RTS Parents' Newsletter

I am sure that I am not the only person who is constantly looking at and talking about the weather at the moment! To go from the lovely warmth of the sunshine (at last) on Tuesday; to yet another cold, windy and rainy day today - it's hard to keep up!

As always we have been busy in school with trips, visits, Year 7 Parent Consultations, assemblies; and, the two day final Art GCSE exam. Well done to the students involved in that exam, I am sure it is exhausting focusing for that amount of time on their final project - but, from what I have been told, the results were well worth their hard work, dedication and application. The first full cohort exam is Biology on Friday 10 May and the school transforms into an examination hub, with both the Assembly Hall and ILZ being used for exams.

With a three-day weekend ahead of us I am back to the weather - as long as the rain holds off, it looks like it may be nudging towards the warmer temperatures again. I wish you all a lovely weekend and that you are able to take advantage of the extra day together.

~Ms K Dooley | Head Teacher

Daniyal, Year 8, has been a key volunteer over the Ramadhan month in collecting over £250,000 in donation and pledges for Isleworth Deen Centre, a community and Islamic Centre located in Twickenham Road, Isleworth.

Whilst fasting and completing night prayers, Daniyal travelled throughout many cities visiting other mosques to raise funds to help his local centre. During the Easter break he sometimes returned home, with the fund raising team, at 3am in the morning.

Daniyal was also involved in the live charity TV appeal at Channel S. He helped with the presentation and took telephone calls from viewers throughout the UK. The TV show was a 12 hour marathon where Daniyal helped in all aspects of raising funds.

A dedicated and reliable young member of the community who has been part of the success of Isleworth Deen Centre since he was aged 5 years old.

What an incredible member of his, and our, community. Well done Daniyal.

Last Friday, Year 7 students headed off on an immense one day trip to the Opal Coast, France. With a 3am start and a 9pm arrival home it was a long, but fun-packed day!

The students spent some time at Marché de Wimereux where an array of food, clothing and accessories was on offer. There was also an opportunity at Boulangerie Bruno to practice rolling croissants. Despite the slightly damp weather students were also able to walk through some lovely woodland at La Vallée du Denâcre; and finally to visit Nausicaá, the biggest aquarium in Europe.

One student told us that it was 'the best day of my life!'.

As always, we extend a huge thank you to the staff who accompanied the children for giving up their time (and sleep!).

• What's the best piece of advice you've ever received about teaching?
• Consistency is key! Pupils and staff thrive off routines and the kids secretly like doing the haka
• If you could invite any sports personality or musician to speak to your class, who would it be and why?
• Stormzy, he would be a huge inspiration to the kids and they would love him!
• If you could redesign your classroom any way you wanted, what would it look like?
• I would move the coffee machine to room 208.....
• What's your favourite thing to do to relax after a long day of teaching?
• Play the piano and watch TV

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)

Our FoRTS Parking Team were out in force again for the Women's International rugby game on 20th April. Though fewer cars came than on some previous dates, lots more families and women parked with us, there was a great atmosphere, and we had lots of brand new customers - hopefully they'll return for future dates!

Many thanks again for our great team of volunteers who helped us to raise £1789 for RTS. Our Year 10 volunteers are regularly helping to make the day go even more smoothly too - it's even better when customers can appreciate who we're raising funds for.

Our next (and likely last) dates until Autumn are 8th and 22nd June..

If anyone would like to join the volunteers (parents or students), please email the team via fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk'

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Quiz / Curry night - it’s back

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday 20 June, 7-10pm at the school

More details to come

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FoRTS Volunteering

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

Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Schooldays will again be operating an appointment system during the summer months.
Book your slot early to avoid disappointment at:

https://schooldaysllp.co.uk/index.php/booking-form/

Also - you can now spread the cost of your purchases over 3 months - using Paypal, (Online only)

Best Wishes
The Schooldays & Just Dancing Team

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

• Summer Term 1: Monday 15 April-Friday 24 May 2024

• Bank Holiday: Monday 06 May 2024

• Half-Term break: Monday 27-Friday 31 May 2024

• Summer Term 2: Monday 03 June-Wednesday 17 July 2024

The Richmond May Fair returns on Saturday 11th May 2024 and promises to be another fun-filled community event for everyone!

Be Richmond proudly sponsor The Richmond May Fair, returning on Saturday 11 th May

2024 from 10am-5pm on Richmond Green. Everyone is welcome – please come & join in

the fun – check out the flyer attached!

Old favourites like the vintage funfair and dog show return, along with over 200 stalls, the

craft marquee and a variety of food and drink. Local bands, schools and various

performance groups will provide free entertainment throughout the day on the Riverside

Radio stage.

With charities, artisans, businesses and schools all represented, the May Fair is a showcase

for all that Richmond has to offer and plays an important role in helping local charities

promote their work and raise much-needed funds.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, stallholder, volunteer, or wish to enter your

dog in the ever-popular dog show – please visit the new May Fair website

www.richmondmayfair.co.uk and follow us on Instagram and X @richmondmayfair.

Don’t miss our Summer Holiday Workshops Early Bird Offer!

Dramacube’s much-loved performing arts workshops are back for Summer ’24!

5-7 & 8-12 year olds will be enchanted with our Encanto inspired 3 day Musical
Theatre Workshops or can shape and star in their own movie in our 2 day Movie
Makers Workshops.

13-18 year olds Dancing Queens can whisk themselves to sunny shores in our
Mamma Mia inspired 3 day Musical Theatre workshops.

We offer discounts for siblings and full week bookings. PLUS with our EARLY BIRD
OFFER you can save 15% OFF when you book before midnight 5th May 2024.
(T&C apply)

Book at https://www.dramacubeproductions.co.uk/summer_workshops_2024
We can’t wait to perform with you again soon!

More information for -
Mini Musicals
https://www.dramacubeproductions.co.uk/classes-5-7yrs/
Moana Jr
https://www.dramacubeproductions.co.uk/youth-company/moana-jr/
and
Youth Theatre West End Weekend
https://www.dramacubeproductions.co.uk/youth-company/west-end-musicals-weekend/

We hope you had a fantastic Easter break. We know that children had an amazing time at our local camp, keeping active and entertained. We’re now looking forward to all the fun at our summer camp and wanted to remind you of the exclusive discount for your school community.

We wouldn’t want your school parents to miss out on this exclusive offer and would really appreciate it if you could promote this in your newsletters.

Parents just need to add SCHOOL20 in the promotion box to receive an extra £20 off when they book 2 or more days. Please find the coded flyer below and attached.

What’s more, if parents book now, they’ll benefit from our early booking discounts and can take advantage of our interest free monthly instalment options. There couldn’t be a better time to tick summer childcare off the list of things to do.

As we're Ofsted registered, we also accept ALL Childcare Vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare. Parents often like to use the vouchers/credits they’ve saved up over the course of the year for their summer holiday childcare.

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:

• 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

Achieving for Children’s Mental Health Support Teams are delivering a series of webinars for

parents of secondary aged children and young people (CYP). The ‘Helping teens with ...’ series

of webinars will cover a range of common difficulties experienced by CYP and will aim to share

evidence-based strategies to help parents and carers support their CYP with these difficulties.

Below is a list of webinars on offer over the coming months. In the third and fourth columns of

the table below, you will find the sign up links. Please note that sign up links will be added a

month before the webinar dates.

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