Richmond Primary School Newsletter 11th September 2024

Principal's Address

Dear Families,

Last week I had a visit from Declan who came to share the beautiful weaving he was doing in his Year 5/6 class with Mrs Jan Ross. The fine and intricate weaving was just exquisite so I thought I would share it with you.

Swimming Carnival

Last Friday we held our Year 3 - 6 Swimming Carnival, where we had high levels of engagement from our students. I would like to thank families for your support of the swimming carnival as I’m sure your encouragement has led to the engagement we witnessed on the day.

Review into Tasmanian Education

Many of you will have heard that the Tasmanian Government has announced an independent review into the Tasmanian School System, to be led by Ms Vicki Baylis an independent and well-respected Australian Educator. Tasmania’s education system has a critical role to play in ensuring Tasmanian children and young people gain the skills they need to lead their best lives and fully contribute to our community and economic future.

The Tasmanian Liberal Government wants a Tasmanian School System that:

• Implements evidence-based, whole of school practices and pedagogy that leads to improved student educational outcomes and behaviour
• Delivers high quality teaching that is evidence based and meets the needs of students at all levels
• Effectively utilises resources to improve student outcomes and attract and retain a high-quality workforce
• Contributes to the State's productivity by supporting a highly skilled local workforce to assist local businesses and industry to grow and compete
• Is accountable for improved student outcomes, including in remote and rural areas

SCOPE OF THE REVIEW

The review will include the government and non-government school sectors with a focus on Kindergarten to Year 12.

The review will focus on five themes:

1. Defining educational success – We need to ensure that our education system has clearly agreed objectives that are transparently reported. What does success look like after the formal years of schooling in the Tasmanian context and how do we better encourage our young people to aspire to achieve?
2. Strengthening supports and engagement for all learners at all stages of their education – How can we collectively support Tasmanian learners to get the most out of their entire education experience and ensure all students reach their potential?
3. Outcomes at the conclusion of the formal years of schooling – Noting the specific challenges that emerge as young people progress through schooling; how can we improve attendance, retention, attainment and student outcomes to better support choice of learning and career pathways?
4. Support for our teaching workforce – How do we attract, support and develop teachers and school leaders to be effective and successful practitioners who can confidently deliver high quality, evidence-based teaching that meets the needs of students at all levels?
5. Accountability for improved outcomes – How do we ensure that policy initiatives are implemented, and resources are used to improve learning outcomes?

STAGING AND TIME FRAMES

August 2024: Terms of Reference released

September – October 2024: Consultation

December 2024: Report and recommendations provided to Government

CONSULTATION

The review will include an opportunity for everyone, including children and young people, families and educators to share their views on the focus themes. A discussion paper will be released, as part of the consultation approach to help guide the conversation, allowing all interested individuals and groups to have input.

So, watch this space and we will let you know how we as a school community or as individual parents can have input into the review process.

Fire Education

Last week Tasmania Fire Service delivered the School Fire Education Program to our students from Kinder to Year 6 with the aim of keeping the Tasmanian community safe from the impact of fire.

The program is designed to teach children from Kinder to Year 6 about basic home fire safety.

The program is offered to all Tasmanian primary schools, and more than 95% of Tasmanian children participate in the program at least twice during their primary school education.

Lessons and resources are delivered in schools by specially trained firefighters of the Tasmania Fire Service.

The key home fire safety messages are developed over the primary school years so that they are age-appropriate and engaging for students. Home fire safety resources are given out to the children, resources they bring home, and we encourage you to share the home fire safety messages with the whole family.

Class Placement – Calling for Parent/ Carer input for 2025

In the coming weeks, the staff will be working to build our class groupings for 2025. If as parents/ carers you would like to have some input, sharing important information about your child/children, please email me directly at clare.mcvilly@decyp.tas.gov.au.

Please ensure that you have all relevant information to me no later than Friday 27^th September the last day of term 3.

I have included the Class Placement Policy for your reference. 

Collect your pies today

The School Association has run its first Pie Drive and if you ordered your pies then today is the day to collect them from the school staffroom between 2.30 - 3.15pm.

One final reminder, tomorrow we are holding the finals of Richmond’s Got Talent. Families are welcome to attend this entertaining event. It will be held in our hall from 11.30am. So come along and enjoy the entertainment from our talented students.

3/4B

Aquarium Perspective Art

This Term, 3/4B have been busy learning to create perspective art. Perspective is a technique that makes art look realistic by creating an illusion of depth and distance on a flat surface. We viewed a range of artworks and decided to create an aquarium perspective piece.

Firstly, we ruled out the lines, flooring and archway, then we outlined these with permanent marker.

We were then very careful to colour in our flooring, creating a checkerboard design.

Next, we researched some design ideas for our aquarium creatures. We sketched our designs and then coloured and shaded them with oil pastels. It was important to make sure that we drew our animals to match the depth of the aquarium. Finally, we used water colours to complete our background.

We are very proud of our finished products!

Run Club

Over the last 2 months, a group of committed students have been partaking in weekly run club sessions. Each week, these students challenge themselves to a range of cardio activities, such as the beep test, sprint training and up to 3.5km runs. In the short time, the students have shown so much growth and determination. We look forward to seeing what they can achieve throughout the rest of the year.

Prep

This term in Prep we have been working hard on learning digraphs. We made a poster for each learnt sound, drawing a picture to represent them.

We then used as many words as possible with learnt digraphs to make silly sentences.

We all enjoyed celebrating book week wearing our pyjamas to school and having shared reading with our buddy class. We did see, think and wonder writing tasks, looking at a picture of a reading teddy bear, students shared their thoughts and showed their writing and comprehension skills.

Children also wrote a reflective review of their favourite chosen book.

Brixhibition

Thank you and congratulations to all the students who entered our Brixhibition for 2024.

Our overall school winner, Gabe, will be competing against other school winners at the 2024 Brixhibition in Sorell in October. Good luck Gabe!  

Breakfast Club

We need your help!! 

Our Breakfast Club has been a big success and a great way for our students to start their morning. 

Please contact the office on 6260 2191 or richmond.primary@decyp.tas.gov.au if you are available to help in term 4, either weekly, fortnightly or on a once off basis. 

Upcoming Term 3 Dates to Remember

School Association Bric-a-Brac stall - Tuesday 17th September

East Derwent Little Athletics

At East Derwent Little Athletics Centre, we are excited for the 2024/2025 Little Athletics season, and we want to see you! We have a flourishing Tiny Tots program for younger athletes (3 and 4 year olds). Our season calendar can be found on our Facebook page, and we welcome any enquiries via the email address on our flyer. New athletes (never been registered in Little Athletics before) can attend 2 free sessions before registering. We also have a Come and Try Day at the Domain on the 21st of September between 10am and 12 noon. Registrations for the Come and Try day can be done through the Little Athletics Tasmania website.