I indicated last week that I would let you know details of our planned centenary assembly this Friday, following updated guidelines on seated event capacity from the Premier.
Those guidelines (Phase 4b) came into effect yesterday and are here for those who are interested: changes to capacity
In essence, the audience capacity has been increased from 2m per person to 75% venue capacity.
Last year many schools discontinued audiences at assemblies because of the difficulty of managing capacity restrictions. We decided at Richmond to try to manage the restrictions, and we filled to the permitted capacity of 65 people, using a ticket system recommended by the DoE, which meant one parent per family was able to watch their child perform. We felt that it was better than having no audience at all.
The assembly on Friday, however, involves 400 children, and therefore 600 parents, so the capacity limits are more problematic. 75% capacity is only about 100 parents.
I have today sought the opinion of the class parent reps to decide what to do. Their preference is for the stage to be turned around so parents can watch the assembly from the oval (where outdoor standing capacity is much greater). The reps will provide umbrellas for shade and parents are welcome to bring rugs or chairs.
Obviously the sound and view may not be quite as good, but the trade-off is we won’t need to cap audience numbers. Hopefully this solution is acceptable to all. All parents are invited.
The assembly will run from 9.00am for up to an hour and all PP-6 children will be singing songs from across the decades, culminating in happy birthday to us, and the school song.
Being able to talk to the class parent reps about this face-to-face today was great and I sincerely thank them for attending the first two meetings of the year so far in huge numbers to represent you all.
On Thursday it’s the year 4-6 swimming carnival at Fremantle Leisure Centre from 12.00pm. Parents are very welcome to spectate and I again recommend bringing a chair, since the viewing area has no seating. The program of events is here: House Swimming Carnival
The P&C will send out a final Centenary Fair update shortly. Thanks again to the organisers, to everyone that is helping them and to all of you for your generosity in supporting the fair. The webpage has been updated here: Centenary Fair.
Enjoy the three days of upcoming events!
Lisa Dentith