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)