RTS Parents' Newsletter

This week has just flown by - whether it was a 4 day or a 5 day week for students/staff; it has passed in a blur of activity. Students returned to school full of positivity - no doubt enhanced by the longer, brighter days we are now experiencing. It really does make a difference to mental health when you are able to arrive and leave work/school in daylight hours. The sunshine, albeit still with a very fresh chill in the air, has been very welcome and the light coming through the Atrium roof has been incredible. I am again reminded of what a privilege it is to be here in this building - and I hope that our students feel the same.

Thank you again for your ongoing support with ensuring that students respect our surroundings by not bringing or chewing gum in school; and also by coming to school ready and prepared to learn by wearing the school uniform in a correct and appropriate way - as exemplified by Minnie below.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and, for those in our RTS community who observe - Ramadan Mubarak!

~Ms K Dooley | Head Teacher

Year 7 Anderson celebrated their outstanding achievements with a well-deserved pizza party and sweet treats today recognising their hard work, dedication, and excellent teamwork. The class earned the highest number of merits and maintained top attendance across the year group, demonstrating their commitment to both academic success and school values. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and pride as students enjoyed their reward, reflecting on their collective efforts and motivation to continue striving for excellence. This celebration not only acknowledged their achievements but also encouraged them to keep up their fantastic attitude and perseverance for the rest of the year!

We would like to gently remind parents that we are located in a heavily residential area and that the tope end of Egerton Road is a 'School Street' and is therefore not to be accessed by vehicles during the times of school opening/closing. This may mean that you have arranged with your children a different place to drop them off/collect them (including the other side of the A316, i.e. Chudleigh Road) and we would urge you to be considerate of residents by not parking across driveways/blocking access or leaving your engines running. Richmond Borough promotes anti-idling due to the pollution and health risks associated.

With the lighter and longer days ahead of us, please look at alternative methods of transport - including cycling and walking - for students to reduce the vehicle impact on our local area.

Thank you for your support in respecting our neighbours.

Below is a list of webinars that are run by MHST on various topics such as exam anxiety, friendship issues, social media etc. that parents may find useful to sign up to.

These sessions, run by Lasting Support Services are aimed at parents of children age 4+, although we know even younger children are allowed on electronic devices, social media and gaming platforms they are somewhat shielded from certain forms of potential online harms by their need for greater parental supervision and lack of understanding of the written word. The workshops will be most appealing to parents of tweens and adolescents.

This workshop provision is a collaborative initiative of:

• Naheem Bashir the Hate Crime & Prevent Coordinator, Community Safety, Chief Executives' Directorate Serving Richmond and Wandsworth Councils
• Lieneke Eleveld , Antisocial Behaviour and Community Resilience Manager, Safer Kingston Partnership, Communities Directorate, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, and
• Sanya Walker-Batson the Parent Champion Network Coordinator for Richmond and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Achieving for Children, Supporting Families

Workshops will be delivered by the Home Office approved delivery partner Lasting Support

Services. (LSS).

Facilitator profiles:

1. Faysal Curry - Faysal is an online safety expert specialising in the prevention of all forms of grooming, the dark web, and the technicalities of gaming culture. He sits on several police counterterrorism and scrutiny boards. With extensive experience as a youth practitioner, he manages intervention and behaviour programmes aimed at preventing serious youth violence.

2. Julia Elstrodt - Julia is a psychotherapist specialising in PTSD, grooming, and childhood trauma,

supporting survivors of abuse in their healing journey. She is also highly regarded for her work in improving trauma-informed practices for organisations and professionals.

3. Warda Mohamed - Warda is a Home Office-approved intervention provider, working with young people radicalised through the Channel programme. She has extensive experience addressing taboo safeguarding issues within vulnerable communities and serves as a government adviser on managing complex cases.

Workshop topics:

• Internet Addiction
• Understanding the signs of online addiction and discussing early intervention from a therapist's perspective
• Online Spaces, AI & Deepfakes
• Guidance on identifying harmful online behaviours, including risks in gaming, social media, and AI-generated content, along with approaches to support young people vulnerable to online risks in building healthier habits and lifestyles
• Radicalisation Awareness: Covering pathways and indicators of radicalisation and grooming, lessons from case studies, ways to support at-risk young people as parents, and an understanding of how the government process around radicalisation works.

There is one in person session at the Grey Court School in Ham open to Richmond parents, and two online sessions open to Richmond and Wandsworth parents.

• Tuesday 11 March 2025 - in person event - 17:30 to 19:15pm at the Grey Court School, Ham
• Friday 14 March 2025 - online - 10am to 12:30pm
• Friday 21 March 2025 - online - 10am to 12:30pm

Sign up here

After the success of the previous weekend, Chef Laurie and Rano will be back for the final home game of the Six Nations! Whether you are heading to the rugby or not, come along and support your school and pick up some delicious food! Pre-order here.

Rugby Car Park Marshalling

Last weekend, saw another International rugby match held at the Twickenham Allianz Stadium. With the dedicated support of our lovely FoRTS volunteers we managed to raise another incredible amount of £2761.50 all of which goes to the school to purchase additional items for our children’s learning and educational support.

This incredible success would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our parent volunteers. To those of you who have contributed this academic year and in previous years, we extend our heartfelt thanks.

Our student volunteers have also been remarkable, and for those in Year 9 and above, your participation counts towards your Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Thank you for your continued dedication and support.

If you would like to join the parking marshalling team click this link - they are very professional and always have a laugh Join the FoRTS Car Parking Team

Pre-loved uniform: upcoming sales for your dairy

A reminder of upcoming pre-loved uniform sales:

Please see the dates below - Fridays 2:30-4pm - PLEASE NOTE: no entry into the school until 2.30pm - please access the Atrium via the Main Reception entrance only there are extra-curricular events happening elsewhere in school. The FoRTS banner will be up to show you where the entrance is!

21 March

16 May

20 June

These will be held in the Atrium of the school. Please pay by card wherever possible but we will also accept cash.

Easyfundraising

Please take a minute out of your day to register for Easyfundraising.

We have registered Friends of Richmond upon Thames School with #easyfundraising, which means over 7,500 brands will now donate to us for FREE every time you use easyfundraising to shop with them.

These donations will help SO MUCH, so please sign up to support us – it’s completely FREE. Sign up here: Easyfundraising

FoRTS Volunteering

We do have a lovely small team of volunteers and do have fun especially with the rugby parking marshalling Join the FoRTS Car Parking Team

We are seeking a Treasurer to shadow our current Treasurer this year, with a full-time start next academic year. If you are interested in learning more about this role, please contact Carmelle.

All processes are already in place, so there is no additional work involved. The responsibilities include totaling any money raised, sending it to the bank, and providing termly updates on funds raised and spent.

All the above and more cannot be done without your help so please look to donate a couple of hours of your time when requested.

Join FoRTS by clicking here. It’s as simple as that!

Your FoRTS team,

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

General: forts@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

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)

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

• Spring Term 2: Monday 24 February-Friday 04 April

Please find the Parent Calendar Summary for 2024-2025. Please check this regularly as some dates and times may be adjusted throughout the year.

With just over five weeks until the Easter break, we wanted to remind you about your school’s exclusive discount code. Parents simply need to enter SCHOOL20 at checkout to receive £20 off when they book a minimum of 2 days.

March is a key time for families to arrange their holiday childcare, and our camps are filling up fast! To ensure your school’s parents don’t miss out on this special offer, we’d be incredibly grateful if you could share it in your newsletters or updates.

• Limited discounted places available – prices increase as spaces fill, so early booking means bigger savings!
• Flexible booking options – we accept Tax-Free Childcare, Childcare Vouchers, and offer booking protection with Flex.

Join us for musical theatre magic in Agrabah, at Harvard Law School, and down in Wonderland!

Tickets for our sensational Spring term productions - Aladdin JR and Legally Blonde JR - go on sale next week. Plus, Early Birds can save on our Alice in Wonderland-inspired Easter workshops.

Our shows and holiday workshops get booked up fast. Keep reading to make sure you don’t miss out on what’s set to be a spectacular Spring term finale!

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