RTS Parents' Newsletter 07 January 2022

Head Teacher's Message

I hope that you all had a peaceful and restful break.

It was wonderful to see the students return this week and the school has been filled with such energy to start the new year and new term. It was a pleasure to receive an external visitor round from the School Performance Alliance for Richmond and Kingston (Sp[ark]) this morning; and her comment as we moved around the school was - "I love your school. It has such a wonderful positive atmosphere when you walk around". This really resonated with what we as a Senior Leadership Team, and as a whole school, feel.

There is much to hope and look forward to this term. We have excitingly launched our new kitchen team and in just two short days, the feedback on the food has been great. Today the smell of fish and chips through the school was extremely tempting! Read more about the plans below.

Year 11 students have come back and straight into their GCSE Mock Exams. Their behaviour has been exemplary and their mature attitude to these exams is a real credit to them. We wish them all the best in their endeavours over the next two weeks.

Rehearsals have also begun for this year's production of The Lion King. Even on their first session, the quality of the singing and the team work are clear to see; and I am very excited to see how the production comes together over the next few weeks - keep an eye out for sneak peeks!

Ms K Dooley

Dates for the diary

  • Monday 10-Thursday 20 January: Year 11 Mock Exams

  • Tuesday 11 January: Year 10 - Jack Petchey Awards

LFD Testing

LFD at Home Tests - Students

Thank you for your ongoing support and cooperation in continuing to encourage your child/ren to take LFD tests on Wednesday and Sunday evenings and to report the results to school (via the app on their iPad). It is important to keep the school community protected and safe. Our deliveries from the DfE are delayed due to the nationwide shortage, we will distribute test kits as soon as we receive them.

Remember that if at anytime you need additional kits you can order them free of charge via the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing/regular-rapid-coronavirus-tests-if-you-do-not-have-symptoms/

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.

Assembly Topics

Assemblies for the coming week and next are as follows:

  • Realising my potential

  • British Values - Individual Liberty

Kitchen Update

At the end of last term our contract with Aspens, the catering company came to end. The catering for the school has now moved in-house and we have a brand new team in the kitchen who are excited and looking forward to keeping the school fuelled!

As well as developing new menus, payment at the point of sale has returned - which means students and staff will no longer need to pre-order food weekly in advance. Please ensure that your child's ParentPay account has sufficient credit in order for meals to be paid for.

All students in Years 7 and 8, and any in-year admissions over the last two years, will have their biometric enrolment conducted over the coming days (if they haven't already received it this week). The biometric data we collect and use for our cashless payments is stored on the school site on our server and does not leave the premises. It is only ever used for the purpose of providing secure, safe, fast, reliable and auditable purchases at our canteen tills. It will never be used for any other purpose. We hope this offers you assurance to opt-in and consent for this data to be collected. Legislation requires an ‘opt-in’ arrangement and therefore before we can start using the system we require your consent for us to collect, store and process your child's thumbprint. To consent, you must log in to Arbor and tick the consent called Biometric Data Collection. If you choose not to your child have registered on the biometric system, a pin number or another method will be used at the till (but not cash).

The new menus for the next 2-3 weeks can be found on the website here. We look forward to hearing feedback or suggestions from families and the new team are looking forward to sharing their ideas with you as well.

Social Media

Thank you to those who have already engaged with and shared, liked or commented on our recent new content on our social media channels. If you haven't done so recently, please do revisit our social media channels which we have relaunched over the last few weeks. Find and follow us for regular updates on

  • Twitter: @RTS_Twickenham

  • Facebook: @TheRichmonduponThamesSchool; and

  • Instagram: @RTS_Twickenham.

Password Changes

As part of our normal IT security updates, we will be changing the passwords for Year 7 and Year 8 student accounts around 16:00 today. This means your child may not be able to login to Google Classroom unless they use their new password. The new password will be emailed to you and also sent as an SMS.

Students must not share this password with anyone else. They will need this password to login on Monday morning to our WiFi network.

Jack Petchey Speak Out

On Tuesday 11 January, Year 10 are off timetable as they are taking part in Jack Petchey Speak Out workshops all day.

These are public speaking workshops that last all day and culminate in students performing a 5 minute speech to their peers. A winner from each group will be selected and then a final winner will be put forward to take part in the regional finals. This is a huge opportunity and also prepares students well for their GCSE Spoken Language exam in English (which they can adapt their Jack Petchey speech for, and use if they wish to).

Sir Jack Petchey CBE set up the Foundation to encourage young people in London and Essex to work hard and reach their full potential. He believes each and every young person should be given the chance to achieve. As he always says; “If you think you can, you can!”

French Pen Pals

8R were very happy to receive their Cartes de Voeux from their pen pals in Normandie. We were very relieved to hear that our Christmas cards to them were also received safely! The students are eager to write and send their next letters to each other.

Appointments During the School Day

We encourage students to maximise their levels of attendance, knowing that research indicates a direct link between attendance and examination performance.

Parents and carers can help their child achieve good levels of attendance (96% and above) by avoiding scheduling medical appointments for children during the school day. We do, nevertheless, understand that this is sometimes unavoidable.

If your child has an unavoidable medical appointment and they miss registration in the morning or afternoon they will lose an attendance mark for half a day and their attendance that week will fall. Many of the appointment times mean that students can attend school first, leave to attend an appointment, and return to school as soon as possible afterwards. This means they minimise missed lessons as well as keeping their attendance levels as high as possible. Therefore, we ask that parents/carers send their child into school for morning registration, even if they have a medical appointment in the middle of the morning.

Supporting evidence of all appointments must to be emailed to attendance@rts.richmond.sch.uk.

Thank you for your support

Ms Bull, Attendance and Welfare Officer

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

  • Signvideo using British Sign Language (Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm)

Local News - Please note RTS does not endorse items included as Local News

Eating Disorders

New support for parents and carers in London can be found from from Beat (UK’s leading eating disorder charity).

They can be contacted via the Beat CareEd Support Line for London: 0808 801 0356. Parents can also access NEXUS - weekly telephone coaching and SOLACE - a peer support group over Zoom.

Telephone Support Service for Parents from Off The Record Twickenham

Off the Record provides a telephone support service for parents & guardians of young people. Their experienced counsellor can offer an hour on the phone to discuss any challenges you’re experiencing, give support and listen. This can be particularly helpful when the young person is reluctant to try counselling. Their support can include looking at what you find challenging and/or ways you might support your child. What is discussed is confidential unless there is a concern about the safety of a child. Contact Off The Record Twickenham on 020 8744 1644 or find more information about supporting your child on the website https://otrtwickenham.com/parents/

Term Dates 2021-2022

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

  • Half Term - Monday 14-Friday 18 February 2022

  • Inset Days - Monday 21-Tuesday 22 February 2022

Parents' Calendar