School News and Head's Blog
Posted on: 10/01/2025Emotional Intelligence by Mr. McLaughlin
Emotional Intelligence: The Secret to Your Child’s Future Success?
As parents, we all want our children to grow into happy, successful adults. While academic achievements and extracurricular activities often take centre stage, research highlights a vital predictor of future success: emotional intelligence (EI).
A recent study tracked 1,000 children over 40 years to uncover the key factors behind financial and professional success in adulthood. Surprisingly, it wasn’t IQ, grades, or socioeconomic status that stood out. Instead, emotional intelligence - skills like empathy, self regulation, and interpersonal awareness - proved to be the most significant determinant.
So, what is emotional intelligence, and why is it so important? At its core, EI refers to the ability to recognise, understand, and manage one’s emotions while also navigating social relationships effectively. It encompasses self-awareness, empathy, and communication skills, which help children build meaningful relationships, solve conflicts, and adapt to challenges.
The study found that children who demonstrated high levels of emotional intelligence early in life were better equipped to collaborate with others, manage stress, and persevere through setbacks. These qualities laid the foundation for not only their financial stability but also their overall well-being.
How Can We Cultivate Emotional Intelligence in Children?
While some aspects of emotional intelligence may come naturally, the good news is that these skills can be nurtured over time. Here are a few practical strategies for fostering EI in your child:
Encourage Emotional Expression
Create a safe space where your child feels comfortable expressing their feelings. Encourage them to name their emotions - whether they’re feeling excited, sad, or frustrated. This practice builds self-awareness and helps children understand that all emotions are valid.
Model Empathy
Children often learn by observing the adults around them. Show empathy in your daily interactions by listening attentively, validating others' feelings, and demonstrating kindness. Your behaviour sets a powerful example.
Teach Problem-Solving Skills
When conflicts arise, guide your child in finding constructive solutions. Instead of immediately stepping in, ask questions like, “How do you think we can fix this?” This helps them build confidence in navigating challenges.
Promote Teamwork
Activities like group projects, team sports, or family chores are excellent opportunities for children to practice collaboration and communication. Praise their efforts to cooperate and resolve differences.
Focus on Resilience
Life is full of ups and downs, and resilience is key to managing them. Encourage a growth mindset by emphasising effort over results and framing setbacks as learning opportunities.
Why Emotional Intelligence Matters in School
In our school community, we prioritise not just academic excellence but also the development of well-rounded, emotionally intelligent individuals. Through our curriculum and pastoral care, we aim to nurture qualities like empathy, communication, and resilience - equipping your child with tools for success beyond the classroom.
As this study reminds us, investing in emotional intelligence is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. By teaching them to understand themselves and connect with others, we’re helping them build a strong foundation for a thriving future, both personally and professionally.
In this new year, together, let’s continue to support our children’s emotional growth, ensuring they have the skills they need to navigate life with confidence and compassion.
You can read more here.
Posted on: 10/01/2025Weekly News - Friday 10th January 2025
It has been wonderful to welcome all of our families back to St. Helen's College this week for a cold and snowy start of term! We hope that you are all well-rested and ready for the busy times ahead. Please be sure to mark your diaries now for Exhibition Day on Saturday 22nd March, which is always a highlight of the school year and a super celebration of your children and all of their hard work.
Communications
We are moving to a new database and communications system here at school. Every parent should have received a 'Test' email sent through the new system this week. If you did not receive a 'Test' email to your inbox, please check your junk/spam folder and, if the message was received there, please mark it as 'not junk/spam' and/or add the sender address to your trusted sender list. If you have not received a 'Test' message to your inbox or junk/spam folder, please contact Mrs. Smith at susmith@sthelenscollege.com so that we can ensure that we have the correct contact details on file for you.
As always, your class teacher is your primary point of contact for all matters concerning your child. Teachers can be reached by email and are usually available for a quick chat at the beginning and end of each school day. If you require a longer conversation, please do make an appointment to meet with your class teacher.
Code Club
Oak Farm Library are running a Code Club (For Beginners) event for children aged 7 to 11 which may be of interest to Upper School children. Held every Monday (term-time only) at 5.30 p.m. - 6.30 p.m., this is a six week introduction course to coding using exciting, fun & immersive Lego Spike kits.
Code Club is totally FREE and booking is essential which can be made at the following link: https://discover.hillingdon.gov.uk/code-club-oak-farm.
Christmas Tree Donated to Hillingdon Ambulance Service
The Upper School Christmas tree took on a new lease of life at the end of last term when it found a worthy home for the remainder of December at the Hillingdon Ambulance Service. We were delighted to donate the tree to the hard working team to provide a little festive joy at a busy time of year.
Absence And Late Arrivals
We would like to remind you of the procedures for pupil absence and late arrival at Upper School and Lower School.
If you need to request absence for any reason, or to inform us of absence due to illness on a particular day, you should email absence@sthelenscollege.com and cc their class teacher. This is also the address to use, cc'ing the class teacher, if you know that your child will be arriving late to school on a particular day; in this instance, please also include your child's lunch order for that day. Please do NOT call the school office to report absence, or rely on children to pass on absence messages.
Please allow plenty of time for your journey to school, especially during inclement weather, so that your child arrives by 8.25 a.m. and can enjoy a calm, ordered registration period with their class. Registration begins at 8.30 a.m. and is completed by 8.40 a.m. and lunch orders are taken during this time. Late arrivals are difficult for your child and can also disrupt the rest of the class. If you are unexpectedly delayed in the morning and do arrive late to school, you must accompany your child to the entrance at Lower School or to the Cambria front door at Upper School, sign them in as directed and ensure that you/they have noted their lunch selection on the late sign in book. Your child's arrival will be recorded as late and their lunch order will be sent to the kitchen to ensure that we are catering appropriately.
Please also note that, if your child is well enough to attend school then we expect them to be well enough to participate in all lessons, including PE/Games. If they have a serious injury or doctor's note requiring them to miss their PE/Games lessons, please email Mr. Harrington at lharrington@sthelenscollege.com. We will then organise a non-physical activity for them during the lesson.
Welfare
Miss Gilbey is now no longer working as the Upper School Welfare Assistant but remains in role as our Upper School Funtasia Supervisor. Please ensure any medical information or queries are emailed directly to welfare at welfare@sthelenscollege.com. Mrs Gayle Oatshott based at Lower School is our overall Welfare and Attendance Officer and we will be welcoming our new Welfare Assistant, who will be based at Upper School, in the coming weeks.
Easter Mini-Me Camp
Mr. Harrington will once again be running a Mini-Me Camp at PACCAR Scout Camp over the Easter holidays. These are very popular and include lots of exciting activities such as zip wires, laser tag, giant swing, archery, climbing, abseiling and caving which help to build and enhance friendships, improve fitness and foster a love of activity and outdoor fun! Full details and bookings are available here.
Next Week
Monday 13th January - Co-curricular Clubs Begin
Wednesday 15th January - Reception 2025 Entry Meetings
Wednesday 15th January - Football v. Ryefield
Thursday 16th January - Reception Storytime Taster Session (External Applicants Only)
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