RTS Parents' Newsletter 21 April 2023

Head Teacher's Message

I hope that you all had a restful Easter break and were able to spend time with family and friends; perhaps even managing to have a holiday. 

We have had an exceptionally busy first week back and there is much to share with you.

At the end of last term we said farewell to Ms Emms, Curriculum Leader Science, who moved on to pastures new closer to home. We are delighted to welcome Ms Mamoojee who joined us on Monday stepping into Ms Emms' role.  Ms Edwards, Curriculum Leader English, has returned from maternity leave.

Our first full whole school photograph took place on Tuesday morning. It was a military operation as 750 students and 100 staff made their way over to The Stoop. It was a privilege to be able to use the stadium for this photo and our thanks go to Laurie Dalrymple, CEO Harlequins and RTS Board Member, and his operations and grounds teams for facilitating this event. As the founding Head Teacher, I experienced immense pride seeing our exceptional community embody the RTS Way.  Thank you to families for your support in ensuring all students attended school in full school uniform - they looked incredibly smart and I am very much looking forward to sharing the final photograph with you.

Following on from the Council approval to fund and complete the final phase of the school’s building programme, we have seen increased activity on the site during this week and expect to see more over the coming weeks and months. This begins with the redevelopment of the playing fields at Craneford Way which will be inaccessible for the summer term while the works takes place. We expect the fields to be ready for use at the start of the autumn term (2023). A summary is provided here. In the interim we have been offered use of St Mary's University Sports facilities and will be shuttling students to and from the site for their games lessons. This is an exciting opportunity for students to utilise some fantastic local facilities.

Wishing all our families who celebrate, a joyous Eid Al-Fitr this weekend. Eid Mubarak!

Ms K Dooley 

Dates for the diary

Contacting the School

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

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.

The RTS Way

This week our RTS Sports Leaders from Year 10 (Rachel W, Anya, Theo, Heba, Nevaeh, Izaan, Rishi, Dhru, Abdi, Seann, George, Ellis, Jamie, Joshua S, Jack P, Ravi and Jack W) headed over to Chase Bridge Primary School to teach their one hour PE sessions. 

We are proud of these ambassadors for our school and their hard work and generosity in working with the younger children. 

They are fantastic role models and we hope that this programme carries on for many years to come. 

Multiply Programme

The Multiply Programme will commence next week. There is still time to sign up if you are interested in participating (currently offered to all Year 7 and 8 parents only).

This programme presents an excellent opportunity for you to strengthen your foundational Mathematics knowledge, enabling you to better support your children with their Maths studies at home.

We are pleased to be collaborating with our partners, the Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge College (HRUC) Group, to bring this great opportunity to our families. In the coming academic year, we aim to expand the programme to include parents of children in other year groups. 

Multiply (1).pdf

Requests for Materials

We have a need for any spare flower pots, 8 Madiba are growing sunflowers and their little plants need new homes. Any pots welcome, plastic or ceramic. Please ask students to drop them off in Reception. 

The Art Department are looking for any cardboard and other packaging materials (bubble wrap etc.) in order that Year 9 can produce a project making their own ink stamps. Anything with a texture would be most welcome. Again, please ask students to drop items off in Reception.

Thank you in advance!

RTS Eats

Our talented kitchen team will be celebrating with a St George's Day Menu on Monday 24 April. A roast lunch on a Monday - what's not to love!

St George's Day.pdf

FORTS NEWS

PTA Recruitment - we need you!

Into the final term and we are looking for more volunteers to join our small group.

There are many benefits in joining the Friends of RTS (FoRTS) including making friends, learning new skills, showing your child that you are interested in their education, and helping to buy equipment that will directly benefit your child.

It’s also fun coming up with ideas for events for the children or the parents. It’s a great opportunity to be involved in creating wonderful memories for a whole cohort of school families. There are only three main events in the academic year so not a great amount of your time is taken up.

If we can share the workload we’ll have more time for the fun stuff!

We are looking for Dads, Mums, Carers or Grandparents that can spare a small amount of  time mainly for the following roles: Secretary, Treasurer, Marketing. If you have any experience in these areas, however small, please contact Carmelle on fortssecretary@rts.richmond.sch.uk.

Your FoRTS team,

Carmelle (Chair & Secretary), Mark (Treasurer) 

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: 

Hounslow Early Help Assessment

NSPCC:

Speak to a counsellor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

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

Parenting Newsletter

The Positive Parent Project's monthly newsletter focuses this month on children's friendships and when they cause problems.  

St George's Day Parade

This year the annual St George's Day parade takes place on Sunday 23 April. The event runs from 11am-6pm with the parade at noon and runs from Nelson School and along Whitton High Street. As well as the parade there is live music, street food, live performances, a street market, entertainment and much more. 

Governor Opportunity

Auriga Trust (Strathmore School, Clarendon School and Capella House are looking for new governors (with significant educational and SEN experience) to join their trust in September. Full details are on their website here.

Workshop on Puberty and Autism

Please see below details of a free workshop on Puberty and Autism being run by Ruils Family Matters service, on 11th May at the Peter and Paul Centre, Teddington. This workshop is free for parents in the borough of Richmond who have a young person with additional needs. 

The session will be delivered by Robyn Steward. Robyn is autistic and has been delivering fun, informative and practical training to professionals and parent / support groups for over 15 years. She has written 3 books 'The Independent Woman’s Handbook for Super Safe Living on the Autistic Spectrum', 'The Autism Friendly Guide to Periods' and 'The Autism Friendly Guide to self employment'. Robyn is also co-host of BBC Sound’s 1800 seconds on Autism.

To book a free place, please visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/family-matters-workshop-managing-puberty-tickets-530311946307

We provide Family Matters, our parents support service, in Richmond and Hounslow. Our Family Matters Advisors provide practical support, advice and information to families with children with disabilities and/or additional needs who are feeling under pressure or who are experiencing difficulties.

We will

To find out more about our Richmond service contact Surabhi Dhondiyal on 07376277779 or contact Martha Fong on 07944 902 794 or email familymatters@ruils.co.uk

To find out more about our Hounslow service contact Alka Tripathi on 07376 354 638  alkatripathi@ruils.co.uk.

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

Term Dates 2022-2023

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

Parents' Calendar