Hello, and welcome to the twenty-ninth of my monthly Principal's blogs. In this post I discuss our new teacher for 2023, holiday construction works, Stanmore Festival of Music, and more generous donations!
Update
Today we near the end of the spring school holidays as we prepare for Term 4 at Richard Gill School. It seems so much has happened this last month, so strap yourselves in for an action-packed update.
Firstly, we would like to thank and congratulate Miss Olivia Ellis, our recent practicum teacher, for completing of her 10-week practicum at Richard Gill School. It has been a pleasure having Miss Ellis at the school and we wish her all the best for a long and prosperous teaching career.
Teacher 2023 appointment
We are excited to announce the appointment of Miss Tara Stanford to the Richard Gill School teaching staff, commencing in 2023. Miss Stanford is a local teacher with a young family of her own, who has a passion for whole school wellbeing and positive education. We look forward to Miss Stanford joining the team and know she will bring about new and exciting opportunities for our students and school community.
Holiday construction works
These holidays have seen the completion a new footpath, a covered outdoor eating area, and acoustic panels and cabinetry in our third classroom. It is always exciting to see our school grow.
Students are also currently working on a STEM project to design a new piece of playground equipment, and we look forward to reviewing the designs and installing the successful project in the months ahead.
You can see the update on our Facebook video here
St Anmorè (Stanmore) Festival of Music and Fundraiser
On Thursday, September 29, a fundraiser was held at the Salisbury Hotel in Stanmore, Sydney. We are most grateful to the festival organisers, Tony and Simon, for offering to raise funds for our school to cover bus transportation costs. Whilst the final figure raised is still being calculated, I am excited to announce that the bus hire fee has been COMPLETELY covered, with some additional funds to go towards equipment purchases made to facilitate our live performance.
We hope to see you at the festival on Saturday, November 5! For more information, visit their site here.
Professional learning – Orff and Positive Education
These holidays as Principal, I have been busy completing an Orff Level Course, and attending a Positive Education conference, thanks to local organisation and newly formed partnership with Where There’s a Will. Through this partnership, the school are adopting a strength’s-based wellbeing framework in 2023 to support the growth of our students.
2022 Orff Course, Sydney
2022 Orff Course, Sydney
Music teaching at Richard Gill School is grounded in the Orff pedagogical style (and Kodaly), and it was most enriching to spend a whole week making music and refining teaching practice. It was wonderful to attend this course and connect with other like-minded music educators.
Upper Hunter Voices
In partnership with the Upper Hunter Conservatorium of Music, the school is excited to announce the launch of Upper Hunter Voices, a children’s community choir with voices drawn exclusively from The Upper Hunter Region, including those of Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter Shires. Upper Hunter Voices comprises of young people between the ages of 6 and 12, with a keen interest in singing. Singers are provided with performance opportunities and access to professional training and musical skills development.
The development of the organisation has been ongoing for more than 18 months and is another way that Richard Gill School is working to engage with the community and further promote the importance of music and singing.
The ensemble is currently recruiting members, with their debut performance confirmed for the Christmas Spectacular in Muswellbrook on Saturday, December 10.
For more information, visit the Upper Hunter Voices website.
Enrolment
Enrolment is open to Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 students in 2023, and a waitlist is in place for Kindergarten 2023. To enrol or join our waitlist, please contact the school.
Enrolments for Richard Gill School are always open. Our prospectus, enrolment form, parent info and fee information can be found at here.
Donations
Sheridan Carmichael, a local supporter of the school, has very generously donated $10,000 to our scholarship fund and $5,000 to our library. This is an incredible contribution, especially considering Sheridan donates her time each week to support our Early Childhood Music program and is also a community representative of our Parents and Friends Association (P&F). Sheridan has also previously donated a beautiful upright Yamaha piano to the school which is in our instrumental room. What would we do without you, Sheridan?!
For over 50 years Dr Carol Richards has been involved in many aspects of Orff Schulwerk - in her teaching and in her professional development work. At completion of the Orff Levels Course last week, which may sadly be her last time presenting, Carol kindly made a donation of a soprano glockenspiel to the school. Thank you, Carol!
St Anmorè (Stanmore) Festival of Music – as mentioned earlier, the festival have raised approximately $3,000 to go towards bus hire and equipment for our performance at the festival. This figure was contributed to by about 65 different people, who bought a meal, raffle tickets, or made a direct donation. Thank you to the festival community for supporting our school.
Media
As always, we do our best to closely follow music education advocacy pieces in the media. Below are links to 2 stories which resonated with us, that you might enjoy.
Alberts Launches Music Education Right From The Start Initiative
Yours in Music,
Chris English – Principal, Richard Gill School