Hello, and welcome to the twelfth of my monthly Principal's blogs, on this special Good Friday. I will be sharing a new blog post on the first Friday of each month and in this post, I will provide a recap of our opening event, video’s and images from the day, and our complimentary early childhood music program.
Update
We have had a wonderful first term at Richard Gill School, with Miss Presland, the children and I working hard to establish strong relationships with one another, the cornerstone of all successful teaching. Our parent community are overwhelmingly satisfied with how things are progressing, the teaching and academic progress of their children, and the communications between home and school.
We have recently taken delivery of our new playground equipment and are in the process of coordinating installation, which we hope to confirm in the next few weeks.
Some minor construction works are also scheduled for week 2 of the holidays, with new acoustic paneling to be installed on the ceilings of the new spaces for acoustic treatment.
Special Event
Above images 1-3 thanks to Jemma Anshaw from Hunter River Times and images 4-12 thanks to Megan Johns Kane from MJK Creative.
On Saturday March 13 Richard Gill School hosted a community open day and official opening event for friends and family of Richard. We were extremely fortunate with the weather, having large storms on the Friday preceding and Sunday following the event. I suspect a special someone was looking down on us with their best wishes! The event was an enormous success, with some excellent video footage captured by Jae Nelson from Little Ruby. Follow the YouTube links below to be the first to view our videos.
A big thank you to all who were involved in the planning and running of the event, particularly our staff, parent volunteers (particularly Mathew Chaina and Jem Anshaw), community volunteers and suppliers; Pampa Flame, All Fun Rides, Sweet Bs Creations, Hot Rock Catering, Beavis Party Hire, The Upper Hunter Conservatorium of Music, Kyda Rock, Gale Force Face Painting, Muswellbrook High School, Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Sarah English Marketing, MJK Creative and Little Ruby. And a very special thank you also to the anonymous donors who funded much of the event - you know who you are. We could not have pulled off such a wonderful day without all of this support.
Children singing the school song “Oh Come Now My Friends” composed by Nigel Westlake, lyrics by Anthony Gill
Montage and speech highlights of our Official Opening event
Footage from ABC’s “The Business” on day 1 of the school opening
NESA
As we expand into Year 2 tuition in 2022, we have submitted our annual documentation to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA).
Early Childhood Music
We have 12 x 3-5 year old’s enrolled in our complimentary Early Childhood Music program, set to commence on Wednesday May 5. This is a very exciting new strand of the Richard Gill School which is already proving popular with young families in Muswellbrook. There are still some spots availble. If you are interested be sure to fill in our expression of interest form as soon as possible here.
Shopping Centre Holiday Pop-Up Sessions
For local families with children entering K/1/2 in 2022, if you’d like to speak with me personally about the school please drop into Muswellbrook Marketplace on Monday/Wednesday/Thursday or Friday, April 12/14/15 or 16. I will be set up at the top of the escalator between 11am and 2pm each of these days with information packs available for collection.
Enrolment
Enrolments for Richard Gill School are always open, and in 2022 will open to Kindergarten, Year 1, and Year 2. Our prospectus, enrolment form, parent info and fee information can be found at on our Documents section on the website here.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy school holiday,
Yours in Music,
Chris English – Principal, Richard Gill School