Hello, and welcome to the tenth of my monthly Principal's blogs, and my first blog for 2021. I will be sharing a new blog post on the first Friday of each month. In this post, I provide an update of the school’s construction, the school’s official commencement, and our special event.
Update
This week marks a very special and historic occasion where we welcomed our inaugural students who commenced at Richard Gill School on Monday, February 1, 2021. We have enrolled 13 lucky students in the first-ever cohort of students to attend the school, comprising 8 x Kindergarten and 5 x Year 1. Now the fun of teaching and learning finally begins.
Image courtesy of abc.net.au
School Development
We are thrilled and quietly relieved that our Stage 1 construction works have now been completed, with only a few minor external works remaining, such as our playground installation which is scheduled for completion in the April school holidays.
Teacher
We have recruited a fantastic new teacher, Miss Chelsea Presland, who has hit the ground running, winning the position ahead of numerous other experienced applicants. Miss Presland impressed the selection panel with maturity, intelligence, and empathy beyond her years, which was readily echoed by all referees. I am entirely confident in her ability as the inaugural teacher at Richard Gill School, and whilst a change in staff at this stage was not ideal, this decision has been made in the best interests our students and families and I believe we are in an even better position than before.
Enrolment
Enrolments for Richard Gill School are always open. Our prospectus, enrolment form, parent info and fee information can be found in the documents section of our website here.
Special Event
To officially celebrate the opening of Richard Gill School, we welcome all to attend our Community Open Day on Saturday March 13 between 10am – 1pm. There will be food and coffee as well as a range of complementary attractions including a jumping castle, merry-go-round, face painting and of course the opportunity for prospective families and interested community members to visit the school and inspect our newly constructed classrooms. This event is for everyone so please let all your friends and family know. It should be a wonderful day out for all.
Donations
With so many generous donations and volunteers this month there are a lot of thanks to follow.
Thank you very much to Graeme Harper who has generously donated $4,000 to the school. Graeme was an ex-student of Richards and worked with him in the Sydney Youth Orchestra and Australian Opera, inspiring him to become Director of Music in a large Independent School on the Mornington Peninsula.
L-R Bill Evans (Associate Principal Trumpet with MSO), Graeme Harper, Richard Gill AO.
Kim Williams AM, our Chairman has also donated a significant sum to contribute towards scholarships.
Artist Garrie Collins recently exhibited his works at Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre (MRAC) and has offered to donate an entirely suitable work, “Creative Classroom” to Richard Gill School. Garrie was the first-ever Visual Art teacher at Muswellbrook High School (MHS) in 1960 and won the local art prize on 2 occasions during his 4 years at MHS. This work will take pride of place near our newly constructed classrooms, to serve as a constant reminder of the purpose and vision of our school. A big thank you to Garrie.
Garrie Collins and Chris English with Donated Artwork ‘Creative Classroom’
Thank you, Janine Hosking and partner Stephen Hopes, for donating an excellent Yamaha Drum Kit, kindly collected and transported from Sydney to Muswellbrook by Kylie and David Spelde, parents of Livia who is an inaugural Kindergarten student.
Thank you to Murrurundi Public School for their generous donation of a large range of library books.
Thank you to Mathew Chaina, parent of inaugural Year 1 student Brooklyn, for volunteering his time to drive 7 of our students to and from school while we deal with the logistical challenge of coordinating bus transport for the school. Thank you also to Upper Hunter Youth Services for allowing us to book their mini-bus until this issue is resolved.
Media
This has been a big week for Richard Gill School in the news, with an article on ABC News Online as well as a related segment on the television program “The Business”. These stories have taken a special interest in the school as part of a 3-part series about a future beyond coal for the Hunter Valley.
View Article: Richard Gill School adds music to STEM to create a winning formula for future-proof workers
Watch Video:
I look forward to sharing more news on the school with you next month.
Yours in Music,
Chris English – Principal, Richard Gill School