Chris English - Richard Gill School, Principal
Hello, and welcome to the first of my monthly Principal's blogs. I will be sharing a new blog post on the first Friday of each month (bar January of course!), the content of which will vary between my educational musings, school updates and other topical items. In this post I will provide an update of the school’s development, information regarding our Fees and some background information about myself as an educational leader.
Update
Please forgive the delay of this first post, as my time until now has been filled with preparing Richard Gill School’s official registration to NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) as a new non-government school. This is a critical process in starting a new school in NSW, and one which I am relieved to have completed with hours to spare on Tuesday March 31! Recent weeks have also been filled by meetings with a broad range of consultants who are assessing our building and site in preparation for the lodgement of our official DA to modify the council building into the school. For your interest, see below two images of the architectural plans; the finished concept and Stage 1 for which construction will commence around September.
Figure 1: Stage 1
Figure 2: Final Concept
Educational Leadership
As the Foundation Principal of Richard Gill School, I effectively have a blank slate upon which to create a school based upon my own ideas and beliefs (using Richard’s philosophies as a guide), which as a self-confessed lifelong learner are of course ever evolving. To give some background, this is my fourth “school” in four years, and as such I have experienced first-hand a range of differing educational philosophies adopted by leaders and teachers with whom I’ve worked. This is also my fourth (and final) year completing my Masters of Management and Leadership in Education, which has certainly enhanced my professional reflection and engagement with education and leadership academic research. In 2017, I worked at a school delivering traditional education, led by a very experienced Principal approaching retirement with an experienced and long-term senior executive. In 2018 I worked at a school pushing a deeply progressive educational model, led a new Principal wanting to try new things and adopt sweeping reform to the school, which previously had a history of poor results and poorer engagement and behaviour. In 2019 I again worked at a school with moderately traditional educational model, though they were beginning to take some risks in curriculum and pedagogy being promoted across the staff. These experiences have provided me with great and recent models from which to reflect upon when creating my own ideas and how they will be implemented here at Richard Gill School. I maintain belief around the importance of structure and routine, particularly for young people, when they are developing their sense of safety and security. In education, I believe this is especially important. However, there are certainly times when we want young people exploring educational concepts across KLA’s, and we are foolish not to utilise the resources we have at our disposal in the 21st Century. In the current COVID-19 climate, teachers are being pushed into new territory, having to suddenly transform their teaching resources and pedagogical strategies from the physical to the digital. How will this look at Richard Gill School? Time will tell! As a practicing musician and passionate music teacher, it goes without saying how excited I am to lead a school that will place a strong emphasis on music teaching, which I will lead for up to one hour per day.
Fee Structure
See link to the fee structure for Richard Gill School 2021, which is of particular interest to our prospective families joining the school in our inaugural year.
Enrolment
Enrolments for 2021 are now being accepted. Please complete the enrolment form and return via email (admin@richardgillschool.org.au) or post (157 Maitland St, Muswellbrook) to secure your position. Feel free to share this with any other prospective families you think may be interested in attending the school.
Parent Info Nights Update
I have decided to postpone our planned Parent Info Nights for Term 2 based on the current restrictions on movement and gathering in NSW. These will be replaced by a video overview, featuring key staff behind the scenes, which I will share via email and social media in early May. I will also schedule a question and answer session via live stream on Facebook to coincide with the video. Stay tuned.
Parents and Carers can still register their attendance for the online session here Register
As always, if you have further questions don’t hesitate to contact me at the school directly via phone or email, or by messaging our Facebook page. To our prospective families, I hope everyone is keeping safe and sensible in these strange times. I look forward to meeting you in person as soon as practicable.
Chris English - Principal