RTS Parents' Newsletter

This half-term has been another busy one. Year 11 students have sat one week of mock exams and are preparing for their second week after half-term, Year 7 have settled well into their new school, and Years 8, 9, and 10 have also settled into their new classes and GCSE subjects. This term the whole school community has also been adapting to new routines, as well as consolidating old ones. Amidst all this, our new sports fields were handed over, and students are already benefiting from this excellent resource, and we are also on track and making excellent progress on our new sports building and will share further updates with you next term. During this period, we also welcomed over 1,150 visitors to open events as part of the secondary transfer process - it was wonderful to see some familiar faces of current parents during these events.

We also celebrated the launch of our exciting new partnership with Richmond College and the Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges Group to open RTS-Sixth-Form-Plus! Our exciting new and innovative partnership was also featured in Further Education Week (FE Week) magazine: https://feweek.co.uk/groundbreaking-school-and-college-partnership-to-deliver-new-sixth-form/.

We return on Monday, 06 November, at our usual time and look forward to seeing Year 10 families for their Parent and Teacher Subject Consultation evening on Wednesday, 08 November. Mr Briggs, Assistant Head Teacher, will be writing to you just before our return for the second half of the autumn term with a few reminders to ensure we have another positive start. Please look out for his email/letter.

Wishing you all a pleasant break.

~ Ms Dooley | Head Teacher

Mabel assures us that she works hard for those head rubs and licks and takes her role as School Dog/Wellbeing Mascot very seriously!

Whilst the sun was still shining on us, Year 11 GCSE Geography students headed off to Stratford for their Human Fieldwork trip. Students were investigating if the Queen Elizabeth Olympic park development is sustainable by completing a range of surveys e.g. Environmental quality survey, land use survey, pedestrian count, annotated field sketch and questionnaires.

Today the Year 8 and 9 boy's rugby team went to Grasshoppers Rugby Club to take part in a U14 Middlesex Rugby Tournament.

The boys played outstandingly and finished top of their pool (only conceding one try). They then entered into the Cup competition against the strongest teams across the borough. Their final position overall was fourth - Congratulations to the whole team for an amazing achievement and fantastic sportsmanship.

• Monday 23 October-Friday 03 November: Half-term
• Monday 06 November: Back to school, 08:35
• Wednesday 08 November
• Early Finish at 15:00 (no p.6)
• Year 10 Parent/Subject Teacher Consultation (in school), 15:30-19:30
• Thursday 09 November: SEND Student Support session (in school), 18:00-19:00

• What inspired you to become a teacher?

• If you pursued a different career path other than teaching, what profession would you choose

• What's your favourite memory from your own school days as a student?

• What do you enjoy most about teaching and working with students?

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:

• Autumn Term 1: 04 September 2023 - 20 October 2023

• Autumn Term 2: 06 November 2023 - 20 December 2023

If you wish to contact the school, the School Office is open (term time only):

• Monday-Thursday - 08:15-16:30

• Friday - 08:15-15:00

Please use the Parents Communications Summary for guidance on types of queries and where advice may be found/who to direct your query to.

Email: info@rts.richmond.sch.uk
Website: https://www.richmonduponthamesschool.org.uk/
Location: Egerton Road, Twickenham TW2 7SL, UK
Phone: 0208 891 2985

PTA volunteering opportunities

If you would like to be part of the fundraising team please email fortssecretary@rts.richmond.sch.uk

We cannot function unless we have a pool of volunteers. All money raised goes to the full benefit of the RTS pupils through enhanced enrichment opportunities.

Pre-loved uniform

If you have any uniform donations please ask your child to drop them off at reception when they enter school.

Rugby Parking

Marshalling the school car park on rugby and event days is the biggest money maker for FoRTS. If you are interested in joining the marshalling team’s Whatsapp group please email Rob on fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Your FoRTS team,

Carmelle (Chair and Acting Secretary) and Mark (Treasurer - stepping down)

Secretary: fortssecretary@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Parking: fortsparking@rts.richmond.sch.uk

Please see below details of an online workshop being run by the Ruils Family Matters service, which may be of interest to some of your families.

This session is on ‘Managing Challenging Behaviour’ in secondary age young people with SEND. It is free to attend for parents in Richmond and Hounslow boroughs, although booking is required to reserve a space.

The session will be run by autism and diversity trainer Helen Eaton, MSc, PGSE, BA. Helen has over ten years' experience as Director of a Training Company, and twenty years' experience as an Associate Trainer. Over recent years she has delivered well over five hundred training sessions on Neurodiversity and Autism to workplaces, charities, schools, families and Neurodivergent individuals.

Secondary age children – 24th January.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/family-matters-workshop-managing-challenging-behaviour-secondary-years-tickets-740673533477?aff=oddtdtcreator

If the session looks to be fully booked, please reserve a waiting list place and you will be contacted directly.

The global games industry is a $159 billion industry, with nearly 50,000 people employed in the UK's games industry alone, with constant demand for talented programmers, artists, animators, designers, musicians, testers, and more.

"How to get into the games industry" is a FREE livestreamed event, featuring acclaimed developers giving their advice and taking questions about getting into the games industry, including:

• Codemasters (F1 2023, Dirt 5, Fast and Furious Crossroads)
• Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed, FarCry)
• SEGA Hardlight (Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces)
• TT Games (LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Marvel)

Abertay University, Escape Studios, the University of Salford, and Glasgow School of Art will also talk about the games courses they offer, and be available online for the event duration to answer any questions.

Anyone interested can register for free at: careers.gamesjobs.live

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