It’s been a busy nine-day fortnight at Richmond West, with NAPLAN, Division Swimming, music incursions, nearby construction works, and bike safety checks all in the mix. Plenty happening, as always, with everything continuing to hum along smoothly.

Staffing Update

We’re pleased to welcome Courtney Xu to Richmond West Primary School as our STEM specialist for the remainder of the 2026 school year.

Courtney brings a wealth of expertise in STEM education, along with the added bonus of speaking Chinese! Over the coming years, we are looking to thoughtfully introduce Chinese into elements of our specialist program where it can be meaningfully integrated. Science feels like a natural starting point, and something we will build gradually.

We have also welcomed some new Education Support staff in recent weeks - An Dang, and Tash Boyd, who are working with students across the school in their classrooms and specialist sessions.

Please join us in welcoming Courtney, An and Tash to our school community!

School Council Nomination Outcome

Thank you to everyone who nominated for the 2026 Richmond West Primary School Council. This year, we received the same number of nominations as available positions, so an election was not required.

Congratulations to Jonathon Docker, Hamish McLean and Marika Ruzyla, who have been appointed to the parent member vacancies on School Council. Amanda Vinnicombe will continue in her role as a Department of Education (DE) staff representative.

We look forward to continuing our work in strengthening our school community in 2026 and beyond.

Proposed Industrial Action: Tuesday 24 March

As you may be aware, planned industrial action is scheduled for Tuesday 24 March.

At this stage, we do not yet have confirmed details regarding staffing or supervision arrangements for the day. This means we are currently unable to confirm the extent to which the school will be operational.

We will provide an update via Compass as soon as we have a clearer picture..

We appreciate that this may require some forward planning for families.

Please note that TeamKids have advised they will not be offering a full day program. Before and after school care will operate as usual, but only to the extent that the school itself is operational.

Working Bee - This Sunday

Our parents are putting in some overtime this weekend for our Term 1 Working Bee from 10:00am–1:00pm. Tasks include preparing the Kitchen Garden brick wall for the upcoming mural, with plenty of other jobs to tackle.

Come for an hour or stay longer, bring a plate to share, and register via the QR code for catering.

Division Swimming

A group of 10 students from Years 5 & 6 students represented Richmond West at the Division Swimming event last week. Congratulations to Lachie, Hugo, Bird, Anna, Tom, Gerard, Naomi, Sarah, Ashleigh and Xavier!

They competed with determination, supported each other brilliantly, and represented the school with pride (and, in some cases, surprising levels of speed). A fantastic effort all around.

NAPLAN Update

Our Year 3 and Year 5 students are nearing the end of their NAPLAN testing window.

At Richmond West, we approach NAPLAN just like any other school day. There is no cramming, no last-minute drills and, aside from helping students navigate the online platform, there’s very little “test preparation” involved.

While NAPLAN provides a useful snapshot of individual performance, our ongoing teacher assessment gives a far more comprehensive picture of student learning over time. NAPLAN is one piece of the puzzle, but not the whole picture!

Where it is useful is in identifying whole-school trends, highlighting cohort strengths, and helping us evaluate the impact of our teaching and learning programs. It also gives us a chance to pause and celebrate areas of growth, as we recently did with writing.

A huge thank you to our Year 3 and Year 5 students, and to the teaching teams, for the flexibility, adaptability, and calm approach shown throughout. You’ve taken it all in stride, which is exactly the point.

Bilingual Schools Network Meeting

This week, we had the pleasure of hosting teachers and leaders from all 11 bilingual schools in the Victorian government system.

These meetings rotate between schools, and every few years it’s our turn to host. This time, we opened our classrooms so colleagues could observe our writing approach in action.

Our approach to writing, grounded in the Talk for Writing framework, begins with oral language. The idea is simple: if students can’t yet say it, they’re unlikely to be able to write it. Through structured talk, rehearsal, and rich language experiences, students build the confidence and control needed to express their ideas in writing.

Our visitors were highly complimentary of what they saw. They noted the calm and orderly learning environment, the high levels of engagement across classrooms, and the strength of language development for our bilingual learners.

The depth of language our students develop is a standout feature of the school. It’s also something that lasts. It’s not uncommon to see former students return in later years and still confidently engage with staff in Chinese, which says a lot about the impact of their learning here.

A week of visitors, swimming, NAPLAN, and a possible plot twist next Tuesday… just your standard week at Richy Dubs. Stay tuned, and maybe check Compass more than once over the weekend!

Until next time,

Trevor.

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