Weekly News - Friday 29th September 2023

Harvest Festival

Thank you to those parents who joined us for our Upper School Harvest Festival service at All Saints Church this morning. We hope that you enjoyed reflecting on this important time of year along with us. Our Year 5 pupils and Year 6 Pupil Leadership Team led the readings beautifully and we were delighted to hear from the Senior and Junior Choirs, as well as the Orchestra, so early in the year!

Many, many thanks to all those who sent in donations of food. These will be distributed by the Salvation Army to those in need in Hillingdon.

Lower School Harvest Assemblies will take place on Tuesday 10th October (Year 1) and Wednesday 11th October (Reception).

Month End Music Recital

Our first Month End Music Recital of the year was extremely well-attended today and it was wonderful to see so many of our young performers step up to show off their musical talents and hard work. Well done to all those who performed!

A Week Of Trips And Visits

It has been a busy week of trips, visits and workshops across the school.

On Monday, the Year 4 classes enjoyed an Ancient Greek Day to enhance their history learning. In the morning they met someone who was trying to become a time traveller and had to help her to answer some different challenges about Ancient Greece. The pupils 'travelled' with her, using laughter to make the time travel happen. They then met Jocasta, an Athenian noblewoman, and were treated to a great insight into her life. In the afternoon the children took part in workshops and learnt about what it would be like to live in Jocasta's house, where there were separate rooms for the males and females to relax and where she had slaves to do everything for her. It was an interesting and exciting day for Year 4. 

On Wednesday, Year 6 visited Henry Moore's studio and gardens to explore some fascinating artwork by the war artist. This links to their studies in history where they are looking at the Second World War. In small groups, the pupils were taken on a tour of the fields of sculptures by well informed volunteer guides. The guides were impressed by how much knowledge the children retained about Moore's life and works. The statues are quite breathtaking and the children were impressed by their size. The afternoon gave the opportunity to sketch and take photographs of his work. We look forward to seeing the creations Year 6 will make based on Henry Moore's work over the coming weeks.

Also on Wednesday, Year 5 enjoyed a fabulous day at Hampton Court Palace, enriching their learning about The Tudors. The weather stayed dry, the children were full of enthusiasm and the staff were impressed with their behaviour. The pupils explored the outside grounds, the chapel and the impressive range of kitchens and had a tour of the Tudor state apartments. The children took part in a workshop with a costumed presenter about Elizabethan exploration and world trade. They thought about the different goods that were valuable at the time, being particularly amazed that the potato was such a prized possession! As part of this session, the children pitted themselves against the teachers in a race to be first to reach South America. 

On Thursday, our Kingfishers and Owls Reception classes had a wonderful time at Odds Farm Park. It was fun to learn lots of information about how a real farm works and there were lots of opportunities to see and touch different breeds of sheep and goats, as well as a lovely Jersey cow named Posey. The children found it very interesting to see first hand how the farmer milks a cow and there was even time to meet some fluffy rabbits. The day ended with an exciting and rather bumpy tractor ride across the field. What a lovely time Reception had down on the farm.

Thursday also saw the Year 2 classes take a trip to the Chiltern Open Air Museum, where they learnt many interesting facts about the Stone Age. They are now very much looking forward to their Stone Age Day here at school next Wednesday and we will share photographs of their stone age activities in due course!

PA Quiz Night

The Parents' Association will be hosting a quiz night on Wednesday 11th October at The White Bear in Ruislip. These are always popular occasions so please organise your team (4-6 people) and book your table soon! Details are here and the link for ticket bookings is being sent out by the PA.

Individual Music Lessons

There are spaces available for woodwind, brass and singing lessons for children in Years 2-6. Please use this Google Form to register interest.

Co-Curricular Activities

We have a few spaces left in Upper School co-curricular clubs, as follows.

Year 2/3 Recorder Club - Monday lunchtimes
Year 4/5/6 Spanish Club - after school

If your child is interested in joining one of these clubs, please contact Mr. Harrington at lharrington@sthelenscollege.com.

Karate Success

Very well done to the St. Helen's College pupils who competed in the International Banzai Cup Championship in Berlin last weekend. Grace O'H, Daynan C, Rania Q, Avleen P and Nayia L put in outstanding efforts. They all delivered solid performances and in some cases, narrowly missed out on podium finishes. 

Freya K secured a bronze medal in her kata event and a silver medal in her kumite event, while Aleya S clinched the gold medal in her kumite event. Both girls deserve special congratulations for their inspiring efforts!

From The PA: Christmas Card Project Reminder For Upper School Parents 

Last week, forms and artwork sheets were distributed to each class for the children to complete their drawings at home. Please check with your child if they have received their materials.

Artistic guidelines: we encourage all children to create bright and bold drawings for the Christmas cards as these tend to work best. As a friendly reminder, please do not use collage or glitter on the artwork sheets.

Artwork submission deadline: to ensure the project's success and timely production, all completed artwork must be returned to the Upper School office by Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

Replacement forms: if you find that you need a replacement form, please do not hesitate to contact the Upper School office.

The artwork will be returned to the company and uploaded onto a portal. The PA will share login details for the portal so that you can go online, view your child's artwork and place an order.

Artwork for Lower School is being completed at school.

Holiday Club - Half Term

Holiday Club bookings for half term will open at 4 p.m. today. Please log in to your SchoolsBuddy account to make your bookings. Please note that there will no longer be in-house catering for Holiday Club; parents will need to send snacks and lunches with children. Places must be booked in advance by Friday 13th October to enable us to arrange staffing in advance.

Next Week

4T swimming all week

Monday 2nd October - Year 3 trip to St. Albans
Tuesday 3rd October - School At Work Open Morning
Wednesday 4th October - Year 2 Stone Age Day
Wednesday 4th October - Nursery coffee morning in Lower School Hall (8.15 a.m.)
Wednesday 4th October - Ducklings, Nursery and Reception parents' evenings (all at Lower School)
Thursday 5th October - Parents' Association meeting in Evans Hall (7.00 p.m.)
Friday 6th October - 4B coffee morning/class assembly (8.15 a.m.)
 

Toddler Play Sessions

Mr. Harrington's wife runs 'Mini Me Town' play sessions for children up to the age of six, which encourage exploration through play. She will be running a session at Lower School on Saturday 7th October from 10.30 - 11.30 a.m. If you are interested in attending with your child to encourage their imaginative play and meet other parents and children, you can visit the Mini Me Town website for further details and to book: www.minimetown.co.uk. Sessions are usually £9 each, but there is an introductory offer of £6 for the first session. Places are limited so please book early.