RTS Parents' Newsletter 09 10 2020

Head Teacher's Message

Welcome to our new look Parents' Newsletter. I hope that you find this refreshed style easy to access and navigate and welcome any feedback that you may have.

I look forward to welcoming you to our next Parent Forum on Wednesday 14 October (17:30-18:30). There will be a presentation on the school's COVID-19 contingency plan followed by a question and answer session. Families have been invited to ask questions beforehand which we will endeavour to answer and share with you on the evening of the event. The closing date for questions has now passed, but you can still sign-up to join the live event here. A link to join the event will be sent on the day to those parents/carers who have signed up.

Don’t forget that Monday 12 October is an INSET Day for Staff Training, therefore the school is closed to all students.

Looking ahead - we will also close early on Wednesday 21 October for the Year 10 Subject Teacher Consultations. Years 7 and 9 will finish at 14:45 and Years 8 and 10 at 15:00.

Ms K Dooley

The RTS Way

Yesterday we received an email from a local resident who wanted to share with us the outstanding behaviour of one of our students. She was running through Kneller Park and came across a lost dog. One of our students stopped on his bike to help, cycled off to try and look for the dog's owner, and even offered his lunch to entice the dog so it could be caught. Thankfully the dog and its owner were reunited.

The resident went on further to say that 'It was a lovely example of the behaviour I often witness from RTS students in the morning. They are polite, friendly, and genuinely look ready for school in their smart uniforms. I don’t know which boy stopped to help, but please send along my gratitude and compliments to your students for really representing they school well!'

Thank you to the student for this great example of the RTS Way and please let your Head of Year know if it was you!

Virtual Choir

Mr Paoli, Curriculum Leader, Music has requested that you please encourage your children to participate in the first RTS Virtual Choir! Instructions in Google Classroom Year Group Notices.

Music Tuition

If you child has received confirmation of the start of their Music Tuition (remote) with The Richmond Music Trust. please ensure that they are reminded to attend their lessons on time. If they are unsure about their timetable please ask them to visit the Music Department or speak to Mr. Paoli.

School Street

Thank you to families for working so well with us this week as the School Street Scheme launched. We have had incredibly positive feedback from the residents of Egerton Road - they are hugely appreciative of the initiative and the reduction of traffic and congestion at peak times outside their homes.

Year 7, 8, 9 | Upcoming Assessments

Following on from the dedicated email sent during the week, please see the below letters regarding upcoming assessments for KS3 students. Year 7 will be sitting the CAT4 benchmarking test and Years 8 and 9 will sit the postponed GL Maths and English assessments (rescheduled from June 2020 due to partial school closure). All assessments will take place over the next two weeks in the run up to half term. All students are required to bring in their own headphones in order to fully access the assessments on the computers or their iPads.

Year 7, 8, 9 assessment letters:

Video Consent

With the increase in remote events and/or showcasing of students' lessons and work, please could families ensure that within Arbor that they have updated the ‘Consent’ section that grants permission for student’s images to be used in and around school and also on our website. If you have any questions regarding this please contact the School Office via email (info@rts.richmond.sch.uk).

Year 10 | Upcoming Subject Teacher Consultations

The Year 10 Subject Teacher Consultation evening will take place remotely on Wednesday 21 October from 16:00-19:00.

We will be using the same digital platform as we did for the subject parents meetings we held last July (School Cloud).

Please see the Year 10 letter for more details. You will be emailed separately a link to the site on which to book the appointments.

World Mental Health Day

Achieving for Children have launched their Emotional Health Service Hub for young people.

Families and young people may find these pages helpful so AfC have asked us to share the resources with families to try and encourage self help where appropriate.

Links:

Free training videos on Dr Tina Rae's YouTube channel

This fabulous suite of videos is free and focused on how parents could support psychological well being including issues such as emotionally based school phobia/avoidance, trauma, mindfulness, self esteem and growth mindset, emotional literacy and grief and loss. This particular video focuses on supporting the mental health of teens.

Year 10 | GCSE Art

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