RTS Parents' Newsletter

We have now completed half of the school year, and the second half-term brings with it, hopefully, warmer weather and more daylight.

Following the half-term break, may I remind you that we then have two staff training INSET days on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 February, so we look forward to welcoming students back on Wednesday 21 February for a prompt start and registration at 08:35. We also have an early finish at 15:00 on this day due to the events below.

Upon our return on Wednesday, we have a very busy evening and will be welcoming Year 9 parents to their Parent Consultation Evenings. Please ensure you have made appointments with your child's subject teachers. On the same evening, we will also hold a revision skills workshop for parents of children in Years 10 and 11 (to aid us with organisation, don't forget to sign up). FoRTs will be also be onsite holding a pre-loved uniform sale in the atrium - all parents from all year groups are welcome to attend this.

I wish you all a restful break and look forward to seeing many of you in our first week back.

~Ms K Dooley | Head Teacher

This week our Year 11 GCSE Food & Nutrition students have been working hard on their timed assessment component of their GCSE. The school has had some interesting aromas travelling up through the corridors - Ms Mears has been able to share a couple of photos of their final presentations so we can actually see what was being created. As it forms part of their assessment we are not able to share names - but all of the students showed such dedication, attention to detail and a flair for their dishes. We wish all them the best.

Following on from our RTS Sixth Form Plus Open Evening; we also shared our plans for the future with Year 10 and Year 11 students during assembly this week. We were delighted to welcome back RTS Alumni who are already studying at Richmond upon Thames College. Selena, Tegan and Tyler were able to share their experiences of studying at the college.

Shetal Bhatt

Shetal is a marketing professional with over 20 years’ experience at several blue chip companies including Shell and SUBWAY. Specialising in Loyalty and Customer Relationship Management, she has led international and culturally diverse teams to deliver well-known loyalty programmes across Europe and speaks fluent German. She has been a resident of the borough all her life, attending local state schools, and her parents owned two successful businesses in Teddington. With a niece and nephew at primary schools in this borough, Shetal is excited about helping deliver the school vision of ‘Excellence Through Endeavour’ to ensure the future workforce gets the best foundation to make their future career choices.

Shetal sits on the Students, Parents & Community Committee and is also the Careers link in school.

Governors for Schools is a national charity committed to helping ensure excellent education for children in schools through effective governance. Volunteering as a school governor is a fantastic way to broaden your skills and network, building up board-level experience and helping to set the strategic direction of a school. It’s a chance to see the impact of your decisions first-hand. This webinar will cover the role of school governing boards, how our free service works and the training we provide you with both before and after you are appointed as a school governor. This webinar is for those interested in finding out more about becoming a school governor.

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)

Date: Saturday 10 February

Time: 11am - 9pm (Kick off 4:45pm)

What We Do: The Friends of RTS (FoRTS) are dedicated parent volunteers who raise funds to enhance our children's learning experience at RTS. From online subscriptions & books to competition sports kit, Lego and Minecraft enrichment, to buses and the sports day barbecue that help make the day a real celebration; every penny we raise benefits our kids.

How You Can Help: We run the school car park on rugby days, and last year, we raised an impressive £33,000! Join our friendly team for 1 or 2 hour shifts. It's social, fun, and outdoors. Plus, you'll meet other parents! There are volunteer slots before the game begins for even the most passionate rugby watchers.

Calling New Volunteers: We urgently need more parents to join our marshalling team. Whether you're a diehard rugby fan or just want to support our children, we'd love to have you on board.

Contact Caroline or Brad: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Sign up here: FoRTS Rugby Parking Sign Up

Let's enrich our children's time at RTS together! Caroline & Brad 🌟🚗🏉

We are pleased to announce that FoRTS volunteers will be selling pre-loved uniform on the school premises from 3.30-6pm on Wednesday 21 February. There is a Y9 Parent Consultation that evening, but all year group families are welcome to come to the uniform sale.

We have a wide choice of sizes so please come along - half-term is a good opportunity to see how much the children have grown since September and size on up! We also welcome donations of good condition, outgrown uniform.

Would you like to become a member of the Committee?

We are looking for a Secretary.

There’s not much to it; send weekly newsletters to the school regarding FoRTS activities, take minutes and join in on some of the activities we do. It’s as simple as that! If you are interested please contact Carmelle at the general email address below.

Your FoRTS team,

Carmelle (Chair and Acting Secretary) and Jason & Somi (Treasurers)

General: forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Uniform: fortsuniform@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Full-term dates and Inset day information is available on the school's website:

• Spring Term 1: Monday 08 January-Friday 09 February 2024

• Half-Term: Monday 12-Friday 16 February

• INSET Days: Monday 19 AND Tuesday 20 February

Richmond Schools Police officers will be running free youth sessions for Years 5, 6 and 7 during the February half-term, 12-16 February. The sessions will be in a local park and run from 10am–1pm.

This is a great opportunity for your young child(ren) to have some fun and be out in the open air playing

games. We will also be doing talks and presentations on how to keep themselves safe and covering subjects around Online safety, County Lines and Bullying.

There are a limited number of spaces per day and you are required to sign up prior to attending. If you are interested in your child joining these sessions, please do contact PC Amanda Stonehouse who will be able to provide further details. Amanda.stonehouse@met.police.uk

isubscribe have secured 100 copies of Birdwatch Magazine magazine to give away in this free prize draw!

https://www.isubscribe.co.uk/Birdwatch-Giveaway/

The Mental Health Support Team for Richmond are running a series of online workshops for families, entitled ‘Helping Children with…’.

The last series was very popular and feedback was very positive. These workshops would be a great way to support your child at home if they are experiencing any difficulties in the areas covered.

Click on the first link to sign up; the second link is a follow up feedback form if you attend the session:

• Tuesday 27 February: MHST workshop: Helping children with sleep / Parent feedback form

• Wednesday 28 February: MHST workshop: Helping children with sleep / Parent feedback form

• Thursday 07 March: MHST workshop: Helping children with worries / Parent feedback form
• Friday 08 March: MHST workshop: Helping children with worries / Parent feedback form
• Thursday 21 March: MHST workshop: Helping children with resilience / Parent feedback form
• Friday 22 March: MHST workshop: Helping children with resilience / Parent feedback form
• Thursday 18 April: MHST workshop: Helping children with friendships / Parent feedback form
• Friday 19 April: MHST workshop: Helping children with friendships / Parent feedback form
• Thursday 16 May: MHST workshop: Helping children with challenging behaviour / Parent feedback form
• Friday 17 May: MHST workshop: Helping children with challenging behaviour / Parent feedback form
• Wednesday 05 June: MHST workshop: Helping children with screen time / Parent feedback form
• Thursday 06 June: MHST workshop: Helping children with screen time / Parent feedback form
• Wednesday 26 June: MHST workshop: Helping children with sleep / Parent feedback form
• Friday 28 June: MHST workshop: Helping children with sleep / Parent feedback form

Heatham House is celebrating Chinese New Year with a programme of activities leading up to the Year of the Dragon; and ending the programme with Dragon Dancing in the February Half Term.

Book your place on FOCUS - Chinese New Year sessions via Linktree.

For more information contact Danielle Hutchinson.

Click here to view the flyer.

Free weekly art sessions for young people to take part in at Heatham House. Activities range from tie dye, calligraphy, dream catcher making, candle making and more.

Young people will also receive AQA Accreditation for each session they attend.

Book your place on KickstART - go to our Linktree.

For more information contact Danielle Hutchinson.

Click here to view the Kick Start Booklet.

If you would like to stay up to date with events as they happen, click the links to follow us on:

TWITTER INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK LINKEDIN