Principal’s Blog 015 - Playground, Donations and Jingle Competition

Principal’s Blog 015, Friday July 2, 2021.

Hello, and welcome to the fifteenth of my monthly Principal's blogs. In this post I will provide a general update of the school including our new playground, exciting purchases thanks to generous donations, our jingle competition entry and more.

Update

Covid 19 – I am sure we are all tired of talking about Covid, however, it is of course the most pertinent topic in NSW schools at the moment. Whilst I am hopeful schools in regional NSW might be spared the worst of potential restrictions and requirements for online learning, parents can rest assured that staff, consultants and myself have put plans in place for a range of scenarios, including any potential remote learning requirements, to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for our students upon the commencement of Term 3. 

Playground

Our children will have new playground items to play on very soon, bringing lots of new opportunities for free and imaginative play, an important aspect of the Richard Gill School philosophy. We are grateful to James, Drew and Des at AM & JD Contracting in Muswellbrook who are commencing installation of our outdoor playground next week. I know our families and children are very excited about the playground being installed, as are staff.

Construction

Whilst the bulk of our construction works were completed in January, there were some minor works outstanding due to a pesky box gutter roof leak. We are grateful to RMS Services for resolving this issue which has enabled the final foyer ceiling works to be completed this week, coordinated by Lahey Constructions. What a relief to finally know our Stage 1 construction works are now complete!

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 here.

Scholarships

Scholarship applications are now open and available to all students entering Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 in 2022. Richard Gill School offers scholarships in areas of Equity, Academics and Talent. Being able to offer as many of our community’s children access to Richard Gill School is important to us. If you know of or have children who you think might benefit from a scholarship, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today. For more information, please visit here.

Donations

We are thrilled to have received a considerable donation from the extended family of Mr E.C. Humphries and Mrs C.W. Humphries. This donation will contribute towards the installation of a new Smart Board, a Bass/Alto xylophone, a new classroom music rug, a set of level readers, playground equipment and sports equipment. We thank the Humphries family immensely for their generous contribution to our school and students.

Media


Mr English and the K/1 class recently entered a jingle writing competition for a local business named “Life of Pie” run by the 98.1 PowerFM radio station. Voting has now closed and we have our fingers crossed for a win! Whatever the result, it was a fun and enriching experience to undertake a songwriting activity with our students - they all did very well.

Wishing everyone a (Covid) safe month ahead, and a restful holiday period for the chalkies amongst us.

Yours in Music,

Chris English – Principal, Richard Gill School