Hello, and welcome to the twenty-second of my monthly Principal's blogs, and my second for 2022. In this post I will discuss our busy start to Term 1 at Richard Gill School, including our upcoming debut performance!
Kindergarten off to the Best Start
Last week Mrs Sherringham has been utilising the Best Start Kindergarten Assessment tool to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our Kindergarten students. This tool assesses the Literacy and Numeracy skill of the students as they first arrive at school and provides teachers with information so they can plan effective teaching and learning programs throughout the year. The assessment took about forty minutes each and Mrs Sherringham conducted the assessment one-on-one with each student while making sure each child felt at ease and comfortable. Key information will be shared with our families later in Term 1.
STEM Specialist Teacher
I have the pleasure of introducing Mr Matt Leman, who is working with Richard Gill School this term as our specialist STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teacher. Mr Leman has been appointed by the Upper Hunter Economic Development Corporation, and is using Richard Gill School as the pilot school as he develops a STEM program to be rolled out to participating schools across the region.
To start the program, Mr Leman has helped establish one yabbie tank for each of the two classes. The students are more than excited to see the yabbies grow, learn about their life cycle and care for them each day.
Police Visit
Senior Constable Sheree Gray from Muswellbrook Police Station was kind enough to visit our students this week to talk about being safe in the community. This is a valued event on our calendar which was well received by the students. Senior Constable Gray educated the students on the importance of knowing who the police are, who safe people are in the community and how to identify family members in times of need, and other important aspects of how to be safe in the community.
Our first upcoming performance
Richard Gill School students are excited to be preparing for our debut performance at the Upper Hunter Show on Friday March 18, at 2pm. Mr English and Mrs Sherringham have been working hard to prepare a program of predominantly vocal works for exhibition, including a piece composed by Mr Richard Gill AO himself. If you are in the area on the day, the students will be performing at 2pm so be sure to come see them.
Article of Interest
I’d like to share with you a wonderful and well-researched article written by the President of the Australian National Choral Association (ANCA), Else Shepherd AM, promoting the importance of music education, which we at Richard Gill School never grow tired of reading. Read here.
Enrolment
Limited enrolment places for 2022 are still available, contact the school on 02 6543 1900 to secure your enrolment.
Enrolments for Richard Gill School are always open, and in 2023 are open to Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3. With a number of siblings enrolling into Kindergarten in 2023, places are limited.
Our prospectus, enrolment form, parent info and fee information can be found here.
Yours in Music,
Chris English – Principal, Richard Gill School