RSS Newsletter Issue 2 2023

From the Principal

An opportunity to have your say on how we can continue to strengthen our school - Our School Review. 

The Department of Education regularly reviews the curriculum, teaching and learning practices of Queensland state schools.

Our school has been selected to undertake a school-led review which will harness our school’s drive for continuous improvement through collaborative inquiry and empower our staff and school community to lead aspects of the review process.

A school-led review consists of 2 phases:

• evaluation conducted by the school
• validation conducted by School and Region Reviews (SRR).

Firstly, throughout Term 1, we will be conducting our own evaluation. This will include speaking with staff, parents and key stakeholders. The school will produce a report framed by the National School Improvement Tool.

Following the school-led evaluation, the department’s SRR branch will validate the school’s evaluation. Members of the branch will visit our school in Term 2, to engage in conversations with a cross-section of staff, students, parents and community members. They will also analyse key data sets and peruse a range of key documents to produce a report for our school community.

Key findings from the review will be made available to parents and the community on our school website.

We would like to hear from our community throughout both phases of the review. I encourage anyone who is interested to have their say. Your feedback is important and will help us continue to deliver a great education for our students.

Feedback can be provided by phone or in person. All feedback remains confidential. Please contact the school office if you are interested in participating.

More information about the review process is available from the department’s website at www.schoolreviews.education.qld.gov.au.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Elizabeth Mayo

Head of Department - Curriculum

Student Support Services at Richmond State School

Richmond State School is fortunate to have a number of great support services available to assist staff and students in achieving learning and wellbeing outcomes. These services include guidance officers, chaplains and speech and language therapists. The support that each of these specialist staff offer differs from school to school based on the individual needs of the school and their students. Some of our specialist staff may support our teachers and students by collaboratively planning tailored units of work via web conferences. Some support staff will visit our school to work with staff and students for a week block each term, or maybe a couple of days at a time. Some will call our parents at regular intervals to support our families during times of need. The support is tailored to our needs and as such, may look different each term.

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce the team of people who will be supporting Richmond State School in 2023. You will notice that some of these people will look familiar as they have been working with our school for a number of years now. If you see these people around the school, be sure to introduce yourself and say hello!

Chaplain: Charlie Chamberlin – Based in Townsville – Our school Chaplain is Charlie Chamberlin. Charlie is a familiar face in the classroom with his guitar and repertoire of songs and in the playground playing just about anything. The students love this time with him and it enables Charlie to build a strong and positive rapport with the students.

Involvement with the Chaplain is entirely voluntary and students choose whether or not they want to be a part of the activities that are offered. Parents will be consulted if their child wishes to be involved in ongoing one-to-one meetings with the Chaplain or in any program or group involving spiritual or ethical content. Parents have the right to refuse permission for their child to be involved in any Chaplaincy activity or event. The Chaplaincy Service is available to everyone in the school community regardless of their religious beliefs.

Chappy Charlie is based in Townsville and connects with the students regularly online as well as being at school for a week each term.

Guidance Officer: Ann Wahlin – Based in Townsville- Ann joins us with 27 years of teaching and childcare experience. She decided to become a Guidance Officer to work with students, families, schools and the community to help children through their journey of life.  Wellbeing is an area that she is very passionate about as your wellbeing can improve your mood, encourage resilience in difficult circumstances and supports you to get the most out of life.

Speech Language Pathologist: Yadanar Tut – Based in Mt Isa – Yadanar travels across North Queensland to provide Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) services in State Schools.  The thing she loves about my job is visiting outreach schools, such as Richmond, and working with school teams to support their students to succeed. This is Yadanar’s second year servicing Richmond State School and she is very excited to be working with us again.

School Based Youth Health Nurse: Elle Reid – Based in Townsville – Elle is a Child Health Nurse from Townsville and will be travelling to Richmond every second Wednesday. Elle also works with Hughenden State School. The role of the School Based Youth Health Nurse is to work with secondary students to focus on whole of school preventative health and health promotion.

Physiotherapist: Allie Masarik – Based in Townsville - As a school-based Physiotherapist, Allie works with the student and school staff to ensure optimal inclusion in all areas of education.

Occupational Therapist: Nathan Hill – Based in Mt Isa - As a school Occupational Therapist Nathan collaborates with school staff to ensure all students have the ability to access, participate, and achieve within their school environment and curriculum.

If you would like to discuss the services that service our school and how they support your child, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or Tanya or Cheryl as the Head of Department for Curriculum.

Student Achievements

Congratulations to all award recipients. You have been recognised for your hard work and dedication to learning and our school.

Term 1 Week 4

Term 1 Week 5

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Term 1 Week 6

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Principal Award

Positive Behaviour for Learning

From the classroom

Prep

1/2 K DAT

Homework Centre

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Sport

Lacie Lillyman travelled to Mt Isa to compete in the North West Swimming trials. Lacie swam her little heart out in all the 50m events. Well done Lacie!

Harley O’Keeffe, Rylann Fields, Mason Fields, Hollie Ievers, Declan Weston and Rocco Tabbi trialled in the Mid West Touch trials in Julia Creek, they all did a great job representing Richmond State School. 

Congratulations to Hollie and Mason who were selected into the Mid West Touch team. Mrs Mayo will be supporting these student in Barcaldine in week 7 as they attend the North West Trials. 

Swimming

School Based Youth Health Nurse, Elle - Connecting with your teenagers

As our children grow older they spend more and more time away from home and become involved in actives that may be different to what we enjoyed at their age or expected as their parents. This can be challenging, particularly if you do not agree with how they spend their time or do not approve of the people they spend their time with.

It is often difficult to know what teenagers will find interesting and rewarding, and who they will get along with. No teenager is the same, so parents have to develop their own approach to encouraging and supporting their teen as they explore new relationships and activities.

A good starting point is modelling behaviour that you would like your teenager to follow as they are more likely to copy you and act this way themselves. It is also important for teenagers to learn things for themselves, including that all actions have consequences. As a parent, being as tolerant and accepting as you can if they make decisions that you don’t agree with, and keeping communication channels open will aid with managing or avoiding undesirable behaviours and situations. Showing a genuine interest your teenager, what they do and who they spend their time with will help to strengthen your relationships as long as it is done appropriately.

A major challenge as a parent is often getting the balance right. Simply hoping that your teenager will make appropriate decisions, avoid temptation and make the right choice in friends will not make it happen. Giving your teen too much unmonitored freedom and trusting their judgement completely may lead to them becoming involved in situations where they do not have the experience and skills to manage. However, restricting teenagers too much by not letting them decide on what they do, who they do it with and the type of person that are trying to become often leads to resentment and conflict.

These things might be useful in helping ensure you maintain a healthy connection with your teenager:

• Reach an agreement with your teenager on how much freedom will be allowed. Ensure you make time for regular family and individual discussions and encourage your teenager to express their views and opinions.
  
  
• Create a predictable and secure home environment so your teenager is not unsure what will happen next or how you will react to their behaviour.
  
  
• Provide your teenage with lots of affection and praise, being mindful that it is appropriate to their age and preferences. Most often when done around peers and in public they will feel embarrassed.
  
  
• Acknowledge your teenagers’ efforts, there are lots of areas in your teenager’s life where this can be done; their room, their behaviour with a sibling, their bookwork or even their hair. Do not wait until they have finished something or wait until they think that it is perfect to comment. Keep the praise brief but do it often and be genuine. Ensure that they are not too self-critical or dismissive if their efforts.
  
  
• Encourage goal setting. Avoid telling them “I told you so” if they do not achieve their goals with advice you have given or if they did not achieve their goal as planned.
  
• If parenting with a partner, back each other in front of your teen and have disagreements about rules regarding freedom and parenting in private.
  
  

The Raising Children Network has more great information about communication and building relationships with your teenager: 

https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/communicating-relationships

Library News

New Books have arrived, we are working hard to get new titles catalogued and covered.

Some of the new titles are Manga books which are Japenese style- Pokemon and Squid Kids. The format is Japanese,  which  is very interesting. If you would like to have a look  please drop into the library.

Lost: We are still missing books from our shelves, please keep an eye out and return any library books you might find.

Thanks to everyone who has returned books, it makes it easier to order new titles. They are very good at playing hide and seek, I think they have completed hide and seek training!

Student Absence Process

In the event of your child being absent from school please ensure you communicate via:-

1. School phone 47 686 333
1. Option 1 for absence line to leave a message
2. Email: admin@richmondss.eq.edu.au
3. Send a note with your child before the day of absence, if it is a planned absence
4. For planned long term absence, please speak with admin staff

Children who do not present at school without explanation are recorded as ‘unexplained absence’.  Mandatory same day notification is a legal requirement. If you have not informed the school of your child’s absence you will receive a phone call informing you of their absence and seeking an explanation as to the reason. 

Students who are going to be on a planned absence of greater than ten school days are required to apply for an exemption from schooling. Should this situation apply to your child at any time please contact the school office for an appointment with the principal to discuss the required process.

P & C Information

Please note date change for the  AGM.

Supporting Student Wellbeing and Families

Social skills are key to connecting with others and developing friendships. But social skills don't come naturally! Parents and carers play a really important role in helping their kids develop social skills. Join the Outback Futures team for our next webinar to learn some ways to supercharge your kid's social skills.Date: Saturday 04 March 2023Time: 10.00-10.30amRegister now to add to your calendar and receive reminders, or join anonymously on the day.

https://outbackfutures.org/3yv

That time doesn’t suit?

Register and we'll send you a link to the recording afterwards.

This webinar is presented by Outback Futures and is part of our Resilient Kids and Youth Project, funded by Western Queensland Primary Health Network and Northern Queensland PHN. See less