Richmond Primary School Newsletter Wednesday 22nd October 2025

Principal's Address

Dear Families,

Welcome to Term 4! Despite the blustery weather, our students have settled in beautifully and are embracing the new term with enthusiasm.

Just a reminder that this week is a short one:

• Thursday is a public holiday for the Hobart Show.
• Friday is a student-free day while staff take part in professional learning.

On Friday, our team will be engaging in training in Respectful Relationships Education. This is part of a statewide initiative to help build a culture of respect and understanding across Tasmanian schools and communities.

The program supports students in learning about:

• Respectful and equitable relationships
• Consent and personal boundaries
• How to recognise and respond to unsafe situations

These lessons are guided by research and supported by resources developed through Tasmania’s Family and Sexual Violence Action Plan. The aim is to help young people grow into confident, respectful individuals who contribute positively to their communities. We’re proud to be part of this important work.

We will also be considering our student data from their recent PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing) undertaken this week in both reading and mathematics. PAT testing is used across all Tasmanian Government Schools to monitor student progress. The Department for Education Children and Young People has determined year-level appropriate standards that are reasonable to expect the majority of students to achieve.

Student Achievements:

At the end of last term several students completed these beautiful clocks in woodwork with Mrs Whittle. The students worked to prepare the wooden mount and then added the features to create the clock face. I think you will agree that each has added their own individual creativity to their clocks. Well done, Cooper, Nate and Elroy.

We have recently had several students achieving at a state level representing diverse sports and activities. Three students attended the Inline Skate championships that were held at the DEC during the holidays.

• Ryan M., Ryan L. and Rebecca all competed for Tasmania in the Inline Skate championships that were held at the DEC during the holidays, and all performed very well.
• Maggie entered her Brixhibition entry to the southern championships and was awarded third prize, competing against 51 other school entries.
• Harry J., Angus and Archie all competed in the interstate soccer championships in Queensland and did themselves proud.
• Liam competed for Tasmania in the Australian Junior Squash tournament held in Melbourne and came in the top 16!

Playground Redevelopment – A Huge Thank You to Jordyn, the Lance Family and Craig Tieman!

We’re incredibly proud of Jordyn, who showed amazing initiative and generosity by raising $1,073 for our playground redevelopment!

On Friday 26th September, Jordyn had his mullet cut off right here at school. Not only was his hair donated to Variety to help make wigs for those in need, but Jordyn and his mum also came up with the brilliant idea to turn the haircut into a fundraiser for our playground. What a thoughtful and community-minded gesture!

Thanks to Jordyn’s efforts and the ongoing support from our Student Representative Council, families, and staff, we’ve been able to make some exciting additions to our outdoor spaces:

• Over the holidays, the sandpit was revamped, and it’s been a huge hit with the children!
• Last weekend, the Lance family and Craig Tieman generously installed our brand-new Gaga Pit opposite the nature play area. This fast-paced dodgeball-style game is already proving popular and gives students another fun option during break times. 

We’re so grateful to everyone who has contributed to these improvements. Your support is helping us create a vibrant, inclusive, and engaging playground for all our students to enjoy.

Recycling Challenge

As I’m sure you are aware, the School Association held a challenge to raise funds through the Recycle Rewards program, encouraging classes to collect the most recyclable items. Several classes were in close competition, and Lady Gowrie also joined the challenge. In the final week of term, we announced the results:

• Prep took first place with an impressive 2,702 items
• Lady Gowrie came second with 1,607 items
• Kinder placed third with 1,102 items

Congratulations to all our classes for their enthusiastic involvement in the challenge!

A huge thank you to our School Association for their ongoing support - not only for initiating this fun and meaningful challenge, but also for their tireless efforts in collecting the items and transporting them to the recycling station. Your commitment to sustainability and community engagement is deeply appreciated.

Lachie has been working hard at home on a science experiment. He was exploring how to make explosions. Lachie is a member of the Clarence Sea Scouts and did this project to earn himself a science badge.

Well done, Lachie.

Clare McVilly

Principal

2026 School Levies Update

At last week’s School Association meeting, the committee approved a $10 increase to the annual school levies for each year level for the 2026 school year.

Below is a summary of the updated levies for 2026. For students in Years 5 and 6, the total includes the cost of a three-day, two-night camp in Term 2. More details about the camp will be sent home soon.

*SWSP = Swimming and Water Safety Program

STUDENT ASSISTANCE

If you are a current concession card holder (Centrelink Health Care Card, Low Income Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card or a Veterans Affairs Pensioner Concession Card), you can apply for STAS. Those families who qualify for the Student Assistance Scheme will have their levies covered by the program. The online application process is very quick and simple.

Please follow the link below for further information and to access the link for the online application form:

https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-fact-sheets/fees-levies/

If you have already been approved for STAS, you do not need to re-apply. 

PAYMENT

Once school has commenced you will receive an invoice in the mail detailing levies as quoted.  Payment options will be listed on the reverse side of your invoice (BPay, BPoint, Centrepay or Service Tasmania). Payment may be made at school via Eftpos, Cash or Cheque.  Credit card payments can also be processed over the phone.

Payment of levies should be finalized by the end of March, unless special arrangements have been made. Payment plans can be arranged with the School Business Manager.

If you have any questions or need support with payments, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.

Term 4 Dates for your Calendars

Canteen

Exciting News – Lunch Orders Are Back!

We’re thrilled to announce that lunch orders are returning to Richmond Primary School, starting Week 3 of this term!

A big thank you to Emily Douglas, mum to Amarlie, for her generous offer to prepare delicious homemade meals for our students every fortnight. Here's what's on the menu:

• Week 3: Tuesday 28th Oct - Chicken Schnitzel Wrap & Banana Muffin
• Week 5: Tuesday 11th Nov - Butter Chicken with Rice & Fruit Salad Cup
• Week 7: Tuesday 25th November - Beef Chow Mein & Blueberry Muffin
• Week 9: Tuesday 9th Dec - Taco Bowl & Vanilla Pop

Gluten Free and Vegetarian options will also be available.

Ordering is easy – just use the Qkr App. Each meal is $7.50. 

Meals become available to order 2 weeks in advance and ordering cuts off Friday at 3pm the week before.

We’re so grateful to Emily for supporting our school community with this tasty initiative. We can’t wait for the students to enjoy these yummy lunches!

Plus, our popular Sushi Lunch will be available on Tuesday of Week 6 and Week 8.

Term 3 in Kinder

During Term 3 in Kindergarten we were very busy investigating the life cycle of a chicken.  We read a lot of books and watched some videos to help us find out how we needed to take care of them. We incubated eggs in ‘Izzy’ the incubator.  We read a lot of books and watched some videos to help us find out how we needed to take care of them. During the incubation period, we checked on the eggs by candling them using a special light on the incubator. We were looking for signs of life including blood vessels, an air sac and hopefully some movement.  After 21 days, we began to see the first signs that our chickens were ready to meet us, when we observed the first tiny crack in one of the eggs.  When we came to school the next morning, we were greeted with lots of cheeping and 6 little chickens drying out in the incubator.  Throughout the day, we waited excitedly for the rest of the chickens to hatch.  We prepared the brooder ready for 11 healthy chickens to move in.  They have lived with us in Kinder for the rest of the term and got to have a little holiday at Mrs Scott’s house over the school holidays.  The chickens have now gone to live at their forever homes with some of our Kinder families. It sure has been an exciting and special learning time for our Kinders witnessing part of this fascinating life cycle first hand.

Prep News

In Prep we have been learning all about our community.

To bring our learning to life, we went on a local excursion where we visited the police station, playground, recycling station, and much to everyone’s delight, the lolly shop!

After our walk, we documented the sequence of our adventure and painted pictures of our favourite moments from the day.

The police station and lolly shop were definite highlights.

Lifting Literacy at Richmond Primary

This term will be another busy and exciting one for literacy. Students are continuing to build their reading and writing skills through a range of focused and engaging learning opportunities. These include developing vocabulary, comprehension, phonics, spelling, and writing skills. Across classrooms, students are exploring new texts, practising reading fluency, and working on structured writing tasks to support their ongoing growth as confident readers and writers.

As part of the Department for Education, Children and Young People’s Lifting Literacy: The Reading Priority, our staff have been deepening their knowledge and practice in evidence-based reading instruction. Throughout the year, teachers have completed three Spaced Learning Sessions with Emina McLean, focusing on Word Recognition, Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.

During Term 3, teachers conducted an inquiry into these key areas, reflecting on how these practices are positively impacting student learning. We have already seen growth in students’ decoding skills, reading confidence, and comprehension.

This term, students will take part in a range of literacy assessments, including PAT-Reading, DIBELS, Internal Writing Moderation, and the Single Word Spelling Test. These assessments help us monitor each child’s progress, identify their next learning steps, and set school-wide literacy targets for 2026.

Book Club Issue 7

Book Club Reminder
Just a quick reminder to get your Book Club orders in by next Wednesday, 29th October!
Don't miss out on some great reads, place your orders soon!