RSS Newsletter 2025 Issue 6

Principal Report

As we wrap up another fantastic term at Richmond State School, we want to take a moment to celebrate the hard work, growth, and achievements of our students from Prep through to Year 10.

This term has been full of exciting learning opportunities and memorable moments. Our Prep – Year 2 students have shown incredible curiosity and enthusiasm as they explored foundational skills in reading, writing, and numeracy. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence blossom with every new discovery.

For our upper primary and junior secondary students, the term brought a rich variety of challenges and successes. From engaging science experiments and creative technology projects to sports days and community events, students have been actively involved both inside and outside the classroom. We’ve seen excellent teamwork and leadership displayed, especially during group activities and school events.

We also want to thank our dedicated staff, families, and community members for their ongoing support. It’s your involvement that makes Richmond State School such a welcoming and inspiring place to learn.

To end the term, we are celebrating with a Student Council run Disco and NAIDOC celebrations.

As we head into the holidays, we encourage all our students to rest, recharge, and come back ready for another term of growth and achievement.

Thank you for being part of the Richmond State School community—we look forward to seeing everyone again next term!

Until next time,

Rebecca

From the Deputy Principal Desk

It’s hard to believe we’re already approaching the end of Semester 1, 2025! This term has absolutely flown by, and I just want to say how privileged I feel to be working at Richmond State School. It’s been such a positive and rewarding term, filled with so many wonderful moments and achievements.

Most recently, we held our athletics events, and it was fantastic to see students participating with great energy and sportsmanship. The support they showed each other—cheering on teammates, giving things a go, and celebrating effort—was a real credit to our school community.

We were also lucky enough to welcome Shake & Stir Theatre Company, who performed George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. The students were thoroughly entertained as George’s grumpy Grandma grew to a gigantic size—and then shrank down until she disappeared completely! It was a high-energy performance filled with clever effects, big laughs, and plenty of imagination. The students had a fantastic time and shared many laughs throughout the show.

Academically, I’ve been impressed with the effort students across all year levels have put into their work over the past few weeks. With assignments being completed across the school, it’s been great to see students applying themselves and showing pride in their learning.

I also really enjoyed my first Field Days weekend. It was great seeing so many of our students having a wonderful time with their families and friends. I was especially proud to see the Richmond State School display, which showcased all the fantastic work our students have been doing this term.

Finally, a big thank you to our hardworking staff. I know how busy everyone has been—especially last Tuesday afternoon, when teachers from across the region came together to examine and discuss student assignments to ensure consistent expectations and shared understandings. This, along with the ongoing demands of report writing and marking, has made for a very full few weeks. Your continued effort, dedication, and professionalism are truly appreciated.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and well-earned holiday. If you ever need anything, or just want to have a chat, please don’t hesitate to come and see me.

Warm regards,
Scott Jeffery
Deputy Principal

Awards

Student awards are given to students who have followed the 4 school rules and gone above expectations to develop their learning skills.

Congratulations to all of our Award Winners in Weeks 7, 8 & 9.

Classrooms

Shake and Stir

Shake and stirs latest traveling production of George's Marvelous Medicine touched down at Richmond State School. The recent visit from Shake & Stir Theatre Company was once again a great success, with their performance of George’s Marvellous Medicine captivating students from Prep to Year 8. The live theatre experience was filled with laughter, mischief, and experiments of epic proportions, leaving the audience delighted and thoroughly entertained. Adding to the excitement, students in Years 3 and 4 were privileged to participate in an intensive drama workshop with the Shake & Stir cast. This hands-on session allowed students to engage in a range of theatre games that helped them understand how their bodies contribute to storytelling. Through listening activities and the performance of short skits inspired by George’s Marvellous Medicine, students explored the art of theatrical expression in a dynamic and immersive way. The workshop fostered creativity and confidence, leaving students with valuable insights into the world of performance.

Sport

Athletics Carnival

Thank you to the people who volunteered to help at the Athletics Carnival. Big shout out to the community members that also stopped in to help us out.

Flinders were the winning house.

We would like to wish all the students that are attending the Mid-West Athletics trials on Monday all the best. Mr Jeffery and Miss Bec will be travelling across with students early on Monday morning. If your child/ren are travelling on the bus, please be at the school by 6:45am. 

Touch Football

Reagan and Billie travelled to Mt Isa to trial for the Northwest 10-12yrs Touch Football Team. Well done to both girls for their efforts over the two days. Congratulations to Reagan who was selected in the team and will travel to Roma later in the year.

Awards Night

As we move into Semester 2 of 2025, we would like to share our Awards Evening criteria again for all class, bursary, business and memorial awards. All families should have received this document during Term 1.

It is important to note, that some of these awards are not confirmed until later in the year as they are provided by families & businesses; these criteria's are also stipulated by the provider and not the school. 

Important Notices

Sufficient Lunches

Please ensure your child/ren have enough food to cover both breaks. There is an increasing number of students requesting extra food for second break. The school maintains a supply of emergency food items that may not frequently align with individual preferences.

Labelling Student Clothing

We encourage families to write student names on their uniforms and winter wear, as we have a number of clothing items being put in the Lost Property. 

Our Lost Property box is overflowing with clothing, hats and lunch containers. If your child/ren are missing items, please come in and check the lost property as we will be taking the items to Red Cross at the end of Term 2.

Hats

Due to the increase in headlice cases at the school, we will not be offering spare hats to students that have forgotten to bring their own hat.  All students have been provided with at least one free hat from the P&C, and families that have been here since the introduction of our new uniform would have also received a hat during the transition which the P&C also provided.

Uniforms

The school's Uniform Policy has been developed and endorsed in consultation with the P&C. Whilst we are reviewing the policy for 2026, it is expected that all students adhere to this policy. If you would like to be part of the 2026 Uniform Policy consultation, please keep an eye out for the P&C Meeting & Agenda notices so you can contribute to this process.

Illness

As the cold weather continues, we are seeing an increasing number of students absent due to illness. Included in this newsletter is the timeout poster which includes information about exclusion times to help stop the spread of illness. If you child/ren are not well enough to be engaging in student learning activities due to feeling unwell or presenting with symptoms such as fever, persistent cough or a continuous running nose, please keep them home.  

Konomie Island Super Camp 

Exciting times are ahead for our Year 5-10 students, they have only 10 weeks until they go on their Super Camp to Konomie Island. All families should have received a camp pack with permission forms, camp information notes and an invoice. If you did not receive this pack or have misplaced it, please contact the office to receive another pack. 

Our due dates are fast approaching and work on the activities has commenced. If your child is attending camp we must have their permission forms returned to the office by Wednesday 25th June - to assist with this we have also organised two information session times on the 25th June to provide more information and time to assist with completing these forms. Full payment for camp is due on the 25th July (Term 3).

If your child is not attending camp, parents/guardians must inform the school - not students. Any students not attending camp, will be expected to attend school during the camp period.

Our disco is tonight! 

Parents are welcome to attend this disco or drop students off and collect them at the specified times.

Food and Drinks available for purchase, see the below price list

Chicken and Gravy Roll - $3.00

Hot Dog - $3.00

Popper - $1.00

Lolly Bag - $2.00

Small packets chips - $1.00

Premier's Reading Challenge

📚 Premier’s Reading Challenge Has Begun! 📚

The Premier’s Reading Challenge kicked off recently, and record forms have been sent home with all students. Please make sure to record every book your child reads (this also includes books you read to them) on their form.

Once completed, challenge forms can be returned to the office or handed to the classroom teacher.

All students who complete the challenge will be invited to a special picnic during first break in Term 3! 🧺🌞

Happy reading, everyone! 📖✨
If you have any questions, please see Mrs Ybema.

Library

Resources

There are a large number of culled resources and books located in the library, they are in good condition with some hardly used. If you or anyone you know is interested in taking them, please email jroge104@eq.edu.au

Book Week turns 80 in 2025

Children’s Book Week is The CBCA’s key highlight national event of the year. This year’s celebration will run from Saturday 16 to Saturday 23 August.

The 2025 theme is Book an Adventure! There will be a costume parade after breakfast club Friday 22nd August. We encourage homemade costumes for Book Week, and the judges particularly appreciate the creativity and effort that goes into them. During the week there will be activities for students to participate in.

Now is the time to think about your costumes for the parade.

2025 is also a milestone year for us as we celebrate 80 years of Children’s Book Week! For 8 decades, CBCA has been dedicated to inspiring young minds to journey through the countless worlds that books offer.  

Sora

Sora is an online library for students to borrow ebooks from. Sora can be used via an app that is downloaded onto your device or the website on a computer.

https://soraapp.com/library/eduqueenslandau

When asked for your student's school enter Education Queensland. the only other information needed is EQ ID details. Books read in sora can be added to the premiers reading challenge.

If you need any more information, please contact the school.

Chewsday and Friday Breakfast Club

Next Friday will be the last breakfast club for term 2, thank you to all the parents, carers and community members who join us Friday mornings.

Our Chewsday Program continues to be very popular with students. The Chewsday Program is a one serve program to supplement student lunch boxes. At times we are able to give students more than one serve, however some weeks they will only receive one.  Our last Chewsday  lunch for term 2 will be sausage pasta bake.  Thank you Miss Lynnie for making us lovely meals to enjoy each week.  A big shout out to Mrs Demelza Weston who volunteers her time on Tuesday morning to help serve and clean up, we really appreciate the effort you put in. 

In Term 3 we will be offering an assortment of Sandwiches and Wraps for our Chewsday program. We will continue providing fruit for all students to eat during Fruit Break. We are providing apples and mandarins for Fruit Break, if your child prefers something else, please ensure you pack it in their lunch box.

Prep Vision Screening

We have the Prep Vision Screening program coming to our school on the 13^th August. This service is provided by the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program.

They are a Queensland Government service that offers Free Vision Screening to all children enrolled in Prep. 

If your child is in Prep and you would like their vision screened, please complete a consent form using the below link or QR code or alternatively speak to Megan or Julie in the office to get a paper consent form.

RSS Parents and Citizens

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who purchased tickets in the recent raffle. The winner of the Yamaha Viking 700 was Mr R Fox, ticket number 1020.  We are thrilled to announce the total raised was $18,000.00. Congratulations Mr Fox. The funds raised will go towards students.

Thanks to everyone that cooked or served at our first caravan park dinner for the year. Even though it wasn't super busy the total for the night was $800.00 We will be hosting another dinner later in the year.

The next meeting of the P&C will be 14th July in the library. Time to be confirmed

2025 School Calendar

Tuckshop

Community News

If you would like any community events added to the newsletter email -admin@richmondss.eq.edu.au