The past fortnight at Richmond West has included our Walkathon, School Council, Gleadell Street Market, District Cross Country, Bike Ed, ANAM concerts, phonics professional learning, and even a day where our water decided to go briefly kaput.

The usual busy mix of learning, community and logistics - fairly standard for Richy Dubs...

Australian Education Union Protected Industrial Action

To kick things off, there are a few important updates for our community regarding the current Australian Education Union protected industrial action.

The planned stop work action is currently suspended while discussions remain ongoing between the AEU and the Department of Education/Victorian Government. This pause is currently due to end on Monday 18 May. At this stage, we are unsure whether the suspension will be extended.

Our network is currently scheduled to participate in a half-day stop work on the morning of Wednesday 20 May, with classes resuming in the afternoon. We wanted to make families aware of this date in advance, while also noting that we are still waiting for confirmation about exactly what this will look like at our school. Once we have further information, we will communicate this to families as soon as possible.

The second update relates to student reporting.

One of the other endorsed protected industrial actions is that Semester 1 reports may not contain written comments for students. Reports will still include achievement outcomes, showing the level your child is working at and in which learning areas. Attendance information will also still be included.

At this stage, parent-teacher interviews are still expected to run at the beginning of Term 3.

We thank families for their understanding and support.

Walkathon Update

It has now been two weeks since our students participated in the Walkathon, and it was wonderful to see everyone doing things a little differently for the day. With music, colourful outfits and plenty of energy across the learning areas, it was a great reminder that school events do not need to be complicated to be memorable.

Fundraising for the Walkathon is going extremely well, and we are on track to reach our goal of purchasing the next round of new TVs and trolleys for our learning areas. We are still waiting on some final donations and money raised to come through.

At our Week 6 assembly, we will be drawing prizes for students who contributed to the fundraising effort, along with some extra special prizes for those who achieved fantastic results.

School Tours

Our school tour calendar has been booked out every week so far this term, with up to six families attending most tours. These families have come from a range of local kindergartens and, because of our unique school offering, we also see families from kindergartens well outside of our school zone.

Families regularly comment on the quality of language our students demonstrate from their very first year of school, our inclusive approach, and the way we support the varied needs of learners across our school. Most are also often struck by the flexibility of our school structure.

One of our key strengths is that our students work with multiple teachers across the week. This means we are not locked into a traditional “one teacher, one classroom” model, and we have greater flexibility to respond to what our students need. It is a good reminder of the positive impact of the work happening every day at RWPS, and something worth highlighting not just for new families, but for our current community as well.

Gleadell Street Market

The Gleadell Street Market is one of those things in our school that always seems to happen almost effortlessly.

Of course, as with most things that look effortless, there are many, many hours of work happening behind the scenes to make it possible.

A huge thank you to the staff who gave up their time on Saturday 2 May to be part of the market, whether attending on the day, baking something, helping with preparation, or supporting in other ways.

We are also very grateful to the families who contributed through preparation work, cooking, collecting, sorting, pricing, carrying, setting up, selling, packing up, and talking with members of our broader community about RWPS.

Events like this help keep RWPS visible, connected and active within our local community, while also supporting fundraising efforts that directly benefit our students. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success.

Education Support Appreciation Day

Tomorrow, Friday 15 May, is Education Support Appreciation Day.

This is an important opportunity to acknowledge the work of our education support staff and the role they play across the many functions of our school. Their work supports what we are able to do for students every day, whether that is in classrooms, administration, student support, wellbeing, additional programs, or the many behind-the-scenes tasks that keep a school running.

We are very grateful to our ES staff for the care, skill and flexibility they bring to their roles, and for the way they support our students, staff and families. Their work strengthens the whole school, often in ways that are not always visible, but are always deeply valued.

Early Departures

Thank you to families who have made an effort to organise early pickups during recess or lunchtime, or who have waited until the end of the school day where possible. This makes a significant difference to classrooms, office staff and the general end-of-day movement of students.

A reminder that early departures should be avoided where possible, particularly in the final part of the school day. Collecting students at 3:24pm can be disruptive for classes and creates additional pressure in the office at an already busy time.

Where appointments or family commitments require an early pickup, we ask families to collect students during recess or lunch where possible. Otherwise, waiting until the 3:30pm dismissal bell is greatly appreciated by everyone involved.

We also understand that in emergencies or extenuating circumstances, this will not always be possible. This reminder is simply about helping us reduce avoidable interruptions where families have some flexibility.

Student Attitudes to School Survey

Students in Years 4 to 6 will soon be invited to complete the 2026 Student Attitudes to School Survey.

This voluntary survey is conducted each year by the Department of Education and gives students the opportunity to share their thoughts about school, learning, friendships, wellbeing, resilience, bullying, physical activity and life in general.

The survey will be completed online during class time, takes around 20 to 40 minutes, and students can skip any questions or stop at any time.

Schools only receive group-level reports, not individual student responses, and the information helps us better understand student engagement, wellbeing and learning so we can continue improving what we do at RWPS.

Art Show

Our Art Show is coming up on Wednesday 17 June, running from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.

This year, we are in for our usual treat as we celebrate the artistic skill, creativity and imagination of our students. We are also pleased to share that Mayor of Yarra, Cr Stephen Jolly, and Councillor Meca Ho will be attending.

They will have the opportunity to see firsthand the outcome of our mural project from last year. Yarra Council was the major financial contributor to these murals, which have lifted the external landscape of our school and added something genuinely special to our school environment.

The Art Show will also be officially opened this year by Mayor Jolly, so pop the date in your calendar.

Leadership Team Update

Over the past few weeks, we have had some absences across our leadership team and, at times, we've been a little more stretched than usual.

A sincere thank you to the staff who have stepped up in various ways during this time, especially Rachel and Kai, who have supported by stepping into the Assistant Principal role. We are hopeful that we will have everyone back on board next week and will be firing on all cylinders again.

Until next fortnight,

Trevor.

Years 3 & 4