The Richmond upon Thames School

In my opinion, RTS falls short in several key areas, particularly in providing adequate support for children who require additional assistance. The school's mental health support is notably lacking, leaving students without the necessary resources to cope with their challenges effectively.

Communication with staff is a significant issue, with direct correspondence often neglected or forgotten, leading to frustration among students, parents, and guardians. This lack of responsiveness creates an environment of uncertainty and adds unnecessary stress to an already demanding academic setting.

The enforcement of school policies could be criticised for its excessive strictness, bordering on military discipline for minor student infractions. This rigid approach lacks flexibility and fails to consider individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis, leading to a sense of unfairness among the student body.

Classroom conditions at RTS leave much to be desired, often with small, cramped rooms and inadequate natural light in some instances. These subpar learning environments can negatively impact student focus and well-being, hindering academic progress.

The management is a glaring issue, with a noticeable lack of effective leadership and organisation. The high turnover rate of students mid-term suggests underlying problems within the school's administration that need to be addressed urgently.

In summary, RTS faces significant challenges in providing adequate support for students, maintaining effective communication channels, enforcing policies fairly, providing suitable learning environments, and managing its operations efficiently. These shortcomings highlight the need for comprehensive reforms to ensure a positive and conducive educational experience for all students.

Our experience of this school has been very disappointing, despite trying so hard to be engaged and supportive. The management is terrible I’m afraid, and the approach to teaching is lazy and ineffective. The sports department do very little to encourage a range of teams and borough fixtures, the science department doesn’t offer any practical work in classes, and cookery classes involve watching master chef instead of actually cooking. The school don’t seem equipped to pick up on failing students and put measures in place. There doesn’t seem to be any quality control or general overview going on. The school provides iPads (at cost to parent) which the students use to play games on during lessons. I have had 2 sons at the school and the same issues have applied to both. I have recently been able to move my younger son to another school and the stark difference is astounding! I know RTS wasn’t great, but now being at a ‘proper’ school, I see that it was even worse than i feared. Do also look at their exam results (not as the school presents them, but as the council lists them) and you will see that they are in high negative numbers for value added, meaning students actually go backwards at this school!

most of the teachers were lovely however their lack of communication is astounding and they are clearly very unorganised. favouritism is employed and overused which makes their motto “excellence through endeavour” that more ironic as they themselves create the endeavour, not the excellence