Executive Principal's Report

It has been a full fortnight at Richmond West, with Year 5/6 students visiting ACMI to see Shaun Tan, ANAM Concerts bringing music into the school, our Student Voice and Action Team meeting with Vicki, and Foundation heading out on their first ever excursion. We’ll finish tomorrow with some of our Brass Band students heading off for their annual performance at the Boroondara Eisteddfod!

Walkathon Update

Thank you to everyone who hit up family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and anyone else who looked vaguely charitable to donate to our school Walkathon. We are pleased to share that our community has raised just over $6,000, which is a fantastic effort.

The funds raised have put us in a strong position to purchase our next set of new TVs for learning spaces, and we are getting ready to place the order. These TVs replace the outdated and worn ones currently in some of our learning areas and make a genuine difference in classrooms and shared spaces.

Tomorrow at assembly, we will draw some prizes to recognise student participation and fundraising efforts. This will include a special prize for our highest fundraiser, along with prize draws for students who raised money and contributed. For anyone who still has money to return, or would still like to donate, please get in quick.

Early Departures

A reminder for families needing to collect students towards the end of the day to please try to schedule this during break times where possible. This helps us keep learning time protected and focused for all students.

Thank you also to families who have waited a little more patiently for the 3:30pm bell, rather than collecting students five minutes early. We know that five minutes can feel small, but across a school day, and especially at the end of the day, those interruptions add up quickly.

Of course, we understand that emergencies and extenuating circumstances happen. This reminder is simply about reducing avoidable disruptions where families have some flexibility.

Staff Car Park

We have recently noticed an increase in families using the staff car park for drop-off and pick-up. While we would love to be able to open the car park to everyone, the reality is that due to its size, this is simply not possible.

More recently, we have observed double parking, cars blocking emergency access gates, and times when staff have needed to leave but have been blocked in by parent cars. Even if a car is only there for a short time, these behaviours create challenges for students, families and staff moving through this area.

We ask that families driving for drop-off and pick-up park in the side streets surrounding the school. There are a number of two-hour parking options nearby, which provide more than enough time for school drop-off and pick-up.

We will monitor use of the staff car park over the coming weeks. If concerns continue, we may need to close the automatic gate during drop-off and pick-up times to ensure the area remains accessible and functional.

Technology Use at Home

Around this time each year, we often see an increase in incidents at school that have started online outside of school hours. Some recent examples have involved group messages, social media sites and other online interactions that have then flowed into friendship issues or conflict at school.

We know some students have responded well to the social media ban and taken it in their stride, while others have found the change more challenging. What we also know is that students can sometimes feel that what they say or do online exists in a bubble. One of the things that bursts that bubble rather quickly is the realisation that online content can be permanent. Even if a picture, image, message or comment is deleted, it may already have been screenshotted, saved or shared.

This is a good reminder for families to keep having regular conversations about safe technology use at home. 

Some practical steps include; 

• checking privacy settings together
• keeping devices out of bedrooms overnight
• knowing which apps your child is using
• having clear family rules about group chats and social media
• reminding children not to post or send anything they would not be comfortable having shown to a teacher, parent or a future boss!

Next term, we will be holding some students and parent cyber safety information sessions. This will be a helpful opportunity for families to better understand the online world our children are navigating, and how we can support them without needing to become full-time digital detectives.

Art Show

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

This year, we are once again looking forward to celebrating the artistic skill, creativity and imagination of our students. 

Susan, our resident curator, is currently in the annual process of transforming the artwork in our hallways from last year’s work to this year’s work. While it may appear to happen effortlessly, I can assure you that a great deal of thought, discernment and careful decision-making goes into it.

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 Richmond West and added something genuinely special to our school environment. The Art Show will also be officially opened this year by Mayor Jolly, so please pop the date in your calendar.

Australian Education Union Protected Industrial Action

As the Victorian Government has entered into an in-principle agreement with the Australian Education Union, the scheduled stop work actions have now been suspended.

One important thing to note is that, as part of this in-principle agreement, the government and union agreed that the industrial action relating to the ban on written report comments for students will continue as planned. This means that Semester 1 reports will not contain written comments for students.

Reports will still include achievement outcomes, showing the level your child is working at in each learning area. Attendance information, along with effort and behaviour ratings, will also still be included. You should expect your child’s report to look a little more empty than it usually does, with parent-teacher interviews still expected to run at the beginning of Term 3.

We look forward to seeing families at assembly tomorrow for the drawing of our Walkathon prizes.

Until next fortnight,

Trevor