RTS Parents' Newsletter

RTS Parents' Newsletter 18 November 2022

Head Teacher's Message

This week has seen Years 8 and 10 sit their AP3 formal assessments. As always I am proud of their attitude and approach towards assessments. The week has also been busy with fixtures - many of them at home taking full advantage of our facilities. We have had some great successes and also some losses - but we are proud of all results. The overall focus of this week has been supporting the national anti-bullying week - please do read more below about the programme that Ms Carrick-Steele organaised for students and staff. It is such an important conversation to have with students - both in school and at home.

A reminder that my next Head Teacher's Surgery will be on Wednesday 30 November. Appointments will be online between 18:00-20:00 and there will be approximately 10 slots available for parents to ask questions 1:1. Please email Ms Munro, Head Teacher's PA on pa@rts.richmond.sch.uk to make an appointment.

Wishing you a good weekend.

Ms K Dooley

Dates for the diary

Monday 21-Friday 25 November
- AP3 Assessments Year 7
Monday 28 November-Friday 09 December
- GCSE Mock Exams Year 11
Wednesday 14 December (change to originally advertised date)
- Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
Thursday 15 December
- Christmas Fair and Creative Showcase, 18:00-20:00
Monday 08 May 2023
- Additional Bank Holiday: Coronation of King Charles III - School closed to all students and staff

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 Fixtures

Since our return from half-term, the Sports Department have been extremely busy attending fixtures across many disciplines against many other schools; and RTS students have performed exceptionally well. We are so proud of the way in which they represent the RTS Way and also their sheer enjoyment of taking part and working as a team.

We are delighted to share the following updates and results:

Last week Mr Glossop took the Year 8 boy's rugby team to the borough final. Unfortunately the boys lost to a very organised and well drilled Orleans Park side 9-3. What a fantastic achievement to come second overall though - well done to the team!

Year 8 again - and this time a mixed team represented RTS in Badminton at Hampton High on Monday 07 November and had a very successful run.

The boy's team came in second place beating Twickenham School and our girl's team came in first place, beating both Waldegrave and Lady Eleanor Holles schools and brought home some medals!

A massive triumph for all!

Last Friday the Year 10/11 girl's rugby team headed over to Waldegrave school to compete in the U16s tournament. This team have played together for some time now and absolutely smashed it!

Huge congratulations to the team for winning gold and bringing home to RTS the Middlesex trophy - we are going to need a bigger cabinet at this rate!

The Year 11 boy's football team headed over to Twickenham earlier this week where they put on a very assured and professional display, beating Twickenham School 5-0! Well done to Jack F, Harry S, Olly P, Max, Liam, Arthur, Kaleab, Josue, George H, Jaden, Fares, Charlie A, Sam F, Tommy and Cody.

The Year 8 girls Netball team drew 13 all against Orleans Park on Tuesday afternoon. This team of girls - Henny, Liana, Gloria, Kiana, Evie, Elsie and Adrienne - have come a very long way in a year so this is a great result!

And finally, the Year 7 Table Tennis teams visited Turing House for a tournament on Thursday. The girl's team put in a strong effort and came in second place - only one point behind the winners! The boy's team worked hard and came in fifth place. Great team effort all round!

A huge thanks goes to the Sports Department for arranging these fixtures and also the Facilities Team for assisting in ensuring that the teams are driven to fixtures in the school minibus!

Climate Week

As part of London Schools' Climate Kick-Start week, some Year 9 students visited London South Bank University for a green careers event run by South London Careers Hub. The event raised awareness of the growing demand for skills in renewable energy, home energy efficiency, green finance and electric transport. In the images below you can see students learning about solar jobs, creating solar panels and balloon cars.

Jake R - 'The trip was very enlightening and I learnt a great deal about the variety of green jobs that different industries have to offer. My favourite part of the trip was learning about how hydrogen cars could revolutionise the car industry and creating a balloon car myself'.

Well done to all students involved for being fantastic ambassadors for the school!

BEBRAS Computing Challenge

The Bebras Computing Challenge introduces computational thinking to students. It is organized in over 50 countries and designed to get students all over the world excited about computing.

Each participant answer questions that focus on computational and logical thinking.

It is completed online in school.

Over the course of last week 500 students at RTS took part in this international initiative. We look forward to the results!

KS3 and KS4 Reading Lists

[Re-posting from last week as the link was hidden in the green background!]

Reading at home is a great way to switch off from screens and relax, as well as developing skills that will help children succeed across the curriculum. If you are looking for something new to read, have a look at our list of recommended books. They are tailored for each year group and organised by genre so you can find the perfect book!. Suggested reading for KS3 (Y7, 8 and 9) and KS4 (Y10 and 11) can be found on our website.

Anti-Bullying Week

This week (Monday 14-Friday 18 November) we have been supporting Anti-Bullying Week.

Students have been involved in a week long programme including: year group assemblies, messages on the information screens around school, nominations for students who have kind since the beginning of term, Student Voice have been reviewing the Anti-Bullying Policy, and much more.

The final piece of the puzzle is a tool kit for parents and carers produced by the Anti-Bullying Alliance which we are pleased so share with you here.

Anti-Bullying Week 2022 - Parent Pack.pdf

FORTS NEWS

Rugby Parking

We have two more rugby parking sessions to go, Saturday 19th and 26th November. If you would be interested in helping out as a marshal but not sure what it entails, come along and visit the team who can go through what happens.

Rugby parking is our biggest money maker for the school, with another £2,000 raised last weekend alone. If you would like to volunteer at future events please contact Rob our parking coordinator at fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk.

Uniform

If you have any donations of school uniform in good condition for our pre-loved sale please send these to the school with your child. They can be dropped off at reception.

Easyfundraising/Amazon Prime

We are in the midst of the biggest shopping season of the year. There are discount codes and offers galore from everybody’s favourite brands. So while you're taking advantage of the Black Friday sales, remember that companies will make free donations to FoRTS on easyfundraising and AmazonSmile, so shopping online can mean donations as well as bargains! Don't forget you can download the ‘Donation Reminder’ on easyfundraising to prompt you when you're on a site that makes donations. Go to Amazon Smile and easyfundraising select Friends of RTS.

Christmas Fair Planning Meeting

As you know our Christmas fair is taking place on Thursday 15 December, 6-8pm. Planning is of course underway, but we will need your help to run the event. We will hold a virtual meeting in the next fortnight, so please keep an eye out for the date.

Have a great weekend, your FoRTS team,

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

General: forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.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

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

Job vacancies at Bishop Perrin Primary School

Year 5 Class Teacher Maternity Cover Vacancy

Bishop Perrin CE Primary School in Whitton are advertising for a class teacher to cover their Year 5 class whilst their usual class teacher is on maternity leave, starting in February 2023.

If you are interested please click through on the link below. Please also feel free to share with anyone you know that might be interested. https://www.eteach.com/job/class-teacher-maternity-cover-1282886

Part-time Site Manager Vacancy at Bishop Perrin CE Primary School

Bishop Perrin School in Whitton is advertising for a part-time Site Manager to start as soon as possible.

The school is a small site with a well-maintained school building and grounds with a friendly and welcoming staff. The post would suit someone who is semi-retired or who looking to step back from full-time employment, although we welcome from any interested applicant. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions and please feel free to share the link with any friends or extended family members who may be interested in the post. https://www.eteach.com/job/school-site-manager-1288241

Science Magazine Giveaway!

Whizz Pop Bang is an award-winning science magazine that brings science to life for girls and boys aged six to twelve (and their parents too)!

isubscribe have secured 5 copies of Whizz Pop Bang magazine to give away to 3 lucky winners in this free prize draw!

For more details please follow the below link.

https://www.isubscribe.co.uk/Whizz-Pop-Bang-X5-Copy-Giveaway/

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.

Arts Richmond

Arts Richmond is delighted to announce the Young Writers' Festival for 2022! The competition is open to all young people who either live or attend school/clubs in the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames.

The rules are simple - write about any subject of their choice, in any format. They could write a story, a poem, a script as long as it's under 500 words or 25 lines for a poem.

Entries close Friday 02 December. The competition rules and entry template can be downloaded from www.artsrichmond.org.uk

Young Writers Poster A3 2022_Arts Richmond.pdf

Review of Borough Leisure Centre Facilities

Richmond Council are currently undertaking a review of the Leisure Centre Facilities in the borough and as part of that review are in the early stages of collecting information which will guide decision making about future leisure centre provision.

As part of this review the Council are currently running an online survey for those who live, work or exercise in the borough to participate in. A key user group of the centres is young people and as leisure centres help facilitate swimming lessons which are part of the national curriculum we wanted to get in touch and make you aware of the consultation.

The survey can be accessed here.

Leisure Survey Poster.pdf

AfC Local offer (SEND)

Achieving for Children have developed a new leaflet to raise awareness of the Local Offer in Kingston and Richmond and some examples of the types of information and services that can be found on the website. We have based the leaflets on the "New to SEND" section of the local offer and also included services and support that we know parents are often not aware of.

Printed copies will be available to pick up at SEND Futures if you are attending.

Richmond Dyslexia Coffee Morning

Fellow parents of Dyslexic children meet to discuss our experiences, ideas, and tips etc on how to raise competent, confident children and help them manage life at school, home, etc.

The next coffee morning is Friday, November 25, from 9:30 to 11:00, outside (so dress warmly) at the Tide Table Cafe under the arches of Richmond Bridge. TW9 1TH. Contact Kim Pryde for more details.

Enchanted Woodland - Richmond Parent Carer Forum

Richmond Parent Carer Forum are hosting a family event at the Enchanted Woodland, Syon Park for Richmond PCF Members on Saturday 19^th November.

SEND families are eligible to join Richmond Parent Carer Forum for FREE and book this fun activity. Parents of children and young people aged 0-25 who have Special Educational Needs or Disabilities can join Richmond PCF if their child lives or attends school in Richmond. Please see the flyer for full details.

Enchanted Woodland 19th November 2022 Digital Flyer.pdf

Stevensons Black Friday Offer

Our first ever Black Friday special is now live.

Spend £60 or more online and Save 20% on your entire order with purchases made through our website Stevensons.co.uk

[offer applies to website transactions only and is not redeemable in store. Is valid from 17/11/2022 until 30/11/2022 and excludes custom orders and Postage]

Use offer code BLACKFRIDAY20

Education Wellbeing Service

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

Term Dates 2022-2023

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

Autumn Term 2: Monday 07 November-Friday 16 December 2022
Christmas Break: Monday 19 December-Tuesday 03 January 2023
Spring Term 1: Wednesday 04 January 2023-Friday 10 February 2023
Additional Bank Holiday: Monday 08 May 2023

Parents' Calendar

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