St. Gabriel's School Castle Hill

Last night, we held our annual St Gabe’s Disco and what a night it was! Students danced the night away showing off their best moves and singing along to their favourite songs. A shout out to all our staff who helped make the evening such a success. We are already looking forward to next year!

Our Year 1 and 2 students were very excited this morning to welcome Feature Creatures - Mobile Reptile Displays as part of their integrated unit on living things.

The incursion provided an opportunity to get up close to a variety of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, including a crocodile, a python, a blue-tongue lizard, turtles and even stick insects.

Everyone loved learning about how these animals live, what they eat and the unique features that help them survive in their environments. Seeing the animals up close sparked plenty of curiosity and excitement.

The experience also highlighted the importance of caring for our natural environment and protecting the habitats these creatures call home.

We look forward to welcoming Feature Creatures back to St Gabriel’s again in the future!

Congratulations to Ms Soya Thippawal, one of our talented Music teachers who was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award from Castle Hill Rotary Club earlier this week.

Soya has been instrumental in nurturing a love of music in our students through classroom learning and a variety of extra-curricular activities.

Principal David Cook said “Soya’s enthusiasm for music is infectious. Through initiatives such as our choir and the development of our inaugural musical, she has created opportunities for students to build confidence and experience the joy of performing. Her contribution to our community has been significant and this award is a fitting recognition of her dedication."

This week, we welcomed visitors from Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) to our School as part of our School Renewal process.

Meeting with students, staff and parents, they gained an insight into our community and how we live out the EREA Touchstones of Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Inclusive Community, and Justice and Solidarity each day.

We were delighted to receive very positive initial feedback, with special mention given to the strong sense of community and belonging that is evident throughout our School.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the renewal process and helped showcase what makes St Gabriel’s such a special place.

Building friendships and connections with children of a similar age is an important part of helping our students grow in confidence and develop their social skills.

Today, we were delighted to welcome Year 5 and 6 students from St Pius X College to our School as part of our ongoing partnership. Students participated in many activities to enable them to get to know each another before taking part in a series of science experiments linked to their classroom learning. Together, they created tornadoes in jars, made volcanic eruptions and tested the strength of their structures on an earthquake table.

We look forward to visiting St Pius next term and continuing this special partnership.

We are so excited to launch our brand-new website!

Take a look around and discover what makes St Gabriel’s School such a special place. Whilst we incorporate our new branding, our mission remains the same: Nurturing Independence. Transforming Lives.

Visit us today: www.stgabriels.nsw.edu.au

Many thanks to for their many hours of work on this project. We are so grateful.

Last week, our Year 5 and 6 students attended The Collaroy Centre for their annual camp. It was the first time, many of them had been away on a school camp! They had a wonderful time taking part in activities such as the high ropes, the giant swing, archery and laser tag. It was great to see them stepping outside their comfort zones, embracing new experiences with enthusiasm.

We are very proud of our Music Teacher, Soya Thippawal, who presented at the 2026 EDUtech Conference in Sydney earlier this week.

Soya's presentation, 'Finding their Voice: Music-making with Suno for Diverse Learners', explored how Suno, an AI music generation tool, can support creativity and songwriting in the classroom.

At St Gabriel’s, Soya uses Suno to help students generate ideas, express themselves creatively and engage with music-making.

It was great to see Soya sharing the innovative practices that support student learning and creativity at St Gabriel’s.