Kalkallo Community.

I wish you all an incredible 2023 and I look forward to meeting you all soon at an event.

Allison Reardon - Parent member

Hello. My name is Allison. I am mum to Noah, grade 1 and Shayla, foundation.

Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me! Greatly appreciated!

I applied to be on the School Council because I feel a very deep sense of community and a great place to continue supporting the community is in the School Council. From a very young age I have been an advocate for those who can’t.

I value the community at Gilgai Plains and I can’t wait to start working alongside the council to continue the great work they do!

Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu - Parent member

Hi, I am Jaspreet, currently working in the Accounts Team with Service Stream. My son Arshaan is in grade 2. I joined the Parent Council last year and enjoyed engaging with the community and other parents at school.

I am glad I got the opportunity to be a part of the team again this year and would love to engage in the activities happening at school and would be delighted if I can be of any assistance to the school team to make it the best in the neighbourhood!!!!

Louise Bayley - Community member

Kindergarten teacher at Kalkallo preschool.

I feel blessed to work in such a wonderful community and to have been part of Kalkallo, as it has grown and developed. It is a beautiful diverse community that is so welcoming to everyone.