RTS Parents' Newsletter 21 May 2021

Head Teacher's Message

I am delighted to share with you our continuing success on the ruby pitch during the inter-schools' tournaments. It is wonderful to see the teams out on the fields and being able to visit other local schools again.

Whilst my aim of the Parents' Newsletter is to share the positive news and events around the school, I feel that with the news this week regarding the increase in certain areas of the Indian variant of COVID-19 - and Hounslow being one of the identified areas - I would like to make the unusual step to speak out and encourage residents in that borough to follow government advice and attend surge testing and/or vaccination clinics. You can find more information on the London Borough of Hounslow website here. We must continue to look after not just the whole school community but our family community too. We all have our part to play in this next stage.

Thank you for your continuing support - stay safe.

Ms K Dooley

Rugby Tournament Success

Last week saw continued success for RTS students on the sports fields. Both the Year 9 and 10 boys' rugby teams competed in tournaments held at Orleans Park. Impressively, the Year 9 boys were able to field two teams, including a lot of new faces who were able to represent the school for the first time. Both the first and second teams won 1 game and lost 1 game, which was a fantastic success considering how we have not been able to play rugby for some time now. The Year 10s, whilst not able to field two teams, put on a show the entire afternoon - conceding few tries and winning all three games they played on the afternoon. Well done to all the boys who took part!

In the next half term, as well as welcoming our KS3 sports day at St Mary's University, our focus will shift to football, cricket, netball and rounders. The PE Department can't wait to see even more students out and representing the school.

Dates for the Diary

Assessment Point 6 (AP6)

  • 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

  • Wednesday 09 June - Year 9: HPV1 (boys and girls)

Consent forms have been sent home with Year 9 students today; and we have also sent an e-form via email. Please ensure forms are returned by Thursday 27 May at the latest.

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

This week in art enrichment the Year 9's kicked off the start of our cube mural. Every student contributes to the bigger picture!

Science/Enrichment Supplies

Mr Taylor requests that if you have any of the following materials at home, unused or in recycling, please could you send them into school. These will be used in science experiments and enrichments. Students can drop any items off at the Science prep room or Room 221. Thank you.

  • compost

  • plastic plant pots

  • seeds of any kind for growing vegetables

  • cardboard egg cartons

  • clean plastic milk bottles with lids

  • clean food tins

  • food colouring

  • toilet roll tubes

  • white gloss or matt paint

  • black gloss or matt paint

  • watering cans

  • tupperware with lids

Transition - Year 7 September 2021

We are regularly updating our dedicated RTS Transition website for our new Year 6-7 parents. If you have a query about enrolment, Summer School, school uniform, Induction Day, or anything else; please check on the Transition website in the first instance. There is also a wealth of information on the main RTS website.

FoRTS News

AmazonSmile and easyfundraising

Please help raise funds for the school, at no cost to yourself, by signing up to easyfundraising and AmazonSmile, as a supporter of ‘Friends of RTS’. With such a tough year for fundraising, we really would appreciate as many supporters as possible.

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.

Young People Speak podcast

Young People in Kingston and Richmond have been planning and recording podcast episodes, based on topics and issues that interest them. The latest episode features three young people interviewing Ian Dodds (the Director of Children's Services for Kingston and Richmond).

The podcast can be accessed on Spotify here.

Richmond CVS

Richmond CVS supports all charity, community and voluntary activity in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In place of their annual in-person Volunteer Fair, this year they have scheduled a free online volunteering event for the community on 10 June.

Flyer - Volunteer Event June 2021 FINAL.pdf

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