RTS Parents' Newsletter

What a week! Every year I am incredibly impressed by the quality and standard of acting from our young students taking part in the school production - this year was no exception. The hard work, energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment that the students showed in putting on Oliver was clear to see and I commend them. From lighting crew to musicians, from actors to stagehands, set design to front of house - every single student involved should be incredibly proud of themselves.

Thank you to those staff who worked tirelessly over the past few weeks in ensuring that Oliver was a success - and also to those families who supported by attending the production this week.

Alongside our Spring celebration assembly on Friday where we share the achievements of our student community, we are certainly ending this Spring Term on a high! This was the last whole school assembly as five year groups for the academic year 2025-2026 and the last whole school assembly for Year 11. Seeing and hearing the whole school stand and say the RTS Haka together is something quite special. Congratulations to all of the students who won an award and well done to all students for their hard work over the last term.

Wishing you all a restful and happy Easter break.

Ms Dooley | Head Teacher

Every term, teachers nominate students in each year group to receive the Head Teacher's Award. Sometimes the final student is a clear front runner and at other times there are a number of students who are almost impossible to decide between them. The recipients of these awards should be rightly proud of themselves - and they certainly deserved their huge rounds of applause and cheers from their fellow students. Congratulations to you all!

Congratulations to our Golden Ticket Winners - Golden Tickets are awarded in the last couple of weeks of term to students who have demonstrated the RTS Values. All tickets are put into the Golden box and drawn out by Mr Briggs during the assembly. Prizes this year ranged from an X-Box controller to Easter Eggs to Amazon vouchers. Well done to all of our winners and to all students who received Golden Tickets over the last couple of weeks.

On Monday 23 March the Howden Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens Girls u14 one day competition took place. The team: Anhelina, Bella, Elise, Erica, Freya, Giulia, Jessica, Lyndsay, Margaret, Mollie, Nevaeh, Poppy, Stevie, and Victoria played exceptionally well together against some strong teams. This was our first ever attendance at this event and the girls had a fantastic day taking on West Buckland School and Blundell School in two highly entertaining matches. Well done to the team for demonstrating the RTS Values both on and off the pitch.

On Tuesday 24 March it was the under14 Boy's Team who headed off to Rosslyn Park. The team gave a great account of themselves, with a particular highlight of narrowing losing to John Fisher School 19-14, but concluding the day with a 24-14 win over Thorpe Hall School. Well done to all the team: Theo, Tyler, Wyatt, Finley G., Dylan, Iestyn, Ben, Jack K., Marko, James L., Ronnie R., and William T.

During British Science Week KS3 students took part in a range of science practicals, including making bouncy balls from milk, and using air pressure to make things move without touching them! We even got a visit from Mr He's animals! (If you are not keen on certain 8 legged creatures, please don't look too closely at the middle photo below).

We would like to remind parents of some key points from our Attendance Policy:

Daily absence reporting

Parents should telephone the absence line each day their child is absent from school between 08.30-09.00 on (0208 891-2985) Opt 2. We are unable to accept calls from siblings or from students themselves.

Reason for absence

We expect parents to provide a specific explanation for their child's absence, rather than simply stating 'ill' or 'unwell'.

Medical and other appointments

Parents should email confirmation or a screenshot of appointments to our Attendance Officer before the appointment takes place (attendance@rts.richmond.sch.uk). Without this documentation, we are unable to authorise the absence. This applies to all:

• Medical appointments

• Dental/orthodontic appointments

• Consulate/passport appointments

• Biometric appointments

• Music or Dance exams

Scheduling appointments

We encourage parents to arrange appointments outside school hours wherever possible. If an appointment must take place during the school day, please try to schedule it for early morning or late afternoon to minimise time away from lessons. We expect students to attend school before and/or after their appointment. This also applies to consulate/passport and biometric appointments.

Appointments we do not authorise

Please note that we do not authorise absence for:

• Opticians appointments

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us maintain excellent attendance.

Easyfundraising

We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to Friends of RTS through #easyfundraising. Your support is invaluable in helping us achieve our mission.

If you haven't signed up yet, the process is simple and completely free. With over 8,100 brands participating, a percentage of your everyday online purchases will be donated to us—at no additional cost to you. Join us in making a meaningful impact today.

So far we have raised £1,342.23

Sign up here: Easyfundraising

Your FoRTS team,

Carmelle (Chair and Acting Secretary) and Pino (Treasurer)

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 23 February 2026-Friday 27 March (finish at noon)

• Summer Term 1: Monday 13 April (09:45 start)-Friday 22 May

Please find the Parent Calendar Summary for 2025-2026. Please check this regularly as some dates and times may be adjusted throughout the year.

Step into a world of wonder this Easter with Dramacube's 3-day musical theatre workshops - inspired by Mary Poppins!

With a spoonful of imagination and a whole lot of fun, children will sing, perform and play drama games — culminating in a supercalifragilistic showcase on Day 3.

30th March – 1st April | Hampton Hill & Walton on Thames

Book at https://dramacube.co.uk/workshops/

Sign up for Dramacube's production of Matilda JR and see your child shine on stage at Hampton Hill Theatre.

Whether they are new to musical theatre or have taken part in drama, dance or performing arts before - everyone is welcome and will be part of the final production.

Summer Term starts w/c 20th April in the following locations:
8–12 Year Olds – Hampton Hill, Teddington or Walton-on-Thames
13–18 Year Olds – Hampton Hill or Twickenham

Enrol in the cast or book a 2-week-taster at www.dramacube.co.uk

A specialist netball camp is being held this Easter on April 7th and 8th at Grey Court School, Richmond.

Our camps are delivered by qualified coaches and open to all abilities in years 5-10.

Young people age 11 – 25 can now win £500 and a box of art materials in the 2026 Grantham Climate Art Prize, a competition that invites them to design a mural depicting a sustainable city. The 20m long and 2.4m high mural will be situated at Imperial College’s White City campus. Students from schools, colleges and universities can submit a design for the mural with the theme: What does a thriving, vibrant city full of innovation and nature look and feel like?

They will need to consider a list of innovative and eco-solutions to create an eye-catching design available here: www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/events/grantham-art-prize/

The winning design will be selected by a panel including the mural artist and experts in climate change and innovation at Imperial College. It will be transformed into a large-scale mural by professional artist Jeru Nomi. Runner-up designs will be exhibited on the campus as part of an exhibition alongside the winning mural and there be cash prizes for two runners up (£250 each).

The Grantham Climate Art Prize is an award run by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London that invites young people to design murals drawing attention to the climate crisis and the need for action to create a more sustainable world.

Previous art prize themes have included British Biodiversity Loss (2021) and A Greener, Cleaner, Cooler World (2023), inspired by the Grantham Institute’s 9 things you can do about climate change (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/climate-action/) and From Grey to Green: Design the Future 2025.

We now have 13 murals across Great Britain – from Brighton to Glasgow – and exhibitions of winning and runner-up designs, including at COP26 and COP30, in museums, and on billboards in London’s transport hubs.

To enter the 2026 art prize please upload a clear photograph, or scan, of your landscape/ panoramic design as a JPEG, PNG or GIF by Monday 13 April 2026. For more info go to: www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/events/grantham-art-prize/. Please note young people can enter a collective piece eg created by school class members.

Looking to join a local football club? Take a look at the flyers below for more detail!

We run different youth club sessions for children and adults with disabilities.

It takes courage to ask for help. But for many young people who do, the support they need just isn’t there. Hundreds of thousands of young people are struggling with their mental health, but too many are being told to wait, struggling to cope and hitting a crisis point before they get help.

But things can get better. And Young Minds are leading the movement for change.

We provide young people with the tools to look after their mental health. We empower adults to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. And we give young people the space and confidence to get their voices heard and change the world we live in.

Together, we can create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health.

The Helpline is a lifeline for parents, carers and children/young people who don’t know where to turn, or don’t feel listened to when their child is, or they are, struggling.

Parents in Conflict for separated or divorced parents or carers, a 3 week course being held in Ham - afternoon (12.30pm-2.30pm) or evening group available (6pm-8pm). 2 groups are being offered on the same day so separated parents can attend different groups.

Professionals can refer a parent/carer or parents/carers can self refer by completing an online registration form, please see the link below:

https://forms.gle/WsBeMXDAZ2z8N8eUA

For more information and details please contact: karen.williams@achievingforchildren.org.uk

These groups are arranged by Achieving for Children - Providing children's services for Kingston and Richmond

Please find details on MHST Workshops being held over the course of the next academic year:

• "Helping Children with"
• "Helping Teens with"

For advice and resources about mental health and wellbeing, please scan the QR code.

Wed 22 Apr | Suicide and Self-Harm Awareness for Parents

Delivered by Mind, this online session is tailored for parents of neurodivergent young people who want to gain a better understanding of the topic of self-harm and suicide.

https://www.expresscic.org.uk/event-details/suicide-and-self-harm-awareness-online-for-parents-and-carers-of-neurodivergent-young-people

Fri 24 Apr | Express CIC

Delivered by Mind, this session at Express is tailored for parents of neurodivergent young people who want to gain a better understanding of the topic of self-harm and suicide.

https://www.expresscic.org.uk/event-details/suicide-and-self-harm-awareness-at-express-for-parents-and-carers-of-neurodivergent-young-people

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