Welcome to the Richard Gill School Blog for the month of December. As we approach the end of 2024, our staff and students are busy completing learning content, rehearsing for performances and enjoying the last few weeks before our Summer holidays.
Richard Gill Appreciation Day at RGS
On Friday 15th of November, Richard Gill School staff and students participated in the inaugural Richard Gill Appreciation Day. The purpose of this day is to allow students to learn more about our founder Richard Gill and his contribution towards music and music education during his lifetime. Each class rotated through 3 activities and took part in an additional whole school music lesson during the day. It was lovely to watch how engaged students were while learning and performing some of Richard’s compositions in our Music room, observing their responses to the ‘The Song of the Bee' from the Music in Me website with Miss Kelly and seeing the pride students took in their pop art influenced art works of Richard Gill. We look forward to continuing this event each year and feel proud to represent the legacy of such an esteemed individual and educator.
Intensive Swimming for K-2
Thanks to a generous donation from Bengalla Mining Company, our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students have been able to access free Intensive Swimming Lessons at the Muswellbrook Aquatic and Fitness Centre. This program ensures that our K-2 students receive 10 afternoons of small group, intensive swimming instruction in the lead up to Summer. Water Safety and the ability to keep yourself safe in the water is a crucial skill for all children, particularly as we encounter the heat of Summer and are around pools, beaches and rivers more frequently. We are very grateful for the continued support of our sponsors to make this happen each year and we know that the students thoroughly enjoy their lessons.
Upcoming Performances
We are excited to be performing at 3 upcoming local events before the end of the year. Our students have been practicing some Christmas Carols and the String Ensemble are getting ready for their contributions as well. In particular, we are grateful for the opportunity to travel to both Merton Court in Denman and Calvary Aged Care in Muswellbrook on the 9th of December to perform for the residents. This trip was made possible by sponsorship from the Muswellbrook RSL Club, who sponsored our bus trip for the day. It is just another example of the strength and generosity of the community that we are surrounded by.
Music Education: A Sound Investment.
Report Commissioned by The Tony Foundation
“A key goal of The Tony Foundation is to ensure all Australian primary school students receive a quality, sequential and ongoing music education. This goal is founded on the belief that music is a core, yet often missing component in a quality education program. To date, The Tony Foundation has supported music programs in schools through the Australian Children’s Music Foundation and ABC TV's three-part teleseries Don’t Stop the Music, produced by Artemis Media, Musica Viva and The Song Room. Despite the number of fantastic initiatives and organisations such as these working to deliver quality music programs, and the extensive research and evidence of the benefits, the fact remains that a large proportion of Australian primary school children have little or no access to music education. Also, in a number of marginalised schools and communities, the existence of a music program is often heavily dependent on the availability of philanthropic funding.”
If you would like to learn more about the report, click on the link below to see it in its entirety.
Looking Towards 2025
Our staff are looking forward to a well earned rest over the holidays and I wish them a safe and relaxing break before returning in 2025. Our students return to school on Monday 3rd February where they will be greeted by their teachers and our Interim Principal Nigel Limon. I am confident that I am leaving RGS in safe hands with Nigel while I am on maternity leave and am excited to stop in and visit with the staff and students once baby is born.
Enrolment
If you have any questions about Kindergarten in 2025 or would like to speak with our staff about enrolment enquiries, please follow the link on our website.
Richard Gill School is taking enrolment enquiries for Kindergarten - Year 5 for 2025. Contact us to setup an interview with the Principal and tour of the school.
We look forward to helping you unleash your child’s creativity at Richard Gill School.
Wishing all of our community and supporters a safe, happy and restful holiday.
Thank you
Tara Stanford