RTS Parents' Newsletter 04 March 2022
Head Teacher's Message
This week saw National Offers Day for secondary school places for September 2022.
We are delighted that we are oversubscribed again and have already begun our Transition programme with Year 6 into Year 7 students. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new families to the RTS community and hope that they enjoy their first RTS Parents' Newsletter and getting to know us better over the coming months.
Our first in-person event will be on Monday 07 March - and we look forward to meeting our new families, and old, on the evening. Even if you have 1, 2, or even 3 children already at RTS - we would love to see you back on site! Don't forget to sign up via the Google Form in the email invitation sent out on Thursday.
Today saw 54 excited girls head off, with accompanying staff, and a lot of luggage(!) on our inaugural residential netball tour - we wish them a great time and cannot wait to hear about their trip on their return.
Tickets for the School Production of The Lion King are now on sale - we hope that you are as excited as we are to be able to showcase the talents of our students - whether on stage or behind the scenes they are all working exceptionally hard together.
Ms K Dooley
Dates for the diary
Monday 07 - Wednesday 16 March: Year 10 AP5 Assessments
Tuesday 08 March: International Women's Day
Monday 14 March: Pi Day
Assembly Topics
Assemblies for the coming week and next are as follows:
Science Week
Contacting the School
If you wish to contact the school, the School Office is open:
Monday-Thursday - 08:15-16:30
Friday - 08:15-15:00
Telephone: 020 8891 2985
Email: info@rts.richmond.sch.uk
Please use the Parents Communications Summary for guidance on types of query and where advice may be found/who to direct your query to.
LFD Testing
Further to the government publishing its Living with Covid Plan on 21 February, the DfE is no longer supplying schools with LFD Tests as twice weekly asymptomatic testing is no longer advised.
As a school the safety of our school community is still of prime concern and, if your child feels unwell at anytime with symptoms of COVID 19, as with any other illness, we would kindly ask that you refrain from sending your child into school.
Remember that if you need to order either an LFD or a PCR test, full advice on how to order can be found at this link.
The RTS Way
We are delighted to share an outstanding achievement by Jack, Year 8. Last month Jack competed in the Middlesex County swimming Finals and is now a double County Champion, taking Gold in both the 800m Freestyle and the 200m Butterfly; along with a further two Silver and four Bronze medals in six other events. This has now qualified Jack for the South East London Regional Championships in March at the London Aquatics Centre.
Huge congratulations to Jack and we wish you all the best for the Championships!
RTS Sport - Donations
The PE Department are extremely happy to take any old football boots that no longer fit/are hiding at the back of cupboards forgotten about. Last time we requested donations we almost doubled the number of boots that we have available to offer students at short notice if they have forgotten to bring boots in that day. We would love for our collection to grow again - please send the boots in with your child and they can drop them off at Reception. Thank you for your support.
RTS Library Corner
This week Ms Nockolds shares some information about 'manga' - a genre of graphic novels that capture children's interest and imagination; but that parents may not be aware of. Manga is often a gateway into reading for reluctant readers.
ILZ 4 - MANGA.pdfRTS Productions - The Lion King!
Tickets for the performances on Monday 21, Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 March are now available to purchase via ParentPay. Please come along and support our students who are continuing to work so hard at putting on an incredible show for you all.
Show Performances Lion King Poster.pdfPoetry Live
Last Friday, 25 February, 60 Year 10 and Year 11 students travelled to the Dominion Theatre in London to take part in an event called Poetry Live. On the day students were able to watch highly esteemed poet Laureates such as Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage read their poetry and talk about what inspired the themes and ideas in the poems. Students also heard from other poets which they study in the AQA GCSE Anthology. Daljit Nagra was a favourite. It was rewarding day which hopefully inspired an appreciation of poetry in performance.
Wicked!
Then, on Wednesday 02 March a group of Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 students headed into London to watch a performance of Wicked!
COVID 19 Vaccination Pop Up Centre at RTS
You may be aware that schools in the local borough have, over the last few weeks, been hosting COVID 19 Vaccination Pop Up clinics at the weekend. These clinics are open to children aged 12-15 years old and 16-17 years old across the local area to receive their COVID 19 Vaccinations.
On Saturday 05 March 2022 RTS will be hosting the next Pop Up clinic for the NHS Immunisation Team. The attached flyer details the event and includes a booking link.
The flyer contains a ‘clickable link’ for booking an appointment - Parents will be able to book an appointment online or call the team on 0208 614 5306.
Please note that RTS is NOT organising or involved in the administration of bookings or vaccinations - we are purely making the building available to the Hounslow & Richmond Community Healthcare NHS team to use as a Pop Up Clinic for the public.
We are therefore not able to answer any questions about the clinic, eligibility, or booking. Please speak to the NHS team on the number above if you have any queries.
Thank you for your support
RTS flyer V2.pdfNext Steps/Post-16
High Needs Open Event at Kingston College
On 30 March, an open event for high needs will take place at Kingston College. There will be representatives from each of the curriculum areas to talk about the different courses and support available. There will be current high needs students acting as ambassadors, they can talk about their learning journey here and show prospective students and carers around.
The Foundation Learning department will be more of a drop-in session, in which you can find out about the courses on offer, the different levels, and how support works.
Both events will run from 4:30pm - 6:30pm, and each site will have someone from the Admissions team to explain and help with the application process. More information can be found here.
Mainstream students will be at the Creative Industries Centre, Richmond Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 2BQ
Foundation Learning students will be at Kingston College, Kingston Hall Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2AQ
How to Write a Cover Letter
This video by Indeed provides tips and guidance as to how to write a cover letter, along with examples to help you understand the format. This video is a short, stop motion animation, making it easier to follow and refer back to. Click here to watch the video.
Careers Information and Advice from Parental Guidance
This website was created by the Careers Writers Association and aims to provide useful careers advice to parents and carers who are supporting young people with their next steps. You can find information on higher education, traineeships, interviews, and more. Click here to visit the website.
British Airways Apprenticeships and Application Support
British Airways have announced their apprenticeship vacancies for September 2022 and are currently accepting applications. These roles include: Level 3 Aircraft Maintenance, Level 3 Digital, Level 2 Customer Service, Level 2 Ground Operations, Level 3 Business Professional.
You can find all of these on their careers website here.
BA Application Support
British Airways have provided some application support for those interested, including access to online e-learning modules surrounding BA and employability top-tips. Click here to go to the website.
AFC Wimbledon - Courses and Open Days
AFC Wimbledon currently have a selection of courses available for young people who are 16+, aimed primarily at students who may have struggled within the traditional school system but would feel motivated to study within their brand new football stadium, Cherry Red Records Stadium, where the courses will be delivered.
They will be offering the following for September 2022:
Level 2 OCR Cambridge Technical in Business.
Level 2 Cambridge Technical Certificate in Sport and Physical Activity
BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Esports.
English and Maths courses
You can find more information on these courses here.
You can apply for the courses here.
FORTS NEWS
Rugby Parking
A phenomenal result from Saturday’s match, a record breaking £2,050 was raised! This is due to a trial arrangement we have reached with the Richmond upon Thames College, allowing us to manage their car parking spaces on match day for a share of the profits. This is great for the school but does mean that we need more volunteers to enable us to safely move people around. With an incredible £13,000 raised so far for the school in this academic year alone, you can see how important this income stream is for the school, so please consider volunteering your time to help. Our next match is England v Ireland on 12 March. You can email us on forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk to find out more information. A huge thank you to all of our marshals.
FoRTS General Meeting
Thank you to everyone who attended our meeting on Wednesday night. The minutes will be published soon on Classlist and the FoRTS Fundraising WhatsApp group (please email us if you would like to be added to this).
One request: We do need more parents / carers to get involved and to contribute. We can’t do it all nor do we have the monopoly on good ideas. So, reach out, get involved and give back a little – we can guarantee it is hugely rewarding for you and your sons / daughters!
Your FoRTS Team,
Vanessa (Chair), Mark (Treasurer) and Carey (Secretary)
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
Signvideo using British Sign Language (Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm)
Local News - Please note RTS does not endorse items included as Local News
Administration and Finance Officer Vacancy at Bishop Perrin CE Primary School
Bishop Perrin CE Primary School in Whitton are advertising for an Administration and Finance Officer to work in their school office, starting after the Easter Holidays. Please click on the link below to take you to the job advert, job description, person spec and application form if you are interested. Please contact Bishop Perrin School directly (0208 894 1447) if you have any questions.
https://www.eteach.com/job/administration-and-finance-officer-1213978
Brentford FC Women's Match
International Women’s Day this year is on Tuesday 08 March, to celebrate this we would like to celebrate our Brentford FC Women’s First team and we were hoping you could support us with this. Please come along to watch and support the match taking place on Sunday 06 March:
Brentford FC Women v Sport London e Benfica
Bedfont Sports Ground, TW14 9QT
3pm Kick off, ground is open from 1.45pm
FREE Entry!
To register your interest in attending please click on the link: https://www.brentfordfc.com/BFCWregistermatch
This is a great opportunity to celebrate and support the Women at the club.
BrentfordWomen_eBenfica_A5Leaflet.pdfLondon Irish - Free Tickets!
London Irish Rugby Club have offered RTS families the opportunity to obtain complimentary tickets with regard to the upcoming fixture against Worcester Warriors in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday 05 March (kick-off 3pm), at the Brentford Community Stadium in West London.
The new Brentford Community Stadium is an incredible live sport venue, and has played host to several highly competitive and entertaining top-flight rugby matches this season.
Tickets available here: bit.ly/3tBOnmg.
Select the number of tickets required (max 4) in NORTH & WEST STAND and breakdown of tickets e.g. adult, over 65, junior, child.
The tickets will automatically be added to the basket top right-hand corner.
Enter promotional code SCHOOLCOMP and the amount will reduce to £0
Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
You are then prompted to log in, if you do not have an account, you can create one.
Select ‘credit / debit card’ for payment and enter card details. Please note, you need to do this for verification purposes. Your card details will not be charged or stored.
Select Print@home / digital ticket delivery. Your tickets will be issued via email
Any issues, please email ticketing@london-irish.com
Sport St Marys - SIMM Sport Easter Camps
Sport St Marys have extended their early bird offer for their camps and parents/carers now have until Friday 04 March to take full advantage of 20% off bookings.
Multisport Camps.pdfTerm time school and holiday water sports activities for children
Albany Outdoors is the go-to watersports and outdoor leisure activities provider in Kingston and Richmond for over twenty years. As part of Achieving for Children, we operate different programmes for schools term time, holiday activities for Easter and summer and community for adults, families and after school clubs.
In 2019 we started our exciting dragon boating activity for primary and secondary schools which allows up to twenty students on board at a time together so everyone feels included and secure.
Albany Outdoors leaflet 9 February aw 2022.pdfTerm Dates 2021-2022
Full term dates and Inset day information is available on the website:
End of Spring Term: Friday 31 March
Easter Break - Friday 01 April-Monday 18 April