Christmas Jumper Day

Thank you to all of staff and students who wore their Christmas jumpers today - such a huge variety of designs on display! If you haven't already done so, there is still time to donate your £1 to Save the Children for Christmas Jumper Day. Please log in to your WisePay account where you will find a link. We have also set up a Just Giving page for staff, friends and family to be able to donate if they wish. Thank you for your support.

Christmas Lunch

Three of our hard-working kitchen staff post-serving Christmas Lunch and still smiling!

RTS Art Gallery

This week's topical Art Gallery is a compilation of interesting self portraits from Year 8 students.

Enrichment Programme

There has been a slight change to the Enrichment Programme planned for Wednesday 16 December.

Students will complete lessons as normal until period 4 (12.05) where they will have their lunch and tutor time.

The production and films will begin at 13.00. Students will return to Period 6 as normal.

• Year 8 and 10 will be watching a live performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’.

• Year 9 will be watching the biographical film ‘Lion’

• Year 7 will now be watching ‘Princess Mononoke’. This film has been chosen by the English department as it supports the students with the work they have been studying in class.

Sports Programme Update

Thank you to the students and staff who have braved the cold and gloom to participate in our after school sports programme. They have been well attended and as you can see from the photos - very competitive and great fun!

Tutor Time Update

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Students have been getting into the festive spirit during tutor times - spending time in mindfulness sessions creating Christmas tree decorations and making Christmas cards.

MFL Update

The Modern Foreign Languages Department will be holding its first ever Translation and Spelling Bee Competition in January! Students study a few phrases per day following a Christmas Advent Calendar. The phrases have been specifically selected to build up their French vocabulary and fluency; and to help them with their future assessments. Please encourage your child to participate and give it a try. Registrations can be made via the Year Group Notices on Google Classroooms.

FoRTS News

Christmas 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.

Kooth - Online Counselling Service for ages 11–22

The NHS wants to remind young people that an online service called Kooth is available for them in South West London, which can provide extra support during this difficult time.

Kooth is an online counselling and emotional well-being service for children and young people aged 11-22. Young people can search ‘Kooth’ or visit kooth.com and get support for anything that's on their mind. The service was introduced following feedback from young people that it is something they would find useful.

A short video (see below) has been produced for young people to example how Kooth can help – you and your child can watch it on YouTube.

More information on Kooth

Accredited by the BACP, and as a trusted delivery partner of the NHS, Kooth has supported over 250,000 children and young people across the UK since 2004. It’s anonymous and free at the point of use. Children and young people can chat to professional counsellors, read articles written by young people, receive peer-to-peer support and keep a daily journal.

Qualified counsellors, therapists and support workers provide guided and outcome-focused support for each individual. Kooth is accessible through any connected device - young people can log on wherever they are to access professional counselling up until 10pm 365 days a year.

For more information about the service, you can visit the XenZone website www.xenzone.com.

Aged 13-17? Living in Kingston or Richmond? Volunteer with Youth Out Loud!

Youth Out Loud! (YOL!) is a group of young people working with Healthwatch in Richmond and Kingston. YOL! use their voices to make health and care services better for young people. Watch YOL! introductory video here.

YOL! are looking for two young people who wish to help us manage our social media.

They are also looking for up to 10 young people to support them making, recording and editing podcasts on wellbeing topics (mental health, exercise, healthy eating, bullying, relationships and friendship etc).

This is a unique opportunity for young people to be heard, make a difference to the community and gain new skills. To express an interest or apply, click here. For more information visit https://www.yolweb.info/ and follow YOL! Twitter and Instagram.