RTS Parents' Newsletter 07 May 2021

Head Teacher's Message

I hope that those Year 7 parents/carers who were able to attend this week's remote Subject Teacher evening found the conversations informative and interesting.

Thank you to all those families who continue to test regularly and report the results. Staff also take tests twice weekly (and report to two different places), so we really do know and appreciate the commitment and time it takes - and that it is harder as the weeks go by to maintain the routine and remember to log the results. RTS has been fortunate - whether by luck, vigilance by the whole school community, maintaining our social distancing structures, or high testing cooperation - to report very low positive cases across all year groups. We would all like this situation to continue and know that we cannot do this without your ongoing assistance and perseverance - thank you.

Please continue to stay safe.

Ms K Dooley

Dates for the Diary

Assessment Point 6 (AP6)

  • Year 9 AP6 takes place Monday 10-Friday 21 May during lesson time

  • Year 10 AP6 takes place Monday 24-Friday 28 May. Students will be off timetable for the week and only attend school for their scheduled assessments.

Immunisations

Consent forms have been sent home with Year 9 students today; and we have also sent an e-form via email.

LFD Testing

LFD at Home Tests - Students

Tests should continue to be taken across all year groups by participating students on Sunday and Wednesday evenings.

LFD at Home Tests - Parents/carers

You can now order/collect LFD tests free of charge from the following:

RTS Art Gallery

The Year 8s have been working very hard on their artist research pages on Freidrich Hundertwasser this term.

Captain Tom 100 Challenge

Over the bank holiday weekend, many RTS students participated in the Captain Tom 100 Challenge, completing any activity 100 times to pay tribute to Captain Tom on what would have been his 101st birthday. Students completed 100 sit-ups, 100 burpees, baked 100 cakes, read 100 pages, stayed silent for 100 minutes and much more.

Daisy, 8MA made 100 doughnuts, Velina, 8SE and Magdalena, 8SP spent 100 minutes collecting litter around their local roads and Rhys, 7SE created 100 frames of stop motion animation.

Thank you to those who shared their achievements with us and well done to everyone who took part - great ambassadors for the RTS Way.

Many of the students also raised money for either the Captain Tom Foundation or a charity of their choice. You can still donate money - see the link in the FoRTS section below.

Library Updates

RTS Library Opening Times

Morning Break

Book returns and reserved book collection only

Lunch Break

Book browsing and borrowing on the following days:

  • Year 7 - Monday

  • Year 8 - Friday

  • Year 9 - Thursday

  • Year 10 - Monday

Year 10 Study Zone

The ILZ will be open Monday-Thursday lunchtime for Year 10 quiet study (AP6 revision/homework/study time). Spaces are limited and must be pre-booked.

Further information and the Google booking form can be found under Classwork in the RTS Library Classroom. Ask Ms Nockolds for the code if required.

Reading Newsletter

Ms Edwards would like to share a message for the parents/carers of Year 9 students:

Is your child finding 'Frankenstein' a challenge? We know it's a tough read but I wanted to share with you the findings of a recent study that showed that students who sometimes struggle with reading who read a challenging text at a faster than normal pace in class make up to twice as much progress as they would with a slower or more simplified text! The study, conducted in 2018, reported that: ''Simply reading challenging, complex novels aloud and at a fast pace in each lesson repositioned ‘poorer readers’ as ‘good’ readers, giving them a more engaged uninterrupted reading experience over a sustained period.'' In the school library we have Frankenstein texts, revision guides and a range of modern and 19th century including Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice. The library is now open and there are some wonderful texts available- do have a browse! If you'd like to read the full report it can be found here.

Reading List

This reading list was compiled by local KS4 students and has their own recommendations and reviews of books they think Year 9s coming up to Year 10 might enjoy. We hope it provides some inspiration. Many of the listed books are free in the school library.

Reading Recommendations from your class.docx.pdf

Transition - Year 7 September 2021

The PTA at RTS - known as FoRTS - has shared with us details of a group who may be able to assist with the cost of first uniform at secondary school for those Year 6 families who are on a low income. For more information email: info@hamptonfund.co.uk or phone 0208 941 7866 for grant application.

Success for Year 8 Rugby Teams

Tuesday 04 May saw continued success for RTS students on the sports fields as we welcome back a return to normality, from a school sport perspective.

In adapted games of rugby, the Year 8 boys and girls took part in a round robin tournament and competed against both Sir Richard Reynolds and Orleans Park schools.

16 boys and 8 girls competed, all displaying the RTS values which hold such importance within our school environment.

The boys were unfortunately runners up, losing in the final; however the girls won their competition!

Despite success being amazing, participation is always at the forefront of our intent as a PE department. If your son/daughter did not take part but wishes too, please ask them to come and find a member of the PE department so that next time they do not miss out.

As always if you have any questions about any aspect of Games/PE please do not hesitate to contact Mr Roberts via info@rts.richmond.sch.uk.

Thank you all for your continued support.

After School Sports

A reminder about after school sports activities:

  • Monday, 14:25-15:30 - Year 7

For this term the activities on the field will consist of girl's football and boy's rugby. The activities on the MUGA will consist of basketball and netball. These will change after half-term.

London Irish Rugby - School Offer

London Irish have kindly shared with RTS families a special ticket offer for the upcoming London Irish v Exeter Chiefs rugby match on Tuesday 18 May. It will be held at their new stadium in Kew Bridge.

There are strict COVID-19 restrictions in place - please read the Supporter Code of Conduct (linked on the ticket page) before booking tickets. Groups must be household/support bubbles ONLY.

Group Ticket Offer - Schools.pdf

Update from South Western Railway

Planned increase in services from 16 May 2021

There will be an increase in the number of services running in line with the further easing of COVID-19 restrictions. With more parts of the economy opening up from 17 May as part of the Government’s roadmap the increase in services will help customers travel with confidence.

The new timetable will see 244 extra trains every weekday, an increase of 19% on current levels, with more than 18,000 extra seats into Waterloo in the morning peak, an increase of 31%. On weekends, customers will experience 92% of services on Saturdays and 99% on Sundays, compared to before the pandemic.

While passenger numbers remain relatively low compared to before the coronavirus pandemic, the increase in services will help support the reopening of the economy as more people start travelling again.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, SWR have been supported by the Government and taxpayers, and so recognise the need to run an efficient service that closely matches demand, while helping facilitate social distancing. As more people travel, there are likely to be times where trains will be busy and social distancing may not always be possible. Customers should plan ahead, spread down throughout trains to make use of all available space and consider travelling outside the peak. Information is available on the website about the busiest services.

Alongside this increase in services to provide more capacity, SWR are working hard to ensure customers can travel with confidence and are continuing to carry out enhanced cleaning of stations and trains as well as provide hand sanitiser for customers at the busier stations.

A summary of planned changes, and further information on our timetable change can be found at: www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables

FoRTS News

FoRTS General Meeting

Thank you to everyone who attended last night’s meeting, the minutes will be posted soon on Classlist. In the meantime, if you have any queries or want to volunteer to organise an event, please email us.

The Captain Tom 100 Challenge

We hope you enjoyed taking part in the Challenge last weekend. A reminder that if you’d like to make donation, you can do so here.

AmazonSmile and easyfundraising

Thank you to those who signed up recently to easyfundraising - we are now in with a chance of winning £250 for the school! This is on top of the donations we receive when you shop with them. Remember that you can sign up at any time to easyfundraising and AmazonSmile to help raise funds for FoRTS by signing up as a supporter of ‘Friends of RTS’. With such a tough year for fundraising, we really would appreciate as many supporters as possible.

The Big PTA Summer Raffle

Coming soon… watch this space!

To contact FoRTS at any time, please email forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Second Hand Uniform Donations email fortsuniform@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Second Hand Uniform Sales oldschooluniform.co.uk

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

The Big Ask - Children's Commissioner's Consultation

The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel De Souza, has just launched a once-in-a-generation review of the future of childhood. The review asks children how the pandemic has changed their lives, what their aspirations are and the barriers to reaching them, how things are at home, how their communities and local environment could be improved, and how they feel about the future and the challenges facing the world.

Visit the Big Ask website and encourage your children to take part.

Understanding ADHD in girls and women

Dr Jo Steer, Associate Director for Emotional Health, has just published a book called Understanding Girls & Women with ADHD.

She says: ‘I am super proud of leading this project, which involves lots of contributions from local experts in the field: Val Ivens from ADHD Richmond & Kingston, Dr Alex Doig from Tier 3 CAMHS, Eva Akins from local solicitors Russell Cooke; and Claire Berry and me, from the Emotional Health Service at AfC. We were also lucky enough to secure contributions from Prof Peter Hill, Dr Sally Cubbins and Dr Allyson Parry, along with an amazing foreword from Andrea Bilbow OBE. Importantly the book also contains the voices of girls and women with ADHD, many of whom live in our boroughs.’

The book is available from Amazon and all your usual book sellers, along with the publisher Jessica Kingsley. All royalties from the book will go to ADHD Richmond & Kingston.

Richmond Climate Change Youth Fund

Would you like action on climate change?

If you're aged 11-19, you can apply for money from the Youth Council’s Richmond Climate Change Youth Fund, which is backed by Richmond Council. You could get funding of up to £1500 to support you in a project to raise awareness of and/or tackle climate change.

All projects must focus on one or more of the following areas:

  • Energy efficiency and water saving

  • Air quality (travel)

  • Waste and recycling

  • Re-using / repurposing / fast fashion

You can find out more here: afcinfo.org.uk/climatechangeyouthfund. Application deadline: 31 May.

Watch this message from Praneeth, Kingston and Richmond Youth Council

Heatham House

Heatham House is back open with a full term-time programme and are happy to also announce some new projects that have launched and now operate from Heatham House!

Girls In The House: A safe space for young women to come and interact with female workers to seek advice or simply chill in an environment where they feel comfortable with discussions, activities and trips!

The Lighthouse Project: A closed group for young people with ASD/ADHD/Aspergers to socialise with one another in a safe space where they feel comfortable. Each week there is a structured activity along with free time to play/socialise and also lots of trips coming up too! (Please note this group is by referral so contact me for more information).

Term Dates 2020-2021

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

  • Summer Half-Term break: 31 May-04 June 2021

  • Last day of Summer term for students: Friday 16 July 2021

Parents' Calendar