RTS Parents' Newsletter 05 February 2021
Head Teacher's Message
The staff continue to be thankful for your messages of support and encouragement during this time. We all know that some days are harder than others and that the current situation, and our feelings about it, can be overwhelming; but we have seen such resilience and determination in the students' engagement with remote learning and some of the work being produced is outstanding. We are extremely proud to share a snapshot of the content that the students have been producing during this period - for us, this truly is 'Excellence through Endeavour'.
Next week it is Year 9 GCSE Options Evening on Wednesday 10 February - please check your email for full details of the Options process and the online event itself. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the event.
Please continue to stay safe.
Ms K Dooley
RTS Art Gallery
This week we hope that you will be as impressed as we have been by some pieces from the Y10 GCSE Art class. Ms Williams and Ms Mears have shared with us some incredibly thought provoking images - inspired by the theme of identity.
Mental Health Week
In line with Mental Health Week we are introducing some ways to reduce students' stress and workload next week; and encourage them to spend more time away from their screens. With this in mind we have made the following changes to the timetable for next week only, 08-12 February.
No pre-learning set for KS3 students (Years 7-9) during 08-12 February or half term
Drop Everything and Read session during period 5 on Friday 12 February (no lessons that period for all year groups)
PSHCE lessons for Year 10 from 08-12 February will be replaced by a second prep lesson to allow them more time to complete pre-learning during the school day, thus freeing up their evenings and weekend
There will be an end of half-term assembly at 12:00 on Friday 12 February. Period 4 lessons will finish at 11:55 and teachers will direct students to join the live stream assembly directly afterwards.
We hope students can take advantage of these steps to promote mental health and wellbeing and we are planning more initiatives after half term to support them.
Arbor Details
Please can parents/carers take the time to log in to Arbor and check that all student contact information is up to date and correct. This is especially important at the moment when we are heavily reliant on phone calls and emails home; and also posting items out to students.
It is vital that you also ensure that you have accepted or declined the Lateral Flow Device (LFD) Test Consent in the Consent section of Arbor, and added your child's NHS Number to the Medical section. This will enable our on site testing of students to operate smoothly and efficiently. Without this information the process will be slow and cumbersome as we will have to phone home for every child who we don't have consent/details for, rather than being able to use our staff resources to rapid test students and/or teach those already tested. We have no additional staff/volunteers for these tests, so please help us to help you as much as we can.
Intermediate Maths Challenge
Well done to all 122 students across Years 9 and 10 who participated in this year's Intermediate Maths Challenge on Wednesday. As you can see - they were all deep in concentration during the hour long challenge! Congratulations! Thank you to Mr Roxburgh for organising the event.
French Television
Bonjour!
Watching French TV is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and improve your understanding of the French language and culture. Ms Chung has shared some links to the best French TV channels which can be watched online.
France24 : Broadcasts the latest news
BFM TV : A French TV channel dedicated to news and weather forecasts
Arte : Most programmes are about culture on this channel
Euronews : A European TV channel on which you can watch programmes about news, culture, technology and many other interesting topics
Eurosport : A European TV channel dedicated to sports
France TV (formerly Pluzz) : A French TV channel for children, great for beginners
France3 : A public French channel with a focus on educational and cultural content
Gulli : A TV channel broadcasting cartoons and TV shows for children
Humanities Update
This week in History with Mr Parfitt, Isiah in Year 8 created an amazing speech for the trial of King Charles I. Here is an excerpt - which he delivered during his lesson with great energy:
"Firstly, I would like to point out that he fought against YOU, the Parliament, who have just as much power as he has, maybe more. But that's not all. Apart from fighting against you, he also fought against his own people - believe it or not. Now, the definition of a king is someone who nurtures and protects their people and keeps their best interests at heart. However, the definition of a king is not to go against his people as if he's their enemy."
During Geography with Miss Dunningham, students in Year 7 have been learning about tropical rainforests and the animals that live within them. Guyunusa produced fantastic research on her chosen animal and then went a step further to create a beautiful drawing of a toucan. The next part of the task was to design their own rainforest animal and Ted created this intriguing mix of monkey, panther and lizard!
FoRTS News
A reminder that the next FoRTS General Meeting is on Monday 08 February, 7.30-9pm. The agenda and an invitation to the Google Meet will be emailed out on the day, and advertised on Classlist and the FoRTS WhatsApp group. For information on how to join a Google Meet, please check out the FoRTS section of the RTS website. If you would like to discuss anything before the meeting, or add anything to the agenda, please email FoRTS.
You are now able to reserve a place at our next family Chinese Language and Culture workshop. This will be held virtually on Sunday 21 February from 3-4pm. More details to follow, but please email FoRTS now to reserve a place.
Remember that while shopping online, you can raise funds for the school by using Amazon Smile and Easyfundraising. This is free for you, and currently our only source of income. Please support us if you can.
Safeguarding
If you have concerns in relation to a student at RTS or indeed with regards to your own child, you may want to contact Single Point of Access (SPA) which acts as a central information hub for all professional agencies in Kingston and Richmond.
Richmond and Kingston SPA
The SPA phone lines are now open as follows:
Monday-Thursday 08.00-17.15 and Friday 08.00-17.00 - the phone number during these times is 020 8547 5008
Out of hours: 020 8770 5000
Hounslow Early Help Assessment
Telephone number: 020 8583 6600
Out of hours: 020 8583 2222
Email: earlyhelp@hounslow.gov.uk
NSPCC:
Speak to a counsellor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Telephone number: 0808 800 5000, or text 88858
Email: help@nspcc.org.uk or
Signvideo using British Sign Language (Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm)
Local News - Please note RTS does not endorse items included as Local News
Richmond's Culture Review: Survey for Schools
Richmond Council are developing a new vision for culture for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and we want to hear from schools, parents and young people.
Now more than ever they recognise the value of arts, parks, sports and libraries in enriching and improving lives and the opportunities these services present in supporting them to manage some of the current and future challenges the borough faces. Their aim is to develop a ten-year vision and set of priorities for arts, parks, sports and libraries (currently known as the ‘cultural services’) in Richmond and they would like your input in helping inform and guide this process.
Your responses will help them understand what is important to schools, parents and young people over the coming decade so that they can identify how cultural services can support this and create an innovative and diverse cultural offer which aims to empower, enable and inspire all residents.
Please respond to the survey by 23 February 2021:
Home Learning Rescources
VisitRichmond has been working closely with its partners to promote all the great home schooling resources that they have created for all the teachers, parents, carers and children to enjoy, including:
Hampton Court Palace
Kew Gardens
WWT London Wetland Centre
Strawberry Hill House
Museum of Richmond
Museum of Rugby
Each attraction has provided resources for Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 learning. Available via the VisitRichmond website: https://www.visitrichmond.co.uk/
VisitRichmond is keen for the local residents to discover what is on their doorstep during this National Lockdown and please don’t forget to visit one of 128 local parks and open green spaces that Richmond Council has to offer.
Mental Health - Richmond Borough Mind
Richmond Borough Mind will be re-running their first two workshops plus three new ones from their Carers' team throughout February and March.
Parents Workshop 1 – Mental Health Awareness for Parents: Tuesday 09 February, 7pm (further dates available)
As a parent we often find ourselves ill-equipped when it comes to dealing with, or even being aware of, our child's or young person's mental wellbeing. In order to help them, we first need an understanding ourselves of what we mean by mental health. Second, the tools to help our young person with any emotional difficulties. The first of these two workshops are designed with this in mind and will help you to support your child or young person.
In this first workshop you will learn more about mental health and recognise the symptoms of mental health issues in children.
Parents Workshop 2 - Managing mental health difficulties in children: Thursday 11 February, 7pm (further dates available)
In this second workshop we look in more depth at the types of mental health difficulties that can effect your child or teenager. We also look at the available tools to help our young person with any emotional difficulties. This second workshop will also help you improve communication with your child and support them to build their own mental health resilience.
Session 1 - Navigating the Children's Mental Health Maze: Tuesday 16 February, 7-9pm
An informative session exploring statutory mental health services for children and teenagers in the Richmond borough, referral routes and how they work (e.g. SPA, CAMHS), Achieving for Children and voluntary sector support.
Session 2 - Managing Challenging Behaviour: Thursday 25 February, 7-9pm
Early warning signs when your child/teen needs additional support for their mental/emotional wellbeing and what to do
General principles for reducing stress and building self-regulation
Managing/responding to challenging behaviours (we will suggest a range of options and address those which are relevant to the audience).
Improving communication
Session 3 - Recovery and Wellbeing: Wednesday 03 March, 7-9pm
Recovery is not a solo or linear journey, it's a family process. Learn how to safeguard your own wellbeing through the ups and downs. The session includes 5 ways to wellbeing and practical activities.
Richmond Borough Mind can also offer specialist courses and services for any child that is finding this time particularly difficult:
The Reach programme for 14-18 year olds that offers three stand-alone, six week courses that include:
Anger management
Anxiety management
Low mood and self-esteem
Peer mentoring offers young people aged 11-18 up to eight sessions with a trained volunteer to support them with short term goals and help reduce low levels of anxiety or feelings of loneliness.
For more information or to book any of these workshops or services please email: youth.service@rbmind.org or click through to the website.
Kooth
The NHS wants to remind young people, parents and school professionals about Kooth’s online support community of counsellors and wellbeing practitioners, plus resources to help with online sessions that promote emotional health and wellbeing during this difficult time.
Kooth is accredited by The British Association of Psychotherapy and Counselling and a trusted delivery partner of the NHS.
Kooth is for all young people aged 11-22 in Richmond to get support for anything that's on your mind. It’s a free online chat service that works on your phone or computer. There are no waiting lists and it’s totally anonymous – you just make up a name. You can find out more by watching the video below.
There are also urgent helplines you can call:
Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm
020 8547 6171 / 020 3513 3238
24 hours, 7 days a week
0800 028 8000
Free advice and support are there if you need it.
Free Online Workshops (Local Agencies)
Creativity, Communication and Connection
This workshop will explore the challenges young people are facing and how to use creative and practical therapeutic strategies to support your teenager to communicate and express their feelings. This will be run on Wednesday 10 February, 9.30am. Click the link below to register.
Parenting unmotivated and fed up teenagers: what can parents do to help?
Parenting teenagers is hard enough without having to manage the impact of a global pandemic at the same time. It has been almost a year since restrictions and lockdowns first started and the novelty has really worn off. Many teenagers are struggling to stay motivated and keep their spirits up while parents are juggling more than ever with work, parenting, worries about finances and fears about the future.
However, there are things you can do to manage your own feelings and also help your children at the same time. This talk will focus on practical ways to open discussions with reluctant teens and work together to build a practical plan to get them (and you) through the next few weeks and months.
This talk will be offered via Microsoft Teams on Thursday 11 February at 7pm. Please click on the link to register for a place: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/139464820031
Term Dates 2020-2021
Full term dates and Inset day information is available on the website:
Spring Half-Term break: 15-19 February 2021
Easter break: 01-16 April 2021
Summer Half-Term break: 31 May-04 June 2021
Last day of Summer term for students: Friday 16 July 2021