Hello, and welcome to the seventeenth of my monthly Principal's blogs. In this post I will provide a general update of the school including how we are fairing in lockdown, getting set for 2022 and a link to My Top 10 Tips For School Readiness article.
Update
This has been a quiet month for Richard Gill School as we have rapidly adapted to the reality of remote learning, a first-time experience for our new school. Despite Muswellbrook, Singleton, and the Upper Hunter yet to experience a single confirmed case of Covid-19, we have of course joined all of NSW in mandatory lockdown. I remain optimistic that the NSW State Government will make the sensible decision to release regions, such as ours, from the lockdown as soon as practicable so that our students can return to face-to-face learning which they are so desperately missing. I wish to congratulate the staff of Richard Gill School for their outstanding work in these difficult times, and to the Board of Directors who have been wonderfully supportive.
Covid lockdown at Richard Gill School
On Thursday August 5 at 11am Muswellbrook was put into a snap lockdown from 5pm. Richard Gill School staff immediately put into action our “Remote Learning Implementation Plan” and were able to mobilise quickly enough that hard copy materials were sent home with the children that afternoon to facilitate remote learning on Friday August 6.
Zoom sessions are being conducted in 3 small groups of 4 students each, 3 times per day for 15 minutes in the morning, midday and afternoon. This is where teaching staff can explicitly explain the learning tasks for the upcoming session and answer any questions from the previous session.
Families have been encouraged to continue the same school week routines in their household such as wake up and bedtime and wearing of school uniform, as “structure and routine is an excellent antidote to anxiety in times of change”.
Thankfully, all of our families have good access to technology and internet, however printed hard copies of materials are being put out the front of the school each morning as required for collection. A daily email is going to families at 4pm with soft copies of the following days’ worksheets and live links to online content, and a general update about the lockdown situation. Music and chess lessons continue amongst the other key learning areas, however we are following the Department of Education advice of 2-3 hours per day of structured learning for Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students, encouraging families to have children play outside, do puzzles, bake, clean, garden etc. to fill their days.
Having now been in lockdown for 4 full weeks, we have adopted “Fun Friday” with less structured lessons, out of uniform and lots of music and dancing, as well as “Wellbeing Wednesday” where staff check in with families via phone and discuss wellbeing strategies with the children.
Staffing
Richard Gill School are currently advertising for our 2022 Classroom Infants Teacher. Applications should be submitted via the Seek link below, and close on Monday September 13 at 4pm. Please don’t hesitate to forward this link to anyone you know who may be suitable and looking for a move to beautiful regional NSW.
Infants Classroom Teacher (K/1/2) - Advertisement
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, Academic and Talent. For more information, please visit our scholarships page.
Media
I have recently started on my own professional blog space for sharing my opinions and ideas about education. I recently compiled by “Top 10 Tips for School Readiness” which were shared on our social media pages. This month for my blog at www.chrisenglish.com.au I have reshared this content with greater detail provided around each of tips, as I was bound by a character limit on social media.
Read: My Top 10 Tips For School Readiness
Wishing everyone the very best as we endure challenging circumstances. Happy Spring!
Yours in Music,
Chris English – Principal, Richard Gill School