RSS Newsletter 2025 Issue 2
Principal
Hello Richmond State School Community,
As we wrap up the first six weeks of the school year, it is incredible to see how much our students have grown and accomplished already! From new friendships, success in the sporting arena and exciting classroom learning, the school year is off to a strong start.
My favourite part of the day is hearing the excitement from teachers as they relay how their students have learnt a new concept or routine. On my classroom visits I see students engaged in learning that is fun, hands on, and contextualised to our community. This type of learning means that our teachers are working extremely hard to provide lessons that spark curiosity, are engaging and memorable. I sincerely thank them for their efforts.
I would also like to acknowledge the work of our amazing Teacher Aide team. Without their knowledge, love for learning and commitment to our school we would not be able to achieve what we do each day.
Thank you to all parents and community members who attended our open afternoon tea and information session in week 5. It was an absolute pleasure to welcome everyone into the school to share our strategic direction for 2025. Our focus is on excellence for every student at their level.
Next week we welcome our new Deputy Principal, Mr Scott Jeffery to Richmond State School. He is only able to join us for the week and will officially start in Term 2. Please welcome Mr Jeffery to our wonderful school and community.
Until next time,
Rebecca
Deputy Principal
I am Scott Jeffery, and I am delighted to join Richmond State School as your new Deputy Principal. I am relocating from Mossman, near Port Douglas, with my family. My wife, along with our two young children—a daughter aged 5 and a son aged 3—are thrilled to become part of the Richmond community.
I am eager to collaborate with the dedicated staff at Richmond State School to enrich our educational offerings. I look forward to meeting and working closely with staff, parents/carers, students, and the wider community to foster a supportive and vibrant school environment.
I am excited to start this new chapter with you all at Richmond State School. Here’s to a future filled with collaboration, growth, and learning!
Warm regards,
Scott Jeffery
Deputy Principal
Richmond State School
Head of Department - Curriculum
Attendance
While the deluge of rain over the last few weeks has been welcomed and needed, it is wonderful to see our students that have been out on properties back at school. It has been great to see strong attendance in the first half of this term, and it is important that this continues. Every day, our teachers are delivering engaging learning opportunities for students in order for them to gain increasing skills and knowledge across all subject areas. In order for students to achieve their potential, consistent attendance is fundamental. When students are regularly absent, they can find it difficult to remember school routines and fill gaps in their knowledge due to missing lessons. In this newsletter we have included a 2025 QLD school calendar, so families are able to plan holidays and appointments during school holidays and not term time. In addition, the Parent Curriculum Overviews outline the assessment schedule for each year level. Students should only be absent during the term if they are sick, or they are unable to get to school (e.g. due to rain). In the instance that your child/ren will be absent for school for a prolonged period, families are able to access the Department’s Learning@Home resources.
NAPLAN
Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be sitting NAPLAN testing from Wednesday 12 March. Students will be completing the Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy NAPLAN assessments online again in 2025, except the Year 3 Writing assessment, which will remain paper-based. Below is the schedule of testing at Richmond State School, this includes times for catch up tests at the conclusion for students that are absent on any of the scheduled test days.
Week 7 | Week 8 | |||||
Monday 10th March Period 3 | Wednesday 12th March Period 1 | Thursday 13th March Period 2 | Monday 17th March Period 2 | Tuesday 18th March Period 1 | Thursday 20th March Period 1 | Friday 21st March Period 1 |
Year 3,5,7,9 Practice Test
| Year 3,5,7,9 Writing | Year 3,5,7,9 Writing catch up tests
| Year 3,5,7,9 Reading
| Year 3,5,7,9 Numeracy
Period 3 Reading catch up tests | Year 3,5,7,9 Conventions of Language
Period 3 Numeracy catch up tests | Catch up tests for students that have missed any tests |
NAPLAN is the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy. It is a standardised test completed by students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 across Australia every year. In this newsletter we have included the ‘NAPLAN 2025 Information for Parents and Carers’ brochure. Participation in NAPLAN is not compulsory and parents should contact the school office if they wish to discuss their child’s participation. It is important that students are getting enough sleep and are eating a filling breakfast each morning, so they are best placed to complete the testing.
Parent Teacher Meetings
This term we will be offering Parent and Teacher Meetings in Week 8 on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th March. Meetings times are available from 2:45pm onwards and will take place in the library. An information letter was sent home with students on Friday 7/3/25 and emailed to families.
We are again using Session Keeper through Schoolzine to book meeting times online. To access this, you will need to log into Schoolzine, either through the website or the app, and go to the ‘Session Keeper’ icon. First time users will need to enter the school pin number 4822.
If you need to cancel a booking, you can do this through Session Keeper or by contacting the school office. If you wish to meet with a teacher and there are no suitable times available, please contact the teacher directly via email to discuss.
We look forward to meeting with parents and carers to discuss their child’s term so far – how they have settled in, their successes and areas for growth, and how the school can work with families to achieve the best outcomes for each individual.
Kind Regards,
Rachel Evans
Head of Department - Curriculum
Awards
Awards are an acknowledgement of your hard work and dedication to your studies.
Congratulations to recipients who received awards in week's Four, Five and Six
Classrooms Prep/One
Our Prep/1 students have been having an exciting time in English, learning how to retell stories! After reading the beloved book “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” they were inspired to go on their very own bear hunt.
Together, they:
📍 Identified the places from the story and drew a map to remember where to go.
🎨 Got creative and made their very own bear.
🔭 Crafted binoculars to help them on their adventure.
🐾 Set off on a fun-filled bear hunt, following their maps and using their binoculars to spot the bear!
It was a fantastic experience that brought the story to life while helping them learn the art of storytelling.
Well done, little explorers! 🧸
Prep/One
Year Five Science
This term in Science the Year 5’s and Miss Baartz have been exploring all things Space related. Last week students learnt about craters; what they are, how they are formed and what they look like. To give the students an opportunity to further their understanding, they conducted a crater experiment this week. Students made layers to represent what a surface would be like and used various sized rocks to form craters in their surfaces. The students found that the size of the impactor and the angle it approaches affects the outcome of the crater, which is the same principle as what occurs with craters in space.
Science Year 5
Sport
On the weekend of 1st and 2nd of March, we had 3 Richmond students go away to compete at the North-West Rugby League Trials in Cloncurry. Well done to these boys who played some great football. Congratulations to Rick who was selected in the North-West Rugby League Team.
Over the next few weeks, we have students travelling away for Northwest Netball trials and the State swimming trials.
We wish all participants the best of luck - Go Richmond State School!
Netball
Swimming
Year 5 - 10 Super Camp
This year, we have a Super Camp for our Year 5 - 10 students. Our Super Camp has been booked in at Konomie Island Environmental Education Centre. All students in Years 5 - 10 should have received their Super Camp EOI form and deposit invoices. Deposit payments are due by 19th March, unless a payment plan has been organised with Megan.
If you have not returned your EOI form yet and would like your child to attend, please send it in ASAP or contact Megan in the Administration Office to discuss.
Updating your child/ren's details
At the beginning of term all families should have received an 'Update your Details' package. This package included our updated Internet Access Agreement, State School Consent form and update your details form. To ensure we have the most current details for your child/ren, please complete these forms and return them to the office at your earliest convenience.
If your child/ren require routine or emergency medication whilst they are at school, we must have additional forms completed and the medication. Medication must be in its original container, be in date and have your child's details label on it. If you have any questions regarding Medication, please see Megan in the Office.
Chewsday and Friday Breakfast Club
What a wonderful start to the year with all of the yummy food Miss Lynnie has been cooking up. Each week students gets to have a small serve of something different and nutritious. It is not very often that we have any lunch leftover on 'Chewsday'. Each child at school can have a serve of lunch, if we have leftover serves, students are invited to come and have a second helping.
Miss Lynnie is also preparing our Friday morning Breakfast foods. For our mid-term treat, students were provided with fresh fruit, bacon & egg wraps and toast. This week Miss Lynnie made some banana pancakes with the uneaten bananas from fruit break throughout the week.
Parents and community members are welcomed to join us Friday mornings for a coffee and a chat during breakfast club.
Parents and Citizens
WIN YAMAHA VIKING 700!
Yamahuh? Thats right! This is your chance to win a Yamaha Viking 700!
Support Richmond State School in taking 50 students on a Super Camp, sending Bush Kids on an epic adventure to Konomie Island!
$20 per Ticket
WINNER WILL BE DRAWN: 15th June 2025 5pm
PURCHASE YOUR TICKET TODAY VIA: https://rafflelink.com.au/richmondss-viking700
Uniforms
Well done to everyone wearing the correct uniform to school! It looks great when we are all in uniform - it also means we are sun-safe and ready for all the different activities at school.
Please make sure your child has a wide-brimmed hat for school.
The picture below is from our Student Dress Code Policy, which can be found on our school website: https://richmondss.eq.edu.au/SupportAndResources/FormsAndDocuments/Documents/student-dress-code.pdf
If you are needing to purchase uniform items, an order form can be found on our website or in the Administration Office. The uniform shop will be open for the purchase of uniforms at dates yet to be confirmed. If you require uniforms outside these times, please fill in an order form and leave it at the administration office we will contact you about collection dates and place.
2025 School Calendar
Tuckshop
Lunch Specials
Community News
If you would like any community events added to the newsletter email -admin@richmondss.eq.edu.au