School News and Head's Blog

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Posted on: 2/02/2024

Fairness by Mrs. Kahol

  Our school value over the past couple of weeks has been Fairness and we have had several opportunities in assemblies and around the school to discuss and see fairness in action and reflect on how we perceive fairness. Many of you may know that I am an avid supporter of an organisation called WomenED and one of the key principles associated with this organisation is ‘fairness’.  See the link here on the four WomenEd Campaigns. I have had many conversations with parents regarding equality and fairness and I am aware that many of you are active proponents of this in your work places and home lives. I am delighted to share this blog written by Mrs. Kahol, a parent who works at GSK. It is written with the pupils as an audience but so relevant for us all.  Ms Drummond   Dear Pupils, As you start the new year, I wanted to discuss the important topic of equality with you. Did you know that only around 100 years ago, women weren’t allowed to get a proper education? You might be surprised to know that the first college which allowed women to get into higher studies was the University of London, and that the first  women ever to receive degrees got them in 1878. Education, which is now a basic right for all, wasn’t granted to girls in this country just one hundred years ago.  Unfortunately, in some parts of the world, these issues still exist. While the right to vote for women arrived in the early 1900s in the UK as a result of the suffragette movement, true equality for women is far from achieved, both in the UK and globally. Let me give you an example to explain more clearly. Two girls and two boys participate in an activity and receive the same score. Should they receive the same award for it – say two chocolates each? How would you feel if the boys were given three chocolates each and the girls were given only two? Would that feel fair? This idea of rewarding men and women differently for doing the same job is called Gender Pay Discrimination and it has been illegal in the UK for 45 years. But it still exists in some other parts of the world.  However if, in the above scenario, girls were asked to complete five more tasks in parallel to the tasks they have been given, they would of course take longer hours to complete the tasks, get more exhausted and likely leave the initial two tasks to the boys. This would lead to the boys getting all the chocolates. This is what is known as the Gender Pay Gap: because women still do more of the unpaid work of a family (e.g. childcare and housework) than men do, they have less time for paid work. The causes of the Gender Pay Gap are complex and overlapping. While some women may choose to work less and earn less, others may be forced into this situation and may not be happy. According to the Women in Work Index 2021, at the rate the Gender Pay Gap is currently closing, it will take more than 50 years to reach gender pay parity. For every 100 men in the workforce, 69 women are in the workforce in the UK. That number is much lower for developing nations. Currently in the top 500 companies of the world (Fortune 500) only 9% of the CEOs are women. This equates to fewer role models for women which may lead women to have lower aspirations overall for their careers, a phenomenon called The Glass Ceiling. Inequality like this between men and women at work may have a negative impact not only on women but on men too. It boxes men and women in to assume that they want to take on gender roles as they were defined centuries ago, with women staying at home and men outside. Things have changed in the last few centuries. Both men and women can work now if they want to, they can take care of a family together and support each other. Financial freedom is no longer limited by gender. Boys and girls, you all have the opportunity to change this world. Each one of you can help in continuing to close this gap. It is important that the pupils of St. Helen’s College study hard and have equal opportunities to make names for themselves in fields of their choice in the future. Don’t let stereotypes box you into gender roles. You are the future and a good education from an esteemed school such as St. Helen’s College puts you in a great position to make your dreams come true. The world needs role models like you, prepared to call out any discrimination you see around you. Mrs. Kahol
Posted on: 26/01/2024

Weekly News - Friday 26th January 2024

Month End Music Recital We were treated to another hour of musicality at the end of the day today, as children from Years 1 to 6 once again had the opportunity to perform vocal and instrumental pieces to parents, siblings and staff. This is always such a wonderful way to round off the week and the month. There is something very touching about watching a child summon up the courage to perform (sometimes for the very first time) and in seeing the pride each child takes in the achievement when they manage it. At St. Helen's College we know that these informal opportunities to perform are crucial in developing confidence and self-esteem. A big well done to everyone who took part today! Trunk Theatre Visit Y2 London's burning, London's burning!  Trunk Theatre made a special visit to Y2 this week to present a thoroughly entertaining production of 'The Great Fire of London'. Continuing classroom work on this topic, the interactive play was full of fun, bringing to life this momentous event in history. Beginning in Tom Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane, and including recollections from the famous diarist Samuel Pepys, it was a riotous re-telling of the story, interspersed with songs, dances and games. The children loved joining in to sing and dance, and even fire a few water pistols!      1C Class Assembly  1C have been learning about significant explorers in their history lessons. On Thursday they performed a wonderful assembly about Neil Armstrong, who was the first man to step foot on the moon in 1969. They had lots of fun exploring his journey and finding out about the important people who contributed to this significant moment in history. The children had learnt so many interesting facts about the Apollo 11 mission and the moon. They delivered their lines with enthusiasm and confidence. The children sang with gusto, played musical instruments, had video clips of the children from the 1930’s (when the astronauts were born) and even had a quiz show! It was a thoroughly entertaining assembly that reflected the children’s enjoyment of their learning. Thank you and well done 1C!   6H Class Assembly It was inspirational this morning to see the children of 6H present their assembly all about the future and what they would like to be when they grow up. Many of them have interesting ideas for future careers in business, the medical professions, sports or the arts; some do not yet know what they want to do, and reminded us all that it is fine to decide later! Ms Drummond noted at the end of the assembly that there are many, many careers open to children now which did not exist when she was young; no doubt there will be even more new pathways by the time the current St. Helen's College children are adults. The children also reminded us, through a beautiful performance of the song 'SOS From The Kids', that we must all act now to look after our planet in order to safeguard their future and enable them to realise their dreams. This was a poignant, enjoyable assembly which got everyone thinking in the best way about the future and all it holds in store. If you would like to see a video montage of some of the children telling us what they want to be when they grow up, you can see this here and here. Year 4 Amersham Field Trip Year 4 experienced a fun trip to Amersham Field Centre this week. It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day which allowed for plenty of time to explore and learn outdoors. The children thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the great outdoors and being in the natural environment. The day started by meeting ‘Michael Faraday’ and learning about electricity, its uses, dangers and how the substation in the vicinity works to provide power to our homes. The afternoon was spent learning about the way animals conserve energy by creating well-insulated homes and how animals like squirrels try to survive winters by hiding their food.  The outing finished with a short walk looking for evidence of animal activities on the grounds, pointing out excrements from different animals and their footprints.  Every child has made great progress in their knowledge of one of our curriculum topics, as well as having a fun outdoor learning experience.  Centenary Challenge Don't forget that we are keen to see any photographs of your children completing the list of '100 things to do in our centenary year'! You can email these to Mrs. Smith at susmith@sthelenscollege.com. We are hoping to use these in school displays and/or the end of year school magazine. Year 6 Girls on Board The Year 6 girls have taken part in their first empowering Girls on Board sessions. This is a short and effective programme to support girls to understand and navigate the dynamics and complexities of friendships. We are piloting the programme with the current Year 6 girls, and hope to expand it in the Upper School in the near future. We feel the approach will help to equip the girls with some useful tools for managing and enjoying their friendships, now and in their transition to senior schools. For more information you can watch an introductory video here.  Atom Learning Gold Award Unlocks Discount For Parents We are delighted to share that St. Helen's College has reached the academic milestones to become an Atom Learning Gold School.  Parents wishing to extend their child’s personalised learning journey beyond the classroom may wish to consider Atom Prime’s home learning companion, Atom Nucleus. As a Gold School, St. Helen's College parents can now enjoy a 20% discount code across all Atom Nucleus subscriptions. Click here to access your discount code. Community Tree Planting Day Trees for Cities are hosting a community tree planting day on Saturday 3rd February in Court Park. There will be food and hot drink provided for volunteers and the aim is to plant a mix of both small and large trees in the park. The groups of small trees will increase the diversity and resilience of the existing woodland areas by adding new species and younger trees to the space. The new trees will eventually add depth to the northern border of the park and assist with drainage in the often waterlogged soil area. We hope that many St. Helen's College families would like to join in with this initiative, and we would encourage your children to wear their school PE kits on that day so that it is obvious which children are from St. Helen's College. We are so very fortunate to have this beautiful park on our doorstep and would love to show the community how much we appreciate it by taking an active part in improving it for the future. It is, of course, also a wonderful chance for the children to put their eco pledges into action and to learn or practise the skill of planting.  You can sign up to take part here: https://www.treesforcities.org/hillingdon-court-park Welfare News Here are some seasonal reminders from our Welfare team. Please ensure that all children have gloves, scarves, hats and coats with them during cold weather and that all items are named. There are, as usual at this time of year, some winter bugs 'doing the rounds'. In order to limit the spread of these, please do not send your child to school: if they have a temperature;  within 48 hours of a bout of vomiting/diarrhoea; after giving them medication for cold/flu/sore throat/viral symptoms; if they have a persistently bad cough. If you do need to keep a child at home for health reasons, please remember to email absence@sthelenscollege.com by 8.30 a.m. with the reason for absence. Holiday Club The St. Helen's College Holiday Club will run at half term from Monday 12th to Friday 16th February. Please log in to your SchoolsBuddy account to make your bookings from 4 p.m. today. Next Week Monday 29th January - Active Travel and Road Safety Monday 29th January - Football v. St. Mary's Monday 29th January - Sick Child Course 7.00 - 9.00 p.m. Tuesday 30th January -  Year 2 and Year 5 tree planting workshop  Tuesday 30th January - Year 6 individual and class photos Tuesday 30th January - Netball v. Laurel Lane Wednesday 31st January - General knowledge quiz Wednesday 31st January - Netball v. Orley Farm School   Wednesday 31st January - Football v. Cowley St. Laurence Wednesday 31st January - Ducklings, Nursery & Reception parents' evenings  Thursday 1st February - Robins coffee morning and class assembly  Friday 2nd February - Natural History Museum visiting Nursery Friday 2nd February - 5G coffee morning and class assembly  
Posted on: 19/01/2024

Weekly News - Friday 19th January 2024

5R Class Assembly  As part of our Centenary celebrations in 2024, each year group is researching a different decade over the past 100 years. Pupils are finding out about important historical events and influential people who have contributed to significant scientific or cultural breakthroughs which have paved the way for change.   5R have been researching the 1930s and today presented a brilliant assembly about the trailblazing aviator and adventurer Amelia Earhart. We learnt how this intrepid explorer became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic and set many other records throughout her remarkable life. Pupils confidently shared reimagined extracts from Amelia's diary and delivered their own poetry about 'flying high'. They also took us on a whistle stop journey around the world with flags and interesting facts from the equatorial countries Amelia flew across as she circumnavigated the globe. Amelia's inspiring story demonstrates determination and perseverance, key school values that we encourage in school every day.  Year 6 French Pen Pals  Year 6 recently wrote introductory letters to pen pals in France and were very excited to receive their first replies! The return letters are from a school close to Château de la Baudonnière in Normandy and will be the first of many letters crossing the channel before Year 6 visit the region for their residential in the summer term. Pupils will then have the opportunity to meet their pen pals in person, joining them for activities at their school and more fun back at the Château!   House Mottos We have a thriving House system here at St. Helen's College and run a programme of fun, competitive challenges where every child has the opportunity to be involved and to win valuable House points. The latest challenge is for the children to create new mottos for their Houses: Caledonia, Hibernia, Windsor and Cambria. They can post their suggestions on their House Google Classrooms in time for the next House assembly in March. The House motto should reflect the values of the school that each House strives for in everything they do. The chosen mottos will be revealed at Exhibition Day on March 16th, good luck everyone! Royal Academy of Arts Young Artists' Summer Show Calling all budding artists! The prestigious Royal Academy of Arts is calling for submissions for the annual Young Artists' Summer Show. This is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged 4 - 19 studying in the UK. Judged by a panel of artists and art professionals, selected artworks are displayed online and on site at the Royal Academy of Arts.   We have some amazingly talented artists here at St. Helen's College and this is a wonderful opportunity for pupils to show artwork at one of the most influential art venues in the world. Information on how to register can be found here. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 27th March 2024 at 5 p.m. We hope that this piece of artwork by Tiya T (Year 6) will inspire many pupils to enter! Kitchen Retains 5 Star Rating Following an unannounced spot inspection today, we are delighted to report that our school kitchen has once again been awarded a 5 star rating for food hygiene from the Health & Safety Inspectorate at Hillingdon Food Standards Agency. Well done to Chef Soula and all the Accent team! 2+ Entry - September 2024 We are now allocating places for entry to Ducklings Kindergarten in September. If you have a child who will turn two before the end of August, and you would like them to join Ducklings in September, please contact Mrs. Smith at susmith@sthelenscollege.com as soon as possible. Please alert any family and friends too! Bedtime Connection Resource Helping children to wind down at bedtime promotes a healthy sleep routine and can also be a valuable opportunity for parents to connect with their children after a busy day. Here are some simple and enjoyable ideas to build connection with your child at bedtime.  Beaconsfield School Half Term Camp There will be a holiday camp at Beaconsfield School over the February half term for children aged 5 - 12, which offers the opportunity for children to try new activities. Details are here. Next Week Wednesday 24th January - Trunk Theatre Company visiting Y2 Wednesday 24th January - Y4 Trip to Amersham Field Centre  Thursday 25th January - 1C Coffee Morning and Class Assembly  Thursday 25th January - Ducklings, Nursery and Reception Parents' Evenings Friday 26th January - 6H Coffee Morning and Class Assembly Friday 26th January - Month End Music Recital Friday 26th January - Girls Football Festival at Radlett Prep Y3/4/5/6  
Posted on: 19/01/2024

School Inspection

I am sure that many of you have read articles and reports in the media regarding the fallout from the tragic death of Headteacher Ruth Perry following her school’s Ofsted Inspection. Ruth took her own life in January 2023 before the publication of an inspection report rating Caversham Primary School in Berkshire ‘inadequate’. The chief coroner concluded that the inspection 'lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity' and was at times 'rude and intimidating'. Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, inspects and reports on anywhere that provides education for young people in England, including schools, nurseries and childminders. Schools or organisations are inspected every four years or 30 months depending on their status, and are then graded accordingly: 1 - outstanding 2 - good 3 - requires improvement 4 - inadequate Many parents rely on Ofsted ratings to help them choose a school or nursery for their child. As at November 2022, 88% of schools in England were rated either outstanding or good. As an independent school and part of the association IAPS (The Association for Preparatory Schools), we are inspected under a different inspection body: ISI (The Independent Schools Inspectorate).  Ofsted are contracted by the Department for Education to conduct and report on inspections of organisations such as schools (both maintained and academies). The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) are contracted to do the same but for Independent Schools. ISI is a Government approved inspectorate and the quality of its service is monitored by Ofsted on behalf of the Department for Education. Every year, Ofsted prepares a report for the Education Secretary about how the ISI has carried out its work. Overall Ofsted is satisfied but will normally comment on an area for ISI to consider. Both ISI and Ofsted report on independent schools’ compliance with the DfE Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations. These are the statutory rules the DfE imposes on independent schools against which ISI inspects. But ISI and Ofsted use a different framework and criteria for judging school quality, and they use different judgement words too. For example, up until last year ISI used 'excellent, good, sound and unsatisfactory', while Ofsted uses 'outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate'. Another difference is that ISI inspection teams largely consist of practising senior leaders currently working in independent schools, whereas Ofsted inspectors have not necessarily run a school. This means ISI inspectors are realistic and knowledgeable about the challenges for individual schools and their reports are more nuanced. For example, ISI inspectors evaluate independent schools against the higher standards of academic achievement and extracurricular activities in the sector as a whole as well as against national norms. The National Education Union (NEU) has urged school leaders to refuse to work as Ofsted inspectors until a health and safety assessment of the system is carried out. Ofsted inspections have been frozen and as well as calling for a freeze of inspections and the abolition of Ofsted, the motion instructed the union to 'call on all NEU leadership members to refuse to participate as inspectors in any further inspections until a full health and safety assessment of the inspection system is conducted'. Educational leaders in both the maintained and independent sector can only see the positive in this but sadly it is too little, too late for Ruth Perry. Many of you will know that I am a practising inspector for ISI and I am privileged to conduct regular inspections each year in other independent schools.  As an independent sector we also now have a new framework for our inspection process and ISI will now NOT give an overall judgement, and have abolished the four gradings of excellent, good, sound and unsatisfactory. Instead, they now focus on ‘nuanced reporting‘ within the report itself. The new framework places a strong emphasis on promoting the wellbeing of pupils. Pupil wellbeing is defined in section 10(2) of the Children Act 2004 as: physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing; protection from harm and neglect; education, training and recreation; the contribution made by them to society and social and economic wellbeing. This definition is used as a starting point for ISI’s approach to school evaluations, making it vital that all school leaders keep this at the forefront of their minds when updating policies and reviewing their curriculum and values. The new framework places an overarching responsibility of the school’s leadership, management and governance to 'actively promote' these five aspects of pupils’ wellbeing in all aspects of school life. Governors are reminded of their responsibilities to ensure their school is fully compliant and aware of the measures they need to take in order to mitigate against the particular issues their school faces. At St. Helen's College, we are approaching the end of our three year cycle and are due to be inspected hopefully by the end of 2024 under the new framework. The new framework emphasises that schools need to actively seek and take into account pupils’ views, wishes and feelings about their school experience. School leaders should enable pupils to communicate, develop positive relationships with staff, and make their views known. Parent and staff views are also taken into account and questionnaires are sent out from ISI at the onset of the inspection process to assist the team in their evaluations.  Safeguarding continues to be at the forefront of inspections. Inspectors will check to verify there are arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils and meet the expected standards and provisions as set out in the relevant legislation and statutory guidance. The new framework specifically mentions the need for schools to have effective arrangements to ensure that pupils know how to stay safe online and that these are regularly updated and reviewed. Schools can ensure they meet these criteria by having an effective PSHE curriculum in place as well as an Online Safety Policy (either stand alone or incorporated into the Child Protection and Safeguarding policy), which is appropriate for the ages and needs of the pupils. It should cover all aspects of staying safe online and must include appropriate provision to have monitoring and filtering systems in place.  I am proud to be part of the ISI inspectorate and how we as a body work together with schools to evaluate their provision to celebrate strengths but also to recommend areas of improvement to ensure that as a sector we are the frontrunners in our educational provision for your children.  You may wish to read more information about our inspection process here.
Posted on: 12/01/2024

Weekly News - Friday 12th January 2024

It has been a super first week back at school! The children have been very busy with their learning indoors and out. If you would like to keep in touch with what is going on at school, please follow us on your preferred channel(s) by clicking the links below.         Barnardo's National Choral Competition Final Tickets We are delighted that The Chamber Choir have once again reached the final of the prestigious Barnardo's National Choral Competition. The final will be held on Tuesday 5th March at Birmingham Symphony Hall. The competition will take place between 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. with an evening performance at 6.00 p.m. If you would like to attend the evening performance, tickets can be purchased here. There is a group rate available if 4+ tickets are booked together. Once you have added the tickets for the evening concert to the basket, there is an option to purchase a daytime ticket for £5 which allows you access to watch the competition, if you wish to do so. Please ensure that you book early; tickets are sold directly by the venue and we have no access to additional tickets once they are sold out.  100 Things To Do In Our Centenary Year We hope you are enjoying working your way through the list of '100 Things To Do In Our Centenary Year'! For the school magazine, we would like to collate photographs of pupils/families doing these activities. Mrs. Smith would be grateful if you would share photographs of your children/family enjoying some of the activities with her. You may email photos directly to susmith@sthelenscollege.com. Please feel free to send photographs throughout the year as you complete each activity. Library Books Libraries are a brilliant expression of community recycling - books and resources are borrowed, read, and returned to be shared again and again! By enjoying their library books and returning them to the school library on time, St. Helen's College children are part of this sustainable cycle in our school community.  Happy readers are the best way to promote reading, and the Upper School library is often busy with children asking for the books they have seen their friends enjoy! So please support sustainability and help to promote reading by encouraging your child to choose a particular place to keep their library books safe, and return them to school promptly when they are finished so that the books are available for another child. Books are loaned for up to two weeks and may be renewed for "another turn" by visiting the library. Books which remain overdue since before Christmas will be assumed lost, and parents may be asked to replace these.  Court Park Wood Carvings One of our staff members came across this beautiful wood carving from a fallen tree in Court Park. We are so lucky to have access to the park for our pupils for sports and more. To take a look for yourselves follow these directions: walk through the park past the tennis courts and children's playground into Court Drive. Walk straight up the road to the top of the hill where the path starts then walk around the perimeter of the park. You will see the carving on the right hand side. What a good excuse to walk or scoot to school, or to visit the park for a bracing winter walk!    Parents' Evenings Ducklings, Nursery and Reception parents' evenings will take place on Thursday 25th and Wednesday 31st January. Bookings are now open; information has been sent directly to parents by email. Alumni News Esme Stallard is an Old Helenian who is a science and climate reporter for the BBC. This week, she has written on the likelihood of Norway becoming the first country to approve commercial-scale deep sea mining. You can read her piece here. Sports News 5G have enjoyed a week of swimming lessons this week at Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex. Sporting fixtures will resume next week; please ensure that all children come to school with plenty of layers to keep warm during outdoor sports in this cold weather.  Free Basketball Tickets: Euro Cup Women London Lions Women v Lointek Gernika Bizkaia St. Helen's College pupils are being offered free tickets to the Women's Euro Cup basketball match between London Lions and Lointek Gernika Bizkaia on Thursday 18th January at the Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. To take advantage of this offer, simply follow the link below and use the promotional code LYG783. https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/euro-cup-women-london-lions-women-london-18-01-2024/event/35005F7BBB668586?did=community Next Week Monday 15th - Friday 19th January - 5R swimming all week Tuesday 16th January - Year 5 transfer meetings with Ms Drummond (5 - 8 p.m.) Wednesday 17th January - Reception entry meetings (for September 2024 entry) Wednesday 17th January - PA meeting in The Evans Hall (7.30 p.m.) Friday 19th January - 5R coffee morning (8.15 a.m.) and class assembly (8.40 a.m.) Dates For Your Diaries As always, there will be lots of opportunities this term for parents to see children's work and activities, and meet with staff. Important dates for parents for this term include: Friday 19th January - 5R coffee morning/class assembly Thursday 25th January - 1C coffee morning/class assembly Thursday 25th January - Ducklings/Nursery/Reception parents' evenings Friday 26th January - 6H coffee morning/class assembly Friday 26th January - Month End Music Recital in Evans Hall Wednesday 31st January - Ducklings/Nursery/Reception parents' evenings Thursday 1st February - Robins coffee morning/class assembly Friday 2nd February - 5G coffee morning/class assembly Thursday 8th February - Wrens coffee morning/class assembly Friday 9th February - 6L coffee morning/class assembly Tuesday 20th February - PA coffee morning Thursday 22nd February - Owls coffee morning/class assembly Friday 23rd February - Month End Music Recital in Evans Hall Thursday 29th February - Kingfishers coffee morning/class assembly Tuesday 5th March - Chamber Choir performing at Barnardo's National Final (Birmingham Symphony Hall) Wednesday 6th March - 1R coffee morning/class assembly Thursday 7th March - Year 3 play performance at Compass Theatre Tuesday 12th March - Year 4 parents' Senior School Transfer Meeting Friday 15th March - Half Day (NO AFTER SCHOOL CLUB AVAILABLE) Saturday 16th March - Centenary Exhibition Day Tuesday 19th March - Nursery/Reception Poetry Recitation Tuesday 19th March - Year 5 Isle of Wight Information Evening for parents Thursday 21st March - Speech & Poetry Competition Y1-6 (parents of finalists will be invited) Thursday 21st March - Year 3 PACCAR Information Evening for parents Friday 22nd March - Year 2 - 6 Easter Service at All Saints Church (11 a.m.) Easter Camp MiniMe Camps will be running an Easter Camp at PACCAR for 6-11 year old children from 8th to 12th April, which will include activities such as zip wire, abseiling, laser tag, giant swing and more. A flyer can be found here and bookings should be made here.  
Posted on: 5/01/2024

Weekly News - Friday 5th January 2024

Happy New Year to the St. Helen's College Community! We hope that you have all had a good break. We have been busy in school for the past two days with staff training and preparations for the new term, and are looking forward very much to welcoming the pupils back on Monday. Please ensure that your child arrives at school in good time each morning, by 8.25 a.m., so that all pupils may enjoy a calm, purposeful start to the day.  Buy Nothing New Month St. Helen's College is taking part in Buy Nothing New Month during January. This initiative, run by Keep Britain Tidy, is about moving beyond simply recycling to reduce the amount of new 'stuff' that we buy, and by extension, the amount of waste that we create. It is about cherishing the things we already have, repairing things rather than sending them to landfill, and finding new homes for the things we no longer need. It is sobering to think that, if everyone in the world lived like people in the UK, we would need over two and a half planets to regenerate and absorb our waste. As a society, we need to move to a circular economy that wastes less and puts more value on the things we already have. The 'Buy Nothing New' initiative is not just good for the planet; it is an opportunity to save money too. Last year, 65% of those who took part bought nothing new for a whole month, and an additional 31% bought less than they usually would. We hope that you will join us in trying to buy nothing new this month. Uniform And Equipment Please double check that your children have the correct uniform and equipment and that everything is clearly named. It is essential that every child brings a waterproof St. Helen's College coat/raincoat with them each day. Travel And Parking Reminders We urge parents and children to travel to school by foot (or bicycle/scooter) wherever possible. Doing so is environmentally friendly and good for physical and mental health. For those who must drive, we would like to remind all parents that it is your responsibility to adhere to the school's travel and parking regulations, and to ensure that anyone delivering or collecting your child to school does the same. The regulations are permanently published to the school website and are available here.  It is inevitable that there will be some congestion at school run times, and those who drive should allow for this when planning journeys. As a school, we work hard to maintain good relationships with neighbours, promote sustainable travel, ease congestion for parents and make the drop-off and pick-up as easy as possible. The measures we take include the following. An optional Breakfast Club daily during term time, so that your children may be dropped off at 7.30 a.m.  Staggered arrival times between 8.00 and 8.30 a.m. (with school staff providing supervision of children during these times). A 'drop and go' system in the mornings, overseen by school staff, so that children may be dropped off without adults needing to park and exit their car. Staggered departure times at end of day, between 3.00 and 3.50 p.m.  An optional After School Club daily during term time, so that children may stay at school up until 6 p.m. if needed. A variety of after school co-curricular activities which further disperse departure times at the end of day. Promotion of 'walk to school' initiatives and safe bicycle/scooter storage at school for children's bicycles and scooters. Requiring parents to adhere to our school travel and parking regulations. We are always interested to hear if you have any further ideas for easing congestion and promoting safe and sustainable travel. Next Week - Reminders Monday 8th - Friday 12th January - 5G swimming all week Wednesday 10th January - Nursery entry meetings (for 2024 entry) Wednesday 10th January - Year 5 transfer meetings with Ms Drummond Thursday 11th January - Nursery entry meetings (for 2024 entry)
Posted on: 13/12/2023

Weekly News - Wednesday 13th December 2023

Christmas Wishes We would like to send our heartfelt best wishes to you all for a peaceful, joyful Christmas.  It was magical to join together this morning for our annual Upper School Carol Service at All Saints Church. We reflected on the importance of the Christmas story and message, listening to Year 6 children deliver bible readings and prayers. The orchestra played beautifully and the Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Chamber Choir all sang for us, followed by a massed choir performance, for which several members of staff joined in. Special congratulations and thanks to Hana H (Year 6) for her exquisite Once In Royal David's City solo performance. This was a meaningful, fitting way to end the first term of the year.   Chamber Choir Reaches Final Of National Choral Competition! We are absolutely delighted to report that the St. Helen's College Chamber Choir has made it through to the finals of the Barnado's National Choral Competition on Tuesday 5th March! This is such a wonderful achievement for our elite singers, who recorded two songs for the competition: John Rutter's 'Colours of Christmas' and Linn Marsh's 'Believe'. They will be learning new songs to perform at the final in March and we will all be rooting for them! If you would like to hear the songs which secured their place in the final, you can do so here. ABRSM Exam Results  Congratulations to all of our musicians who have recently passed ABRSM examinations. It is, once again, an impressive list of achievements. Mark D 5G Piano Grade 2 Pass Pavan S 6L Singing Grade 2 Distinction Verity S 6H Singing Grade 2 Pass Karter P 5G Piano Initial Merit Aran P 4T Piano Grade 3 Pass Aanya P 5G Piano Grade 4 Pass Zoe F 3B Piano Grade 2 Pass Carols Around The Christmas Tree We were thrilled to see so many of you at the Carols Around The Tree event on Monday, and it was truly joyful to hear children, staff and parents sing with such gusto. When the St. Helen's College community comes together it is always a very special time and this was no exception. Thank you to Soula for the hot chocolate and mulled wine, and to the parents who brought sweet treats to sell for the PA. If you would like to see a video of the singing, you can do so here.    Father Christmas Visits! Monday was an extremely exciting day for our Ducklings and Lower School children: Christmas party day! The children wore their own clothes and played games, and the day was topped off with a visit from Father Christmas, who brought along a gift for every child. He visited Ducklings first and then, at Lower School, the new library was transformed into Santa's Grotto and each class visited him to share their Christmas wishes and receive their present. You can see more photographs of the Lower School children enjoying the run-up to Christmas on our Galleries page here.   Santa Dash Also on Monday, many of the children at Upper School chose to take part in a Santa Dash in Court Park. Wearing Santa hats, antlers, elf hats or - in some cases - entire Santa outfits, pupils and staff ran around the perimeter of the park. It was an enjoyable half hour of fresh air fun!         Christmas Tree Decoration Competition So many children throughout the  school brought in home made decorations for our Christmas trees this year that it was extremely hard to choose winners! In the end, the honours went to: Robins - Mayilan P Wrens - Nishay A Owls - Cameron G Kingfishers - Oliver N 1C - Callum B 1R - Annalivia B 2R - Aarlen J 2H - Adam H 3B - Tansy M 3M - Emerald S 4B - Alyssa P 4T - Mahi B 5G - Shanaya P 5R - Inaaya S 6H - Arjun C 6L - Tiya T Well done to all our budding artists!   Year 3 & 4 Trip to Peter Pan On Tuesday our final Christmas trip of the term saw the Year 3 and 4 children travel to The Rose Theatre in Kingston-Upon-Thames to see a production of Peter Pan. They thoroughly enjoyed the outing! Roman Day  Year 3 had great fun during their themed Roman Day on Monday (pictured here ready for battle!) They took part in three workshops throughout the day, designing shields, making Roman coins using clay, and finally a Lego building workshop where they created aqueducts, villas and even the Colosseum!        Ducklings And Nursery Entry - September 2024 If you have a child who is eligible for entry into Ducklings or Nursery in September 2024, and you have not yet registered them with us, please do so as soon as possible by completing our online registration form. Places will be allocated in early/mid January for both entry points. Looking Ahead As always, please take the opportunity over the holidays to check your child's uniform and equipment and to repair or replace anything as necessary, to ensure that they have all they need for next term. You can check the uniform and equipment list here. Please, please, please make sure that all items of uniform and equipment are clearly named! It is often very cold during January, February and even March, so please help the children to remember their coats, woolly hats, gloves and scarves. The spring term menu has been posted to the website and can be seen here. First Week Of Term Monday 8th - Friday 12th January - 5G swimming all week Wednesday 10th January - Nursery entry meetings (for 2024 entry) Wednesday 10th January - Year 5 transfer meetings with Ms Drummond Thursday 11th January - Nursery entry meetings (for 2024 entry)  
Posted on: 8/12/2023

Weekly News - Friday 8th December 2023

Christmas Christmas Christmas! There have been so many exciting Christmas celebrations, trips and activities going on across the school this week. Our 1R children entertained and informed us on Monday morning with their Christmas assembly at the Methodist Church. Their speaking and singing was first class, with every child contributing confidently and tunefully. It was very interesting to learn of different Christmas celebrations from around the world, and everyone enjoyed hearing the children tell the traditional Christmas story and sing both traditional religious and upbeat modern songs. Well done, 1R!     On Tuesday and Wednesday it was the turn of our Reception classes, Kingfishers and Owls, to present their Nativity assemblies. The children shared a confident re-telling of the traditional Nativity story in fabulous costumes, every child speaking and singing beautifully. These two performances even included solo singers which is an incredible achievement for such a young year group! Thank you to all our Reception performers for your fantastic work.      On Thursday and Friday our Nursery classes, Robins (pictured here) and Wrens, took to the stage for delightful Nativity assemblies. We were treated to sparkling singing and lots of smiles at these joyous and uplifting performances. It was wonderful to see pupils taking part so confidently in their first public performance at St. Helen's College. We are sure there will be many more to come! To see more Christmas photographs visit the gallery on the St. Helen's College website.     We were delighted that, as usual, Reverend Ken Kingston spoke to each of the Lower School classes following their Christmas assemblies. This year, he had a special twist up his sleeve: a donkey costume which Ms Drummond bought for him last year, after he had admired the donkey costumes in the St. Helen's College 2022 nativities!  The Methodist Church will be holding a special family 'Carols and Christingle' Christmas celebration on Sunday 17th December at 6.00 p.m. Everyone is welcome.    At Ducklings, our youngest children have been very busy creating festive decorations and cards, learning about the story of Christmas and exploring the traditional Nativity scene.            On Thursday, everyone wore Christmas jumpers to school and enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch. A huge thank you to all the Accent staff for their hard work. We were disappointed to have to postpone Carols Around The Tree, but hope to see you all on Monday afternoon for the re-arranged event, weather permitting.     We also held Festive Footsteps on Thursday. This was our JTA (Junior Travel Ambassador) team's latest incentive to encourage parents and children to walk, scoot or cycle for either part or all of the journey to school using our park and stride map. Our JTA team, in their green Santa hats, marshalled the route through Court Park, admiring some lovely Christmas jumpers and decorated bikes and scooters along the way! Well done to all of those who participated. Hana H, Grace O'H and Anna K (Year 6) were very pleased with the outcome of their raffle this week. They raised a total of £145 for Cancer Research UK. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket. We were delighted with the efforts of all of our pupil artists who submitted designs for the Centenary Christmas Card competition. The standard of entries was incredibly high. There were two winning designs, from twins Zoravar and Naseeb D in Year 1, whose outstanding artwork will be adorning the official school digital Christmas card this year. Congratulations! Theatre Trips The first two of our Upper School class Christmas trips took place this week too. On Wednesday, Year 5 and 6 visited London's Peacock Theatre to watch a very special Sadler's Wells performance of The Snowman. Parents might like to take children of any age to The Snowman Walking Trail in the Fleet Street area of London over the Christmas break. You can see details here: https://wildinart.co.uk/events/walking-with-the-snowman-at-fleet-street-quarter/ On Friday, Year 2 enjoyed an entertaining trip to Dick Whittington, the seasonal pantomime at the Compass Theatre in Ickenham. The pupils relished the opportunity to travel to the theatre by tube and, once there, delighted in the songs, dancing and jokes. Everyone certainly entered into the fun spirit of the occasion.  Online Safety As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping our pupils safe online, we would like to remind parents that we are members of National Online Safety, a platform that we use for our online safety curriculum and for training staff. Parents can also access the resources, including courses and webinars around online safety, using the following link: https://nationalcollege.com/enrol/st-helen-s-college We also have a date for your diaries. Mrs. Hunt and Mr. McLaughlin will be hosting an online evening to discuss specific, topical online safety concerns for primary-aged children on Wednesday, February 28th at 7 p.m. We will send the joining link nearer the time. Chamber Choir Visit to Chalfont Lodge Care Home On Friday our talented Chamber Choir visited Chalfont Lodge Care Home to spread some Christmas cheer to the elderly residents. The choir enchanted the audience with their beautiful performance of Believe (Lin Marsh), The Colours of Christmas (John Rutter) and Believe (Glen Ballard & Alan Silvestri). They were then joined by the residents to sing a selection of festive feel-good numbers including Jingle Bells, Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. It was a special moment for St. Helen's College Headmistresses present and past, as Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Crehan and Ms Drummond were together for the first time.   Recipe Pack  Chef Soula has shared this lovely December recipe pack for you to try with your children at home. We hope that you will have fun cooking together over the holidays! Oak Farm Library Oak Farm Library will be running some lovely events for children over the Christmas holidays. You can find details here.  Dance School The Lynne Chilver School of Dance has been popular with St. Helen's College pupils for many years. They run lessons on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Methodist Church on Long Lane. Please click here for more information.  Free Basketball Tickets! Once again St. Helen's College pupils have access to free tickets for this weekend's Thames Valley Cavaliers basketball fixtures at Uxbridge College Sports Centre. Full details are here. Next Week Monday 11th December - Lower School Party Day (children should wear party clothes) Monday 11th December - Year 3 Roman Day Monday 11th December - Carols Around The Tree 3.00 p.m. Tuesday 12th December - Year 3 & 4 trip to Peter Pan Wednesday 13th December - Year 2-6 Carol Service at All Saints' Church, 11.15 a.m. Wednesday 13th December - End of Term. Half Day Finish Times - 11.50 a.m. (Ducklings & N); 12.00 p.m. (R); 12.10 p.m. (Y1,2); 12.20 (Y3,4); 12.30 (Y5,6)
Posted on: 1/12/2023

Weekly News - Friday 1st December

House Songs  We will rock you!  The children - and staff - were in full voice on Thursday morning for our House Song event. Ramping up the team spirit, each House delivered a hearty rendition of their chosen piece. The songs were Queen's 'We Will Rock You' (Hibernia) and 'Don't Stop Us Now' (Cambria), Katy Perry's 'Roar' (Caledonia) and 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons (Windsor).     Class Assemblies  On Friday Class 1C shared a beautiful assembly explaining why Christmas is such an important time of year for Christians. They retold the Christmas Story and shared various ways in which Christmas is celebrated around the world. They sang a mixture of traditional and modern upbeat songs to entertain us too! Super work 1C, we were incredibly proud of your performance!       2R also treated us to a very festive assembly this week, sharing unusual Christmas customs and traditions from around the world. We learnt about hidden gifts on the Christmas tree in Germany and eating Christmas caterpillars in South Africa!  The assembly was topped off with the pupils' own fun and energetic take on 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', which proved a big hit with the audiences who watched this excellent assembly!       Middle East Conflict We know that there are many in our community affected by the conflict in the Middle East. We have spoken to the staff about this at school over recent weeks and they have been dealing sensitively and individually with the topic where pupils have expressed concern. We continue to focus on our school values in assemblies and our daily school life. Our thoughts and prayers go to all those suffering. We are all praying for peace. Social Media Thank you to all of those who responded to the recent social media survey. We have taken note of your preferences and have now launched/re-launched the school's social media channels. The school will never post essential information via social media so there is no obligation to follow us, but we hope that you will choose to do so in order to celebrate all that the St. Helen's College community is up to!  Instagram - @StHelensCollege_Hillingdon Facebook - @StHelensCollege_Hillingdon Twitter (X) - @StHelenCollege You might also like to follow Ms Drummond on Twitter (X). Twitter (X) - @shirleydrummon5   Chess News Congratulations to the winners of our recent in-school chess tournament and to all of the Year 4, 5 and 6 Chess Club players who participated.  1st - Gold medal Emily S (6L)  12 points 2nd - Silver medal  Aaron B (6H)  11 points 3rd - Bronze medal  Aakash B (4B)  10 points   The school will once again be taking part in the 2024 Delancey School Chess Tournament next term, so look out for more chess news then! Uxbridge Junior Chess Club will be hosting a Junior Chess Tournament on Sunday 21 January 2024. This is an individual competition but if a school has five or more pupils in the tournament then the school is automatically entered in the school tournament. Further details can be found here.  Sports News Last Friday our Year 6 footballers joined an exciting tournament at Goals Hayes, which was organised by Queen's Park Rangers Football Club. Players were Ryley J, Luca H, Kal-El M, Marco K, Rian M, Jeevan P, Viren C and Anand V. The boys won the first match 3-0 and narrowly lost the final two matches. The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all and the children were a testament to St. Helen's College, demonstrating exemplary sportsmanship. Well done boys! The football team's match against St. Catherine's School on Wednesday ended in a 1-0 loss. The boys were absolutely outstanding and only conceded in the last minute of the game. Team members were Jack K, Giuseppe D, Rian M, Sean R, Joe T, Daynan C, Aaron B, Maicen M and Mikail O. Switch Off Fortnight Looking after the environment is important to everyone at St. Helen's College and recently pupils have been on a real mission to save energy! Taking part in Switch Off Fortnight has galvanised everyone to put into action simple ways to save energy at school and at home.  Sofia S and Roshni J (5R) have written this to explain: This year's Switch Off Fortnight has been amazing! All the classes have been doing so well, and the electric metre scores are a lot better than last year. We know that everyone has been trying very hard. Even when it’s not Switch Off Fortnight please do turn off the lights, turn off the board and more. We really want you as the parents/guardians to encourage your children and for your children to encourage you to switch off at home. Switch Off Fortnight went on for two weeks from Monday 13th of November until Friday 24th of November. Well done to everyone for doing Switch Off Fortnight and not forgetting! Class winners for week one were 2H (Middle School) and 5R (Upper School) and for week two were 2H (Middle School) and 6H (Upper School). The winners enjoyed five minutes of extra play. Well done everyone and keep up the great work!  Hillingdon Food Bank  The St. Helen's College community has generously donated a second large box of supplies to the Hillingdon Food Bank, proudly displayed here by Rohan V and Annalivia B (Year 1).  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to this important initiative. You can find collection boxes at Lower and Upper School entrance areas, and any contributions are gratefully received.      Staff News We will, sadly, be saying goodbye to Miss Rackham, our 1R class teacher, at the end of this term, as she has now moved away from the area. We all wish Miss Rackham well as she pursues her next adventures, and we thank her for being a wonderful colleague. Miss Rackham's position will be filled, from January, by Mrs. Ashley Coker. Mrs. Coker is no stranger to St. Helen's College, having worked at Lower School as a Teaching And Learning Assistant some years ago before pursuing her teacher training. We are delighted to be welcoming her back into the St. Helen's College fold! Ms Furniss has recently joined the administrative team based at Upper School to assist with admissions, marketing, communications and more. We know that you will join with us in extending her a warm St. Helen's College welcome. Atom Prime training  A big thank you to all of the Year 3, 4 and 5 parents who joined the Atom Prime online training webinar on Thursday evening. Atom is a terrific online platform and a great way to engage with and support your child's learning at home.  Christmas Tree Decoration Competition As usual we will be running our Christmas Tree Decoration Competition this year. Children should bring in their home-made decorations from Monday 4th December until Friday 8th December. This year, children in Nursery to Year 6 should make decorations themed in their house colour. These are: Caledonia - Blue Cambria - Red Hibernia - Green Windsor - Yellow/Gold Ducklings may make decorations in any colour/style! Each decoration entry will receive two house points and there will also be a prize for the winner in each class from Ducklings through to Year 6. Christmas Post Box Our Christmas post boxes will be in operation from Monday at both Upper and Lower School. If your child would like to post cards for others in their class or other classes across the school, they may pop them into the post boxes and our Year 6 pupils will sort and deliver them. Please do not put chocolate or other edible treats into the cards.       Thursday 7th December On Thursday 7th December, children should wear their Christmas jumpers to school over their usual uniform. We are promoting 'Festive Footsteps' on this day, encouraging parents and children to walk (or use bicycles or scooters) for either part or all of the journey to school. Children might like to decorate their bicycles or scooters on this day to add to the festive feel! There will be school staff and JTAs (in green Santa hats) marshalling the route through Court Park from Court Drive to Parkway, so why not park a little distance from school that day and travel on foot the rest of the way? Our 'park and stride' map can be found here. Families taking part in 'Festive Footsteps' will also be helping to ease congestion at the end of the day, when the whole school will be gathering together for Carols Around The Tree in the Upper School playground. You are all warmly invited to join us for this event. Refreshments will be served from 3 p.m. outside the Evans Hall, and singing will begin around the tree at approximately 3.30 p.m. Year 6 children will be running a raffle in aid of Cancer Research UK on Thursday too, so please allow your child to bring £1 into school if they would like to buy a raffle ticket. This is entirely optional. Co-Curricular Bookings and Holiday Club Bookings Open Today Bookings for spring term co-curricular activities will open at 4 p.m. today. Please log in to your SchoolsBuddy account to submit your child's preferences. As ever, please discuss choices with your child in advance so that you know you are requesting clubs that your child really wants to attend. Preferences must be submitted by midnight on Sunday (3rd December). Bookings for the Christmas Holiday Club will also open at 4 p.m. today and should be made through your SchoolsBuddy account. Next Week/End of Term Monday 4th December - 1R coffee morning/Christmas assembly 8.15 a.m. Tuesday 5th December - Kingfishers coffee morning/Nativity 8.15 a.m. Wednesday 6th December - Owls coffee morning/Nativity 8.15 a.m. Wednesday 6th December - Year 5 & 6 trip to The Snowman Thursday 7th December - Robins coffee morning/Nativity 8.15 a.m. Thursday 7th December - Carols Around The Tree from 3.00 p.m. Thursday 7th December - Christmas lunch - menu available here Thursday 7th December - Christmas jumper day (Christmas jumpers may be worn throughout the school on top of whichever uniform/kit your child would usually wear on this day) Friday 8th December - Wrens coffee morning/Nativity 8.15 a.m. Friday 8th December - Year 2 trip to Dick Whittington Friday 8th December - Chamber Choir visit to Chalfont Lodge Care Home Tuesday 12th December - Year 3 & 4 trip to Peter Pan  Wednesday 13th December - Years 2 - 6 Carol Service at All Saints Church 11.15 a.m. Wednesday 13th December - End of term 11.50 a.m. (Ducklings & N); 12.00 p.m. (R); 12.10 p.m. (Y1,2); 12.20 p.m. (Y3,4); 12.30 p.m. (Y5,6)

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