RTS Parents' Newsletter

RTS Parents' Newsletter 30 September 2022

Head Teacher's Message

We held the first three of our busy programme of Open Events this week and have welcomed nearly 250 prospective parents and children through the school doors already. We have more to come over the next three weeks and are excited to meet so many local families who are interested in what RTS has to offer. The feedback that we have already received about our Student Ambassadors has been fantastic - thank you to those parents who are supporting us by encouraging their children to help out at these events. We are extremely proud of the way that they have conducted themselves.

I had an enjoyable evening at the International Community Evening on Thursday - there was an incredible array of food available to taste - read more about it below.

The FoRTS AGM was also held during the evening and I must pass on my thanks to Vanessa Gordon, (outgoing) Chair of FoRTS. Vanessa has been with us since the very beginning and has been a huge champion of RTS and our community. Starting a parent teacher association from scratch is no mean feat and Vanessa's enthusiasm and dedication has been unwavering - we owe her a lot. I know that we will still see her around supporting the school, but, for the first time in 5 years, she can enjoy the events rather than having to organise and run them! On behalf of all of the staff and families at RTS - thank you Vanessa.

We are already four weeks into the new term and I know that sometimes energy levels flag around now - so please do all have a relaxing weekend.

Ms K Dooley

Dates for the diary

Wednesday 05 October
- Early finish at 14:30 for Years 7-10 ONLY. Year 11 onsite
- Year 7 (and new parents) Technology Evening, 17:30-19:00
Friday 14 October
- INSET Day - School closed to students Years 7-10 ONLY. Year 11 onsite

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.

International Community Event

Thursday night saw the MFL department, in conjunction with FoRTS, and with support from the Music department host a wonderful event for families that showcased the variety of cultures and nationalities that we have here at RTS.

The evening was well attended and the range and quality of food provided by families was impressive - and an absolute delight to taste. The atmosphere was lovely and relaxed and the bingo session was good fun!

Thank you to both Mr Gaye and his department, the Music department, and of course FoRTS for helping to organise and run the event. Hopefully we can host more of these events over the coming year - if you have any ideas, please do contact FoRTS (see their details below).

Sporting Success

Our fabulous Year 8 boy's rugby team succeeded in beating Turing House School with a win of 9 tries to 5 (45-25) this week!

'I must give a special mention to Franky, whose fantastic efforts saw him scoring 7 of those tries - an incredible individual and team effort!' - Mr Glossop.

Further congratulations to the team who have qualified for the borough finals and will play Orleans Park School.

Year 11 Parents

A small group of Year 11 parents are looking to organise a Prom for Year 11 students after the examinations next Summer (2023). If you feel that you can assist in any way with organising or running this event please contact kellybatten@hotmail.co.uk directly.

Please be aware that any event such as this organised by parents is not endorsed by either RTS or FoRTS as it is an external event and not a school event.

FORTS NEWS

International Community Evening

Thank you to everyone who attended the International Community Evening on Thursday it was great to see so many of you there. We hoped you enjoyed the wonderful food and music, and met friends old and new from the school community. Special thanks to Mr Gaye and the MFL and Music departments for supporting the event.

AGM

Thank you to those who attended the AGM. We were happy to share with you details of our incredible year, raising over £19,000, and what those funds were spent on. If you missed the night and would like to know more, our pages on the school website will be updated soon with the minutes and a copy of the presentation given. A special thank you to Vanessa, our outgoing chair for her amazing contribution to FoRTS since its inception, and to Carmelle, Alison and Dani who have stood as Committee Members. We note that the Chair role is still vacant and we do need to fill this and so if you would like to volunteer, please let us know. Remember you can contact us at any time on forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk.

Rugby Parking

As we ready ourselves for the autumn internationals, we already have a lot of our parking spaces pre-booked. We aim to have at least two marshals in each time slot to help manage the busy periods and provide someone to talk to during the quieter moments! Parking is by far our biggest fundraiser, so please contact fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk if you can help.

Classlist

We contacted you all last year to ask if anyone wanted to continue using Classlist. We haven’t had an administrator for this app for some time, and all the messages that went out were duplicates of information from the newsletter and other sources. As we haven’t heard from anyone, we have now asked that the school be removed. You can delete your own account via your profile if you wish.

Have a great week, your FoRTS Team

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

General: forts@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

Teddington Athletic Football Club

Teddington Athletic FC are looking for students from Year 7 onwards who may be interested in joining them.

The home ground is in Bushy Park and their training takes place at various grounds locally. Under 12s is a transition point for clubs as children move school and potentially play school sports on Saturday. This means that we are in need of new player to join our friendly and inclusive team TAFC Giants U12. This is a rare position as many clubs in the borough get over subscribed from a young age.

Please click on the website link above for details about the club and how to enquire about joining.

Twickenham Saints Football Club

Twickenham Saints FC Under 12s (year 7) is looking for new players. We train at 5.30pm on Fridays at Orleans Park School and matches are on Saturday mornings. If interested please contact:

Stephen James: 07884 188021 (or click on the link above).

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.

We have printed copies. They will be available to pick up at SEND Futures if you are attending.

Fear-Less Parenting: supporting children with anxiety

The Positive Parenting Project are running an online webinar for parents of children with anxiety: practical tools to help you support your child (for parents of children aged 6-14yrs).

When children have anxiety, it impacts the whole family. It can be incredibly hard for parents to know what to say and how to help. And, without support, children’s anxiety often escalates or becomes entrenched. It’s normal for parents to feel frustrated, worried or distressed when children are struggling – but there are parenting strategies you can learn that will make a real difference to your child’s anxiety.

This specialised Triple P® Fear-Less parenting seminar has been specifically developed to help parents cope with the challenges of parenting a child with anxiety. It will help you understand what causes anxiety and take you step-by-step through concrete strategies you can use to help reduce your child’s anxiety.

Know what to do when your child is anxious or upset.
Help your child develop a toolkit of coping skills to overcome anxiety.
Break the cycle of anxiety and avoidance.

The webinar will be delivered by international parenting expert Anita Cleare (MA Adv.Dip) and is relevant for parents of children aged 6-14yrs.

Click on the link here to take you to the EventBrite booking page.

Volunteering Opportunity - Independent School Admission Appeals Panels

Richmond Council is looking to recruit to its pool of volunteers who sit on panels that hear and make decisions on school admissions appeals lodged by applicants who have been unsuccessful in securing a place at their chosen school. The panels consist of trained volunteers selected from a pool, and who are independent of local schools and, as such, you will not be able to serve on any panels for schools you have a connection to e.g. where your child attends. The panels meet virtually, as and when necessary (but mainly in the summer term).

If you are discreet, good at listening to both sides of an argument, and able to digest and analyse information in order to make a reasoned decision, then this could be a good opportunity for you.

Further information and an application form are available from: education.appeals@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or call 020 8891 7183 for a chat.

Volunteers from underrepresented groups within our community are particularly encouraged to come forward.

Work at Twickenham Stadium

The home of England Rugby, Twickenham Stadium is holding two recruitment days at the start of October, with successful applicants being able to start work in time for the upcoming Autumn Internationals.

You don't need to be a rugby fan to work at the stadium - there are a variety of roles on offer if you are looking for some weekend work.

Education Wellbeing Service

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

ASD Parent/Carer Support Group

ASD support group october 22.doc.pdf

Heatham House

Heatham House is back open with a jam packed term time program with something for all young people to do!

Not only do we have our regular drop in sessions but we will be introducing more fun activities such as: Cooking, art, garment printing, wildlife program and more...so keep an eye out on their Eventbrite page and Instagram!

Copy of HH Term-Time.pdf

DIY Assistance

My name is Tony Joyce and I am the new Store Manager for Crown Decorating Centre in Twickenham.

I am reaching out to local schools with a view of creating a partnership in the supply of decorating materials.

We are aware that with the ever rising prices of every day necessities that any money saved is good money, so I would like to extend an offer of 25% off a first purchase with ourselves when opening an account (excludes promotional items)

With industry leading coatings, I am sure we can accomplish great things together, some of what we offer is a follows:

25% off EVERYTHING your first purchase and then 25% on Paint and 15% on Sundries afterwards
Access to competitive pricing across all of our brands
Complimentary FREE next day delivery to your door
Access and manage your account online
Bespoke colour matching service INCLUDING access to all Farrow and Ball colours (we know people love those)
Complimentary Can recycling - we are the only decorator's merchant that will recycle any empty can from any brand!!
All of this along with World Class Service too!!

If you would like to take us up on this offer here is the link that you can use to sign up an account with us: https://form.jotform.com/221803755488363

Please feel free to contact me via email or on the number below to discuss further!!

Email: twickenham@crownpaints.co.uk / Phone No : 0208 891 5267

Term Dates 2022-2023

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

Autumn Term 1: Friday 02 September-Friday 21 October 2022
Autumn Half-Term: Monday 24 October-Friday 04 November 2022
Autumn Term 2: Monday 07 November-Friday 16 December 2022

Parents' Calendar

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