RTS Parents' Newsletter 27 November 2020
Head Teacher's Message
Thank you to Year 9 parents/carers who were able to join us (remotely) for their Parent/Tutor consultation evening. We hope that you found the conversations and feedback useful.
We emailed all parents/carers earlier this week regarding a COVID Symptom Study App. This allows parents/carers to log how their child/children are feeling, to a secure school community network, so schools can receive daily insights into the health and wellbeing of their students and make data-driven decisions to keep pupils and staff safe. Please see your email for further details and how to sign up.
We have also shared a student survey with your child/children about the service and food that Aspens Catering provide to RTS. This has been commissioned by Aspens. The survey has been posted in their Year Group Notices. Please encourage them to complete the survey as their comments and opinions will shape the food that they eat!
With the ending of national restrictions on 02 December, and the move of all London Boroughs into Tier 2 (High Alert) restrictions, please note that there will still be travel restrictions in place. We would like to remind all parents/carers that, in line with statutory guidance, absences due to holidays taken during term time will not be authorised. If you are considering travelling abroad over the Christmas period, please be aware that a 14 day quarantine period on your return may still be in place (dependent on any travel corridor arrangements), this may mean that your child is not able to be in school at the start of the new term. Please check the government website for advice on international travel after 02 December.
I know that for some families these restrictions, and also our change to term dates in shortening the Christmas break, may cause some challenges if you have already booked travel, and if circumstances allow these to go ahead as planned. If you are affected, please contact the School Office as soon as possible via attendance@rts.richmond.sch.uk to discuss any travel arrangements that you have in place that may impact your child’s return to school on Tuesday 05 January 2021.
Ms K Dooley
Christmas Jumper Day
National Christmas Jumper Day in aid of 'Save the Children' takes place on Friday 11 December. RTS would like support this event and therefore invite all students to donate £1 to this very worthwhile charity and wear their festive jumpers.
Students should wear their normal uniform and carry their school bag as normal on this day; with the addition of wearing their Christmas jumper instead of their blazer and school jumper.
To donate your £1 to Save the Children please log in to your WisePay account where you will find a link (we will not be able to collect money in school this time - donations can only be made through your WisePay account).
Christmas Lunch
To carry on the festive theme, this year's Christmas Lunch will also take place on Friday 11 December. It will look at bit different this year in that students will be allowed to sit in their Academic Tutor bases and eat their Christmas Lunch together there.
A Christmas Lunch Order Form is now available to all students via their Year Group Notices Classroom. All students must complete their order by 14:00 Friday 04 December. We would like to encourage everyone to join in this event.
The RTS Way in Action
We received a lovely email from a parent this week whose son had stopped to help a fellow student who had fallen from his bike and badly broken his wrist. A few days later, the injured student generously left a lovely card and a box of chocolates for the student who had helped him.
The email goes on to say how "proud I am of the actions here. As a parent it’s heartening to see such a heartfelt thank you for helping another student out when he had his accident. His classmates were also a credit to the school in the way they were able to support him, and really rallied around when he was clearly in a huge amount of pain.".
Well done to all involved in displaying such positive and kind behaviour.
School Photographs
Last call for returning any school photograph purchase forms and payment. We will be sending these off on Wednesday 02 December. Please return any forms by Tuesday 01 December.
No Visitors on School Site
A gentle reminder please that no parents/carers are permitted to enter the school site during this time. It is essential that you do not follow students onto site if the gate has been opened for them. Staff are unable to accept forgotten lunches etc. at the school gate.
Reading
Please encourage your Year 7 child to join the Year 7 virtual book group announced in last week's newsletter!
RTS Art Gallery
This week it's the turn of Year 9. Some wonderfully expressive pencil portraits from Nora, Jack F, Jack G, Cody and Maria.
Enrichment Programme
On Wednesday 16 December all students in Years 8, 9 and 10 will be watching a live broadcast of The Old Vic's 'A Christmas Carol' at 13:00. The play is suitable for all ages and is a fantastic adaptation. Year 10 pupils not only get a fun and Christmassy end to the term but they will also be revising the play for their GCSEs! The event will be free to all students. https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on/2020/old-vic-in-camera/a-christmas-carol-5.
Year 7 will be completing a short study on the biographical film 'Lion'.
RTS Science Report
An update from Mr Burchett, Science:
Science - 7SE (picture 1)
7SE have made a wonderful start to the new term and after learning about cells and movement, human reproduction and the anatomy of the body they are proud to present some of their work! The picture shows the piece of work they are most proud of. 7SE have great discussions and always help each other learn. As their science teacher, I’m proud of their achievements so far and looking forward to running some exciting and interactive experiments later in the year! A huge well done to everyone in 7SE, what great scientists you're all becoming!
Science - 9TC (pictures 2, 3 & 4)
In Science, class 9TC are working really hard developing their understanding of density and the principles of diffusion and osmosis. As you can see in the pictures they take pride in running scientific experiments and work really well together. With Year 10 not too far away 9TC are working hard to prepare themselves to achieve well. A huge well done to everyone in the class and I’m looking forward to future work that you’ll produce.
RTS MFL Report
An update from Mr Gaye, French:
Congratulations!
Well done to all year groups who have worked with enthusiasm in their French lessons since the start of the new academic year. There are already many reasons to celebrate this first term in the languages department. Year 10 pupils, for example. have had a successful term trying their first GCSE style speaking assessment with some notable achievements by Dominic, Lauren, Anushka, and many others who were able to adapt their spontaneous spoken answers under test conditions.
Next week we have reading assessments for all year groups and we are looking forward to seeing the fruits of their labour.
Online Resources
Memrise, Duolingo, Quizizz and Quizlet, amongst others, are fantastic tools for our students to learn and practise vocabulary in a fun way. Just 10 minutes a day can make a huge difference and these applications make learning fun. Our Active Learn platform also gives our students access to reading, listening and vocabulary tasks linked to our schemes of work.
Why do we learn foreign languages?
Amidst the revision, one pupil took the time to ask a pertinent question: 'why do we learn foreign languages?'
One fascinating benefit of learning another language is the insight it offers into our own. Although perhaps one of the most compelling arguments for learning a foreign language is how it helps our brains. Studies have shown that people who speak more than one language have brains that operate at a higher level than those who speak only one. So, next time anyone questions the benefits of learning a new language, just think of your brains being stretched and developed so well in MFL lessons.
Attendance Focus
A huge congratulations to the following Houses for their attendance percentage. A special mention to Year 7 House Stoop for holding the highest percentage in the school!
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10
Madiba Berners-Lee Stoop AndersonBerners-Lee Stoop Anderson Anderson AndersonStoopShakespeareIt remains very important that all students attend school to provide them with every opportunity to learn and develop.
If you require any support with the attendance of your child please contact the school.
Merit Milestones
Congratulations this week to more students achieving great merit milestones. In just a week we have another 53 students reaching 50 plus merits, 46 students reaching 100 plus merits, 9 achieving over 150 merits and an incredible 2 Year 7, 1 Year 8 and 1 Year 9 students achieving the milestone of over 200 merits! Well done to all of you! An email has been sent home to all those who have achieved these milestones.
Christmas Decorations
As per previous years, we would love it if any students wanted to contribute a decoration or bauble for the school Christmas tree in the hall. Every year we invite all Year 7 and any new students to bring in a Christmas tree decoration or bauble (homemade, shop bought, with a name on or not, it's entirely up to them) - and we love reusing them year each year with all of the student memories attached to them. There will be a box outside the Heads of Year office for collection from Monday 30 November. Thank you.
Golden Ticket
The prizes have arrived!
Keep focused and rise to the challenge of collecting as many Golden Tickets as you can before the end of term!
Treat Hamper: One student from each year group has an excellent opportunity to win a treat hamper! This hamper will be presented to a student in each year group who has personified the RTS Way this term. There have been lots of nominations from staff already - keep up the good work!
FoRTS News
Please read this week's newsletter from FoRTS (also available on the website).
FoRTS Newsletter 20201127.pdfChristmas Trees
FoRTS are excited to share a fantastic opportunity with you. Christmas on the Hill are a sustainable Christmas tree company based in London. Their cut tree prices range from £38 for a 3ft non-drop tree, up to £200 for a 12ft non-drop tree - so hopefully something for everyone.
Please have a look at their website to order your Christmas tree and for each purchase they will donate a percentage to the school. It's a festive win! The school code you need to enter at checkout is RTS20.
RTS E-Flyer.pdfTerm Dates 2020-2021
Full term dates and Inset day information is available on the website:
Last day of Autumn term for students: Friday 18 December 2020
First day of Spring term for students: Tuesday 05 January 2021
Spring Half-Term break: 15-19 February 2021
Easter break: 01-16 April 2021
Summer Half-Term break: 31 May-04 June 2021
Last day of Summer term for students: Friday 16 July 2021 (amended)
Local News - Please note RTS does not endorse items included as Local News
Kingston Climate Emergency Youth Survey is now live!
This survey has been created by the Kingston and Richmond Youth Council (KRYC), who are working in partnership with Achieving for Children and Kingston Council.
Their aim is to find out how important you think climate change is, the actions you are taking, and what else you, your family or your school could do to tackle it. This survey was made by young people, for young people, and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
Your child's response to this survey will be used to help KRYC develop an action plan for Kingston young people to support them in tackling the climate emergency. Young people will be invited to take part in a focus group, facilitated by the Kingston and Richmond Youth Council to help shape an action plan.
The survey can be completed at this link.
Youth Football (U12)
Have you experienced organised football? Are you looking for a new team or maybe already playing in a Sunday side but want a Saturday team too? Then the Raptors want to hear from you... especially if you like defending!
The Raptors (Teddington Athletic FC) promise plenty of pitch time and a fun environment to play football in. They currently play in Group 3 of the Epsom & Ewell Youth League. Matches are on Saturday mornings (home games in Bushy Park) and training is on Tuesday evenings at Orleans Park School.
Interested? Contact Raptors' team manager, David Hall at tafcraptors@gmail.com.