RTS Parents' Newsletter 05 March 2021

Head Teacher's Message

Thank you to those families that were able to join us remotely for the Year 10 Academic Tutor Consultation on Wednesday , we hope that you found the conversations useful.

Monday 01 March was 'National Offer Day' and we are excited to see a number of siblings who will be joining us in September - we have a programme of Transition events lined up to share with you nearer the time. This is our 'last' cohort to join us - meaning from September we will be at full capacity of 750 students . The years to this point have flown by and it is a privilege to be the Head Teacher of a new school and watch these milestones be reached.

We are pleased to report that the onsite mass student testing programme has started well - we have been so impressed with the mature attitude that our students have displayed whilst onsite for these tests. These are circumstances that none of us could ever have imagined happening in school; and teaching and support staff are performing tasks that are certainly not in the job description! I am proud of how the school community has pulled together during this time and we cannot wait to return to full-time face-to-face teaching on Monday 15 March.

There has been a lot of information shared with you this week and I can appreciate that it can feel overwhelming - however, it is important that you read the information carefully.

Please continue to stay safe.

Ms K Dooley

RTS Art Gallery

This week Year 7 looked at David Hockney's iPad paintings and created their own using an app called Sketchbook. Ms Williams thinks David Hockney has some competition!

If you are interested in seeing more art contributions from RTS students , please do have a look at our RTS Online Art Gallery, we have some very talented students in school.

LFD Testing Centre

This is where it is all happening in school - not how we would like to see the Drama Studio and Hall being used. Eight testing stations are having their final checks by teaching staff, Business Support Staff and members of the Senior Leadership Team ready for the first students to arrive. It is very much a team effort here at RTS. Thank you for your ongoing support as we navigate our way through the mass student testing programme.

Reading Newsletter

World Book Day

Thank you to Ms Benson who organised a comprehensive remote World Book Day celebration across the school on Thursday 04 March. The day was jam packed with activities on the theme of ‘Monsters and the Monstrous’. During periods 1 and 2 students wrote their own monster stories, worked on blackout poetry and created a ‘fantastic beast’. Below you can see Elizabeth's (7AN) creation - The Mengsel (meaning mixture in Afrikaans) - which looks like a cross between an armadillo, cheetah, snake, lion, elephant and falcon.

During tutor time, students challenged themselves with a monster themed house quiz as well as taking a guess at who the RTS ‘Masked’ Readers’ were.

Mr Taylor and Ms Hennessey lead an incredible Science demonstration with readings from monstrous texts including The Lord of the Rings and Frankenstein paired up with experiments themes around fire, electricity and water.

In the afternoon, the Art and Design team challenged students to illustrate the monstrous characters they had created earlier in the day, create 3D monsters and put together a stop motion animation sequence. The second image below is ‘Squirmer’ by Evelyn (7MA), inspired by the illustrations of Quentin Blake.

Students can download a book token from the RTS Library Google Classroom which can be swapped for one of the FREE World Book Day books available from participating booksellers or used to get £1 off any full price book or audiobook instead (as long as the book or audiobook costs at least £2.99).

Ms Edwards would also like to share with you some recommended reading lists around World Book day and International Women's day (08 March). She has included something for younger siblings too.

British Science Week

Ms McKenzie-Onah writes: British Science Week is a 10-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that takes place between 05-14 March. Students will be completing a series of exciting activities in their science lessons to celebrate, including taking part in engineering challenges, identifying plant species on a nature walk, touring museums virtually and hearing from a sports scientist. Year 7 students will also have the opportunity to chat live with a variety of different scientists over the next two weeks. We can't wait to see all students getting involved and inspired!

School Uniform

Both of our uniform suppliers are still currently closed under national lockdown restrictions; however both have advised us that they are still operating an online service for all of your uniform needs.

Pi Day!

On Friday 12 March, we will be celebrating Pi day at RTS. The day will consist of some themed activities during normal KS3 maths lessons and then a whole school STEM enrichment activity during period 5. More information will be given to students during form time on the day. Students should attend all lessons as normal. Those of you who have been at RTS for the last 2 years will know that on Pi day we would normally take a whole school group photo to celebrate the day as a community.

Unfortunately, this year it is not possible for us to come together physically but we will be creating a virtual group photo. We are asking students to take a photo of themselves that fits into the theme of Pi. The photo could include the number Pi or anything to do with circles. Be as creative as possible! On the day, there will be a place for students to upload their photo on their year group notices. We hope the day will be a success and we are looking forward to seeing all of their photos.

Local author publishes book for children on staying safer online

We are pleased to share that Lynn McAllister, an administrator at Capella House School (next door to RTS), has written 'Pixie Van Dimple and the wrong kind of artificial intelligence', a fantasy story with messages to help children to stay safer while online. The book is suitable for 9-13 year olds. Its heroine is 12 year old Pixie, who gets into a few scrapes while chatting and playing online. It is available as both an e-book and in paperbook from wherever you usually purchase books.

COVID Symptom App

Scientists are continuing to monitor the virus and its spread. One way we can contribute to advancing our scientific understanding is the School Communities feature in the famous Covid Symptom Study app. The programme is run by King’s College London. Their app allows parents and carers to log how their children are feeling using a secure school community network. Schools can then receive daily, anonymised insights into the health of their students and make data-driven decisions to keep pupils and staff safe. This is a great example of how anonymised and aggregated data can be put to such good use to help the whole community.

As there is a unique school network code in order to join, this will be shared with parents/carers separately by email next week. This code should not be shared with anyone outside of RTS. In the meantime, the app is available to download:

South Western Trains - Update

An update from South Western Trains:

Key school and college rail services will continue to operate. As children of key workers are already attending school, we have continued to run many of these services throughout the current lockdown, to support students, pupils and returning staff.

As pupils return, our teams will be continuing their work to ensure they can travel safely, through enhanced cleaning of our trains and stations, and providing hand sanitiser at key locations.

We have updated our ‘Back to school guidance’, which is available on the dedicated school travel page on our website https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/coronavirus-travel-information/back-to-school; and also embedded in this newsletter.

As restrictions ease over the course of the coming months and more passengers return to the railway, we will review our timetable accordingly. We will of course keep you updated on our plans, but should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Back to school guidance v2 (5) (1).pdf

FoRTS News

Second Hand Uniform Donations Now Open!

Now it's time to put school uniforms back on, we’re imagining you’ve noticed some growth spurts since the children last wore them! We are happy to announce that the FoRTS Second Hand Uniform Sales are now up and running! If you have any uniform to donate, please email fortsuniform@rts.richmond.sch.uk. Due to continued COVID-19 restrictions, FoRTS members will be storing the uniform in their own homes; so please wash and bag the items prior to dropping off at the address you are given. Shoes, coats and bags can also be donated, along with items that may need some mending. Once items have been processed, they will be listed for purchase on oldschooluniform.co.uk. Thank you in advance for your donations. Please do not send items into the school site.

Family Enrichment Opportunity – Chinese Language and Culture Workshop 3

Many thanks again to Mei for running the second family Chinese Language and Culture workshop on Sunday 21 February. The topic was Chinese New Year and the session was well received by the 5 families that joined.

The next workshop will take place via Zoom on Sunday 21 March 3pm – 4pm.

Mei will be telling us about the Terracotta Warriors and the first Chinese emperor; as well as teaching us some social expressions in Chinese.

There is no need to have attended workshop 1 or 2 to join in. All Friends of RTS are welcome so feel free to invite family/friends who you think would enjoy it.

Please email forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk if you would like to attend. The session is free, however if you are in a position to donate, the FoRTS Virgin Money Giving page is now live! We will give you the information on how you can donate when you register interest. There is a guide donation of £10 per family. All proceeds go to the school, as Mei is running the sessions on a voluntary basis; and we can collect gift aid on any donations, too.

Recent FoRTS contributions to the school community

As you may know, each term curriculum leaders bid for funds from FoRTS to buy materials for their department. This term FoRTS has contributed £250 for easels for the Art department, £250 for manga books for the library; and £250 for sports equipment for the PE department: see picture below. It will be great to get the children back into school to start using them!

Easy ways to raise money for FoRTS

We continue to use Amazon Smile and Easyfundraising to raise money. We’d love you to help us by signing up as a supporter of Friends of RTS. As a result of our 40 supporters using AmazonSmile between 1 October and 31 December 2020, Amazon donated £40.26; from our 27 supporters using Easyfundraising, we have raised £89.90 to date. It’s not a huge amount, but with more supporters this will increase!

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

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

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.

Children's Wellbeing Service

As the re-opening of schools approaches, some children, young people and parents/carers may be feeling nervous or cautious about this transition. The Children's Wellbeing Service have produced two webinars on the Children’s Wellbeing YouTube Channel, which focus on how best to support your child with their return to school.

They have other videos on their channel, some of which may also be helpful in the run up to schools re-opening, for example, they have several videos for parents around how to support children to re-establish a sleep routine and also have videos aimed at teenagers on this topic too.

They are also offering a live Q&A session with two of their Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners, Amelia Mansfield and Nicola Flaxman, on Wednesday 10 March from 1–2pm. This session will be run via Microsoft Teams and will allow parents to ask questions about the webinars and to think through any concerns they may have about their child managing the return to school. You can access the Q&A session by clicking on the following link: Click here to join the meeting If you are accessing from a mobile or tablet, you will need to download the free Microsoft Teams app beforehand.

Term Dates 2020-2021

Full term dates and Inset day information is available on the website:

  • 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

Parents' Calendar