Richmond West is a small inner-city school with a vibrant multicultural community. Located in the densely populated inner urban suburb of Richmond, it has 178 students who come from over 21 different cultural backgrounds. One of the things that make the school unique is the approach to language learning. Children learn in either of the well-established immersion bilingual programs or the mainstream English program. The English/Mandarin program operates in Years Prep to 6 and the English/Vietnamese program operates in Prep to 2 and then this program continues as a LOTE (Language Other Than English) program. Within a short space of time students learning bilingually are able to understand, speak and engage in the full range of classroom activities in both languages. Children are offered a caring environment and a strong start to learning and life. The school is well-resourced and has 18.5 equivalent full time staff: 2 Principal class, 13 teachers and 3.5 Education Support Officers. Staff are very experienced and dedicated and a range of specialist and intervention programs are offered. In 2010 the school building had a major refurbishment resulting in high quality, modern learning spaces. Indoors there is plenty of space for learning and special areas for activities such as music, art and dance. An integrated curriculum is planned and implemented by teaching teams. Outdoors there is a lot of room for children to run, climb and play. Parent, teacher and student satisfaction with the school are consistently excellent.