RTS Parents' Newsletter 23 June 2023

Head Teacher's Message

That is a wrap! Our Year 11 students sat the last of their GCSEs this week! As I said last week, we are so proud of their determination, maturity and resilience during this exam period. The GCSE papers that are set now are more challenging than they were all those years ago when we sat them and I am incredibly proud of the ongoing and daily support that all staff in school, not just the Year 11 teachers, have shown the students during this time. Their hard work is behind them (for now) and I am sure that they are looking forward to celebrating next week at their Graduation Ceremony in school. It is promising to be a wonderful evening on Tuesday and we can't wait to see the students (and you) and celebrate all that they are.

We have also concluded our Open Mornings for this academic year and welcomed nearly 200 visitors over five mornings, with two of those events dedicated to SEN families. It is always exciting meeting families in Year 5 and our student ambassadors did a wonderful job of showing small groups around.

Elsewhere in school we have also celebrated the achievements of our group of Early Careers Teachers who reached the end of their two year training programme. This has been a challenging and demanding programme - alongside their teaching committments. Their final projects, presented to SLT, were engaging, insightful, thoughtful and, above all, passionate about their findings, their students and their learnings. Their enthusiasm for teaching was a real joy to see. I am extremely proud of the teachers that they have become and know that there is much more ahead of them in their careers.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend - stay cool!

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.

RTS Art Gallery

This week the Year 10 students participated in a drawing with ink workshop inspired by Antony Gormley of "Angel of the North" fame.  The talent and imagination shown in these drawings is clear to see.

Bake Sale!

The RTS Pride Hub and EDI ambassadors are organising a summer bake sale on Thursday 29 June. After last year's success in raising over £200 for the Albert Kennedy Trust, we are very excited to make this an RTS summer tradition! This year, the students have chosen to raise money for MindOut, who provide mental health services. 

We are encouraging all students at RTS to bring in baked goods that will be sold at lunch time to raise money for charity. Anything baked at home must also have an ingredients list so that students can identify allergens, and we kindly ask no nuts or orange peel in any of the bakes. The form that brings in the most bakes will be rewarded - so please remember to label tins and tupperware with the baker's name and form!

There will be collection buckets at the bake sale, so students must remember to bring in cash to donate. Thank you for your support.

Changes to Lunch Arrangements

During tutor time today all students were informed that from Monday 26 June 2023, students at RTS will have lunch at the same time and this will last 50 minutes. 

The timings are as follows:

Students will have specific year group lunch slots for both the cold and hot queues.

Every day, after lunch, students will go to academic tutor bases for a tutor period.

Students will have been informed about when their slot will be and reminders will be provided by their form tutors as well as being displayed on the screens throughout the school.

We are aware that for some students a change to routine can be an anxious time, therefore, please do speak to your children about these changes over the weekend to help prepare for the change. If they have any questions or worries they can speak to any member of staff and all students will be supported to help access food during this time.

We hope that students will enjoy the extended lunch period and the opportunity to participate in the activities on offer.

The RTS Way

We are delighted to share some good news regarding Jack’s swimming journey, where he recently competed with Teddington Swimming Club in the London Regional Championships at the London Aquatics Centre.  

Jack’s success crowned him a triple London Regional Champion, taking gold in the 200m Butterfly, the 400m IM and the 800m Freestyle; as well as medalling in 6 other events.  

Due to his success, he qualified and has been invited to swim at the British Summer Championships at Ponds Forge International Arena in Sheffield where only the top ranked 24 swimmers in each age group in Great Britain are able to compete. 

Jack will have a very exciting but busy summer competing! We wish you the very best of luck Jack and look forward to an update in September!

FORTS Information

Pre-loved Uniform

As we are now into the final term of the academic year and Year 11s will soon be completing their exams and leaving the school, we are looking for donations of good condition pre-loved uniforms to sell onto our current and new parents.

If you have any uniform, please send drop it off at Reception during school hours. Thank you.

Recruitment Drive

We need your help!  The school's parent teacher association, Friends of RTS or FoRTS, needs parent volunteers to step forward to take the following key roles:

If you want to have a chat about any of the roles, or have any queries about FoRTS, please don't hesitate to contact either of us.

Your FoRTS team,

Carmelle (Chair and Secretary) and Mark (Treasurer)

General: forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Uniform: fortsuniform@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

Hong Kong parents: understanding the system for children with SEN(D)

香港家長：了解英國如何支援有特殊學習需要的學生

Sign up to attend the online workshop on Wednesday 05 July from 4 to 5.30pm.  Deadline is 28 June. 

The google meet link will be sent to your email on the 04 July.

This workshop is for all Hong Kong parents of children who may have SEN(D) in Kingston and Richmond.  

It is organised by Achieving for Children and funded by the Mayor of London.


報名參加 7 月 5 日星期三下午 4 點到 5 點半的網上研討會。截止日期為 6 月 28 日。Google Link接將於 7 月 4 日發送到您的電子郵箱。

這個工作坊給居住在Kingston和Richmond，有特殊教育需要孩子的香港家長而設。它由 Achieving for Children 籌備，由倫敦市長資助。

Link to sign up is here.

FUEL: Holiday Activity and Food programme - Summer 2023 - bookings open!

Bookings have opened for the Summer 2023 FUEL Holiday Activity and Food programme!

FUEL provides free activities and food for children whose parents are eligible for benefits- related Free School Meals during the Easter, Summer and Winter school holidays. 

If your child is eligible, you should have been given a 17 digit FUEL code either from your child’s school or us. If you think your child may be eligible but you haven’t got a code, email the FUEL team at: fuel@achievingforchildren.org.uk. 

If you have your code, you can book on to sessions now: https://kr.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/community-information/information-and-advice/fuel-holiday-activities-and-food-programme 

The Lighthouse Project

We are delighted to be able to let you know that The Lighthouse Project, our youth club provision for young people with additional needs, has an extended offer over the summer holidays where we will be running our session for 4 hours rather than just 2!! Every Thursday 4:30-8:30pm we will be providing a safe, quiet, supportive environment for young people to socialise during summer and lead them onto other opportunities to access guidance and positive activities.

Throughout the summer we will be offering various different activities along with food and lots of fun!!!! 

Please see the flyer attached and if you would like to ask any questions feel free! Booking is done via our eventbrite link in the flyer and parents are asked to contact us to discuss the young person and their needs before attendance so we can ensure it is the right session for all! 

Lighthouse Project.pdf
Richmond School Boys Poster 2023.pdf
Richmond School Girls Sept 2023.pdf

Dramacube  Holiday Activities

Calling all young performers, aspiring film-makers and creative writers....we have a spectacular summer lined up for you!

Dramacube's team of Artistic Directors, Choreographers, Drama Teachers and Film Crews will be a running a series of movie and musical theatre inspired events & workshops across the summer.

Fill your child's summer school holidays with our popular 2 or 3 day Musical Theatre and Movie-Makers Workshops.

Sing, perform and get creative in our full day workshops in Esher, Walton or Hampton Hill.

BOOK NOW

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Join us in the West End!

This weekend, our talented young casts will be performing a West End Showcase at Wonderville Theatre, London.

 Let them entertain you with a spectacular show filled with songs from your favourite musicals.

BUY TICKETS

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Watch and enjoy the Alice in Wonderland films our budding movie-makers created as part of Love Walton's Film Festival.

WATCH THE FILMS

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Like to step behind - or in front - of the camera?

Come join our Movie Makers Summer Workshops!

BOOK A WORKSHOP

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Let It Grow! Let It Grow! 

Enter our poetry competition and you could win prizes for you and your school PLUS the winning poem will be featured on a flower planter on Hampton High Street.

The competition proudly supports The Big Green Week and closes on 30th June.

ENTER NOW

We look forward to seeing you this Summer!

The Dramacube Team

Summer Flyer 2023 - Richmond - Print.pdf

School Uniform Suppliers - Summer Appointments 

SchoolDays - Whitton High St

From 1st June, SchoolDays will again be operating an appointment system during the summer months.

Book your slot early to avoid disappointment at : https://schooldaysllp.co.uk/index.php/booking-form/ 

Stevensons

Stevensons have released this year's appointment booking information. 

01_164_RICHMOND UPON THAMES_TWICK(22).pdf

They are also looking for young people to work in their Twickenham branch over the summer months. 

01_164_03_Summer_Temps_V2.pdf

School Holiday Solutions for Parents of Older Children

We know parents are often looking for activities for their older children to take part in to break up the long school holidays and our BX+ programme provides a great solution for 12-14 year olds.

The BX+ course gives young people the chance to gain key skills and insight into what it's like to work as a member of staff at a summer camp. This is a great way to engage the older kids at camp as they reach the next developmental stage. They'll get to do all the fun activities on offer whilst also gaining key life skills and work experience. They’ll also receive a booklet about their time with us and a certificate, both of which are a superb addition to their record of achievement.

We’re pleased to be able to offer parents of your school an exclusive discount code
 Parents will receive £20 off a booking at their local camp with the code SCHOOL20.

Full details can be found here https://www.barracudas.co.uk/activities/bxplus-13-14-years/

And that's not all - we also accept ALL Childcare Vouchers and Tax-Free childcare. 

MET in the park

Monday 21 August 2023, Old Deer Park, Richmond, 12:00-18:00

Come along to meet:

PosterA407 (1).pdf

Access All Areas: Transition and Local Offer fair

Achieving for Children and TAG Youth Club are organising a transitions event on 10 October aimed at young people aged 14 - 25. 

There will be school groups attending and families, parents, carers and young people are invited.

This is an event for young people and their families to come together with professionals and service providers to help piece together futures.

If you are, or you care for, a young person aged up to 25, come and find out more about what’s available locally.

The event has a focus on transitions into adulthood.

Support and services attending include:

AAA 2023 flyer - FAMILIES - FINAL 05_23 (2).pdf

You will have opportunities to speak to the stall holders about their offers and take part in hands-on activities.

For more information about the event, please contact:

14-25@achievingforchildren.org.uk

For more information about TAG Youth Club, please contact:

giles@tagyouthclub.org 

Parent_and_Carers_Infographic.pdf

Term Dates 2022-2023

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

Parents' Calendar