RTS Parents' Newsletter

RTS Parents' Newsletter 13 January 2023

Head Teacher's Message

This Spring Term we are looking forward to meeting and speaking with parents/guardians during our Subject Teacher Consultations. Please do keep an eye on your emails, and also the newsletter, for dates; and information on how to book your appointments. These are great opportunities for you to speak with your child's subject teacher, finding out how they are progressing and asking any questions you may have. Please note that Year 11 consultations will be face to face in school for these sessions and not remote.

We will also be holding the Year 9 GCSE Options evening in school in a few weeks and look forward to seeing as many Year 9 parents as possible in person for that. Again, please do look out for an email with details regarding this event.

Have a good weekend.

Ms K Dooley

Dates for the diary

Wednesday 25 January
- Early finish at 14:00 for all students
- Parent/Subject Teacher Subject Consultations for Year 11, 14:30-19:30 (face to face in school)
Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February
- INSET Days: School closed to all students for staff training
Wednesday 22 February 2023
- FoRTS General Meeting, 18:00

Contacting the School

If you wish to contact the school, the School Office is open (term time only):

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.

RTS Sporting Achievements

This week our Year 7 students participated in a borough wide 7-a-side football tournament, showing excellent sportsmanship skills and resilience. We are really proud of how they played: winning two games, drawing four, and losing one. Overall the team came in third place - well done!

We are delighted to share that Ellis, Year 10, has been nominated for the GB Gymnastics Squad after training as an England gymnast for the past few years. He recently spent the week in Telford to attend the trials and the GBR high-performance squad nominations were shared with his parents this week. Incredible achievement Ellis and we look forward to hearing more about your progression and we wish you all the best in the squad.

FORTS NEWS

FoRTS adding value to RTS students - but we need your help to continue

Through the wonderful efforts of our existing parent volunteers, we have managed to raise nearly £13k at this early stage in the academic year. Much of this comes from rugby parking and so even better as it is not money coming out of family budgets. This has enabled us to commit to funding up to £5,000 in additional education and enrichment activities for RTS students this term. The school is currently seeking bids from subject leaders on their ideas to spend this money and we will report back once we hear the outcome of this process.

We can't continue to run FoRTS without additional help from parents. And we need some parent volunteers to step up and take on various leadership roles that will be vacated at the end of this academic year. Given we are a UK registered charity, we need certain roles filled to continue with this status. We need people willing to fill the following roles in the future:

Chair, Treasurer and Committee members

Our existing Chair and Treasurer will be stepping down from these roles at the end of this academic year and so we need people to shadow them for the rest of the year to get familiar with the role.

So PLEASE PLEASE help if you can. Contact forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk for further details.

Silent Auction

We have 3 prizes remaining from the Christmas Fair and have opened up a link in order to place your bid Silent Auction. The highest amount will be the winner for each item. You will be sent FoRTS bank details to pay for your item if you win. We will arrange for collection thereafter. You may of course bid for more than one item but you will need to submit a separate form each time. Good luck!

School Uniform - Sales and Donations

We continue to collect and re-sell pre-loved uniform. Any clean, unwanted uniform in good condition can be taken into school reception. We aim to re-sell uniform at in-school events. If you would like to contact us about uniform, or think you can help at one of our sales, please email fortsuniform@rts.richmond.sch.uk. Unfortunately we are not able to carry out ad hoc sales or check stock for you as this is all held at school.

Shopping Online – easyfundraising and Amazon Smile

Like many charities, we raise funds as people shop online using easyfundraising and AmazonSmile. easyfundraising has partnerships with over 7,000 brands who will donate part of what you spend on their website. It won't cost you any extra, the cost is covered by the brand. It’s quick to sign up and if you set up a donation reminder, you will always be prompted when you are on a site where donations can be generated. If you have previously used these sites to support your primary school, please consider updating to become a supporter of Friends of RTS, just follow the links. Thank you.

Your FoRTS team,

Carey (Chair), Mark (Treasurer) and Carmelle(Secretary)

General: forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Uniform: fortsuniform@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Voluntary donations: Peoples Fundraising

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

Richmond Musical Theatre Choir

I’m a local mum and starting up a Musical Theatre Choir, on Monday nights at the Richmond and Putney Unitarian Church, 730-9pm. We would LOVE to have some Richmond upon Thames school folks there - either staff, or parents!

We will be learning music from popular shows, such as Wicked, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera and Sister Act and The Greatest Showman this term. Our main goal of the choir is to have fun and learn. We are a professional choir but very inclusive - all levels welcome! Studies have shown about the mental health benefits of singing as well - doctors are literally prescribing it now.

The choir starts NEXT MONDAY 16 January

Booking link is here: https://www.singspacechoir.com/courses/richmond

Local School Job Vacancies

Part-time Caretaker post at Bishop Perrin CE Primary School, Whitton

Bishop Perrin CE primary School are recruiting for a part-time Caretaker to look after their small and well-maintained school site. The post would suit someone who might be semi-retired and is keen to still keep working, although anyone is welcome to apply if they feel it is suitable for them. For more detail, please click through on the link or phone the school (0208 894 1447). https://www.eteach.com/job/school-caretaker-1299213

Telephone Support Service for Parents from Off The Record Twickenham

Off the Record Twickenham provides a telephone support service for parents & guardians of young people. Our 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. Our 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, at counselling@otrtwickenham.com or find more information about supporting your child on our website https://otrtwickenham.com/parents/

Positive Parenting Project

Having conversations that matter

Parenting is all about relationship building and one of the main ways we build relationships is through conversations. Having good conversations with children and teens is not an added extra, it is the bedrock of parenting and essential fuel for child development.

And, sometimes, there are issues that we simply have to talk to our kids about - for their safety and wellbeing - even if we feel uncomfortable.

Starting good conversations isn't always easy, especially when we are tired or stressed or embarrassed or worried. Finding the right words can be tricky. This month's newsletter is full of tips and resources to make finding the best words and talking points much easier. We have resources for helping you start great conversations, tips on talking to children about the cost of living and a booklist for discussing financial hardship.

Plus advice on picking your way through tricky conversations about healthy eating and sex, bodies and relationships.

Secondary Parent Webinars Poster 2022.23. Education Wellbeing Service (2).pdf

Parent_and_Carers_Infographic.pdf

Living Support campaign

With more people being expected to come into hardship due to the rising cost of living in 2022, Richmond Council has developed a campaign to help de-mystify and de-stigmatise hardship support and to empower and enable residents to access the support they need.

You can help support the campaign by sharing the assets and social media copy below on your own channels.

Visit the Richmond Cost of Living Hub

Resources

The Richmond Cost of Living Hub has gathered information about lots of schemes, benefits and support services - both national and local - into one place. Residents can either browse the information on our website or use our helpful calculator, that will tell them exactly which scheme or support they may be able to access.

You can also sign up to email updates on cost of living support to receive useful information and tips straight to your inbox.

Where people cannot access the internet, we are encouraging them to ask a family member, friend or caregiver to help and look at the information for them. Alternatively, they can visit their local library and a staff member will be able to help them use a computer to find out what you could be entitled to.

Help for Households

The Government has launched the 'Help for Households’ scheme. The homepage brings together over 40 support schemes that the public can access, depending on eligibility, including help with:

Household costs
Energy Bills
Childcare costs
Income support
Transport costs

Additionally, a range of online tools will help citizens quickly and efficiently check the support they might be eligible for and how to access it.

Term Dates 2022-2023

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

Spring Term 1: Wednesday 04 January 2023-Friday 10 February 2023
Half-Term: Monday 13 February-Friday 17 February
Spring Term 2: Monday 20 February**-Friday 31 March
**INSET Days: Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February

Parents' Calendar

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