School News and Head's Blog
Posted on: 18/03/2022Weekly News - Friday 18th March 2022
Sparks Film Making Workshop
The Year 5 and Year 6 children took part in a film making workshop this week, in which they made films linked to Earth Day.
Sparks run movie-making classes for children aged 5-18 in Uxbridge on Saturdays, and they run some holiday camps too. If your child might be interested in these classes, you can find details here.
UKMT Mathematics Challenge
This week, two Year 6 children (Zach F and Shruthi T) took part in the UKMT Grey Kangaroos mathematical challenge for children up to Year 9. Zakariya M (Year 4) took part in the Cayley Mathematical Olympiad, a two hour paper covering six extremely challenging questions.
For those who are interested, past papers can be seen here:
https://www.ukmt.org.uk/competitions/solo/cayley-olympiad/archive https://www.ukmt.org.uk/competitions/solo/grey-kangaroo/archive
Mathematics at Merchant Taylors School
On Friday, twenty four Year 6 children went to Merchant Taylors School for a mathematical afternoon. This involved a Maths Trail around the school, problem solving and an inter-school quiz.
Red Nose Day
The school was a riot of colour and laughter today as the community joined together to celebrate Red Nose Day and support Comic Relief. You can see some of our Red Nose Day photographs on the Galleries page here.
At Ducklings, our youngest children enjoyed a danceathon and had a go at sticking the red nose on the face, as well as taking part in a raffle.
At Lower School, children also took part in a raffle and danceathon and enjoyed trying an obstacle course to different landmarks.
At Upper School, the pupils took part in a sporting quiz and sporting event and the raffle.
Many children also received individual sponsorship for their challenge of walking, running, cycling or scooting to different landmarks and have sent us photographs of them doing so. You can see some of these photographs here and you are welcome to upload your photographs to this link over the weekend too.
Many, many thanks to families who have made donations to our Comic Relief fundraising effort. If you would still like to donate, you can do so at our JustGiving fundraising page here, where you can also see the total raised by our community so far.
6H Talent Assembly
6H really enjoyed performing all of their amazing talents during assemblies this week. They included magic, comedy, drama, music, singing, art, skateboarding, skipping, Lego and even a puppet show. What a talented class they are!
Well done to our musicians and the Year 2 Irish dancers who also entertained the 6H parents this morning.
Music News
Year 4 Graphic Scores
This term, Year 4 have been looking at a variety of ways to respond creatively to music. This week they worked in groups to produce large scale graphic scores in response to a piece of music named “Night Ferry” by the British composer Anna Clyne.
When Clyne settled on the idea of creating a piece about crossing a stormy ocean, she picked up a paint brush instead of writing music notes on paper. She stuck seven large sheets of paper on the wall of her studio and created a graphic score, laying out how she wanted her piece to sound by using swirls and sweeps of colours. After this she drew inspiration from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which was written during the Romantic era and tells the tale of one sailor's supernatural experiences at sea.
Before she had even written a note, she had created a visual and literary score. Clyne has said it was very liberating to explore composition in this way; she's not an artist, or a poet but she used these tools to help her write the music. See the mural that accompanies Night Ferry, and listen to the Orchestral Performance.
You can see some images of the Year 4 children with their own graphic scores here.
Easter Service and Barnardo's Recording
On Monday 21st March, we will be recording for the Easter Service and Barnardo's Choral Competition. Please ensure that, if your child is involved in the Chamber Choir, Senior Choir or Orchestra, they come to school on Monday in full school uniform (including blazers), and bring their PE kit into school to change into afterwards if required. Children in the Orchestra will also need to ensure they remember to bring in their instrument and music on this day also.
Climate Change Recognition
We are delighted to have been awarded a certificate by Leeds DEC recognising the work that St. Helen's College is doing towards our strategic imperative of Climate Change.
Staff from across the school have recently completed a detailed training programme to assist us with how to incorporate Climate Change/Action across the whole curriculum. The award recognises the enthusiasm, passion and commitment of the whole staff in learning about the climate crisis and including it in teaching across the school.
Co-Curricular Bookings Open
The co-curricular programme for the summer term will be visible on your SchoolsBuddy account from today at 4 p.m. Please select your child's preferences by Monday 21st March at 11.59 p.m. It will not be possible to accept preferences after this deadline has passed.
FREE Mother/Baby Mindfulness Classes
Our next set of Mother/Baby Mindfulness classes will begin on Wednesday 27th April. These take place at 9.00 a.m. on Wednesday mornings in the Evans Hall and are suitable for mothers and babies aged from birth to crawling. The classes are run by Mrs. McLaughlin, who is a qualified PAUSE Baby Mindfulness practitioner and they include a mix of mindfulness and gentle yoga to give mothers and babies breathing space and an opportunity to bond and enjoy meaningful time together. Each class is followed by optional tea/coffee/chat and at the end of each six week session, there is an opportunity for dads to join for a session too.
The classes are open to anyone in the community - the family does not need to have children at St. Helen's College. If you, or anyone you know, would like to book in for our next set of classes, or would like some more information, please email Mrs. Smith at susmith@sthelenscollege.com.
The Head's Blog this week is a guest blog from a mother who has attended these classes so you might like to read this for an insider view too.
Perseverance Scout Group
The Perseverance Scout Group, based at 118 Sweetcroft Lane, Uxbridge, are recruiting new members. They would like to invite friends and families, boys and girls, to join in with a session one evening. Sessions take place on Mondays from 6.30 to 8.00 p.m. and involve lots of fun as well as learning life and adventure skills. The age groups are:
Age 6-8: Beavers
Age 8-10: Cubs
If you have any questions you can contact their Scout Leader, Sarah, on 07595 955 939.
Posted on: 11/03/2022Weekly News - Friday 11th March 2022
Year 3 Production
On Thursday evening, our Year 3 classes presented their spring production to an enthusiastic audience at The Compass Theatre in Ickenham. Their show was 'Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies' and it was jam-packed with humour as well as some stunning solo and ensemble singing and acting! Every child spoke their lines beautifully, sang with gusto and acted at a very accomplished level. It was such a wonderful opportunity for the children to perform in a theatre and they really rose to the challenge.
Earlier in the day, they had performed their dress rehearsal to an audience of Year 1 and 2 children and staff. The Year 3 children should be very, very proud of themselves - all of the hard work and rehearsal time really did pay off. This was a first class production!
General Knowledge Quiz Team
On Tuesday, our Quiz Teams took part in the Prep School General Knowledge Quiz Team Challenge. There were, as always, some very challenging questions and this was a super experience for the children who took part. There were 81 teams competing in total.
Team 1 came joint 49th. Team members were:
Ashvika A (3B)
Raiden B (4T)
Minaya W (5A)
Ryan D (6H)
Team 2 came 11th. Team members were:
Rohaym U (3MB)
Jeena H (4L)
Jacob N (5G)
Aryan B (6H)
Team 2 have qualified for the next round of the competition and we wish them well as they continue their preparations for that.
Please do keep encouraging your children's general knowledge by supporting them to read non-fiction as well as fiction books, and to access some of the excellent resources for children's news, such as BBC Newsround and First News.
Speech Competition Semi-Finals
Many classes from Years 1 to 6 have now completed the semi finals of the Speech Competition, with a few classes to complete their semi finals next week. Mrs. Drummond and Mrs. Smith have been hugely impressed with the standard of performances so far and would like to congratulate all of the children who have been taking part in the competition. The finals of the Year 1-3 and Year 4-6 competitions will take place on Thursday 24th March and parents of finalists will be invited to attend on that day.
We are also very much looking forward to the Nursery and Reception speech recitals. The Reception recitals will take place on Monday 21st March and the Nursery recitals on Tuesday 22nd March. Parents will also be invited to attend these events - information will be sent out via class teachers nearer the time.
Robins Class Assembly
On Thursday, the children of Robins Nursery class delighted their audience with their spring assembly reminding us all of the beauty of our four seasons. There was wonderful singing and the children wore vibrant costumes. Every child remembered their words and their confidence was a joy to behold. Well done, Robins.
5G Class Assembly
On Friday, 5G used their class assembly to tell us all about inspirational people. They shared some beautiful artwork they had done of the people who inspire them and told us why these people are their role models. They also told us stories of people who have made a difference in the world, shared some inspirational quotes and read us some 'soon-to-be-famous' quotes of their own! We enjoyed their confident singing performances too.
Well done, 5G! You have given us a lot to think about.
Music News
School Orchestra
If your child (Year 4, 5, or 6) is learning an orchestral instrument outside of school and is interested in joining the school orchestra please email Mrs. Fawbert at cfawbert@sthelenscollege.com.
Woodwind Lessons
We are delighted that Mrs. Garnes will be returning to school from her maternity leave after the Easter break, and will be offering lessons on clarinet and saxophone to children in Years 4, 5, and 6. If your child is interested in learning these instruments, please complete the following Google Form to register. Lessons will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and additional students will be added to the waiting list.
Commitment
Please can we remind parents that when children join one of our choirs or musical groups, they are committing to represent the school and we expect them to follow through on this commitment for the full academic year(s). Singing and music are good for the soul!
Sports News
On Thursday our girls' netball team took part in the Reddiford netball tournament and the girls did themselves proud. They played 5 games, winning 4 convincingly and finishing as runners up in the tournament. Well done to all of the players!
Plastic Free School
St. Helen's College is currently working towards the 'Plastic Free Schools' initiative. Our Eco Team/Eco Warriors have been selected and we have achieved the first objective.
https://plasticfreeschools.org.uk/school/st-helens-college/?obj=1
Our next objective is the 'stop litter initiative' which is now in full swing.
International Women's Day
On Monday in assembly at Upper School, we considered International Women's Day, which always falls on 8th March. We talked about the continuing need to work for equality between men and women, boys and girls in the world. We are proud to be a co-educational school and to offer equality of opportunity for boys and girls here at St. Helen's College, and we hope that you will underline this important message with your children at home.
Red Nose Day
We would like to remind you that next Friday is Comic Relief/Red Nose Day. We have a slightly altered lunch menu for the day, which you can view here.
The children should come to school on this day dressed in red and/or comic relief t-shirts. They are also welcome to wear a red nose on this day if they have purchased one from one of the many retailers.
We will be doing several different events on the day including:
Upper School - a raffle, sporting quiz and a sporting event.
Lower School - a raffle, danceathon and an obstacle course to different landmarks.
Ducklings - a raffle, danceathon and stick the 'red nose' on the face.
To participate in these events and the tog day we would like to suggest a donation of £5 which your child can either bring with them on the day or you can donate via our JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/st-helen-s-college3
In addition we will be selling Comic Relief wristbands for £1 from Monday 14th March on all three sites. Please note the wristbands will be sold on a first come first serve basis until we have sold out.
We are sure that you are aware of Tom Daley's 'Hell of Homecoming' Comic Relief challenge that he did recently. With this in mind we would like to set the children a fun sporting challenge which they could get sponsorship for. We would like the children to run, walk, scoot or cycle to a variety of different landmarks and be sponsored to reach them. Please take photos of the different landmarks you visit and upload them for us here before Friday 18th March. Simply click on your child's year group to upload their photographs.
You can download a sponsorship form here for the children to print at home and use for this challenge.
News from the PA
PA Pub Quiz
Thank you to all of the parents, staff and friends who attended the PA Quiz on Tuesday night at The White Bear in Ruislip, with nine teams taking part. It was a fun packed event and, after much head scratching and brain wracking, the evening culminated in a tie break situation for first place. After a rather challenging tie break question, Universally Challenged (pictured) emerged as the winning team and each team member was presented with a box of Lindt chocolates. As is traditional, wooden spoons were presented to the team in last place: No Eye Dears. Thank you to everyone who came along to make this a thoroughly enjoyable evening!
Second Hand Uniform Sale
There will be donation bins for unwanted SHC school uniform outside the three school entrances every day from Monday 14th March to Friday 25th March and the PA will be opening a uniform stall from 12 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. on Friday 1st April and Tuesday 12th April in the school car park on Parkway.
Easter Draw
The PA will once again be donating Easter eggs which will be given out via a draw into which every child's name will be entered. The draw will take place in the final week of term.
IAPS iArt Competition
After the success of iArt 2021, in which Arya A at St. Helen's College was a winner, IAPS are running the competition again in 2022 and hope to receive more submissions than ever. Shortlisted entrants will receive prizes of vouchers for local independent bookshops.
This year, the competition will have a theme and all submissions must in some way relate to this theme. The theme is my role model.
This theme has been chosen because IAPS is interested to see who inspires pupils, who motivates them, who they admire and who they would like to be like when they grow up. The role models can be anyone:
someone personal e.g. a family member, friend, teacher, coach, librarian, a member of the local community;
someone “in general” e.g. nurses, doctors, train drivers, farmers;
someone public e.g. a famous person, such as a sportsperson, environmentalist, singer
While IAPS encourages pupils to attempt a portrait of their role model, pupils – and particularly, younger pupils – should feel free to just paint / draw / create something which reminds them of their role model instead. For example, if a pupil’s role model is David Attenborough, they might choose to paint trees and animals, or if their role model is a parent, they might choose to draw a picture of their house.
Each pupil must write a maximum of 100 words in a sentence or two to accompany their piece of work, saying 'My role model is...because...'.
Entries will be judged on a) interpretation of the theme; b) creativity around the theme; c) overall design; d) and that ‘certain something’ that just draws you to the artwork! There is no set format for entries and artwork can be submitted in any medium. Submissions can be paintings, drawings, or models, any size, and use any art supplies.
There are five categories for the iArt competition: Years 1 & 2, Years 3 & 4, Years 5 & 6, Years 7 & 8 and Years 9 & 10. Each school may enter one piece of art for each category. For example, one piece of artwork representing the Years 5 & 6 category, not one artwork from Year 5 and one from Year 6.
Pupils who would like to enter this competition should submit their pieces of art and accompanying sentences directly to Mrs. Pruce or via their class teacher by 20th April. Mrs. Drummond and Mrs. Pruce will judge which entries to put forward from St. Helen's College.
Good luck everyone and happy creating!
School at Work Open Morning
Our next 'School at Work' Open Morning for prospective parents will take place on Thursday 28th April. If you have any friends or family with babies or pre-school chidlren who may be interested in visiting St. Helen's College please do share the date with them. Visits on this day are by appointments, which can be booked by telephoning the school office or by emailing Mrs. Smith at susmith@sthelenscollege.com.
Easter Holiday Club
Bookings will open at 4 p.m. today for our Easter Holiday Club. Please login to your SchoolsBuddy account to book your child(ren)'s place(s).
Lost Property
There is a significant amount of lost property at Upper School. To assist in getting this back to its rightful owners, we will be putting lost property on a table outside the Parkway entrance at morning drop off times next week so that parents may help children identify unnamed items. Please could we also remind parents to name everything that you send into school.
Blaze Netball Club
If you have a son or daughter in Years 2 - 5 and they would like to develop their netball skills, you might be interested in Blaze Netball Club which runs at Douay Martyrs School on Saturday mornings. Full details are available here. Several St. Helen's College children already attend the club.
Posted on: 11/03/2022Weekly News - Friday 11th February 2022
National Taekwondo Champion!
We are delighted to share the news that Aarya D won the gold medal at the UK Taekwondo National Championship last weekend in Bristol. He is now the UK champion in the Heavyweight 140cm – 150cm Category. Well done, Aarya!
Wrens Class Assembly
On Thursday, Wrens Nursery class delighted us all with a super assembly about winter. Adorned in lovely outfits, they enthusiastically sang each song, showing particular enjoyment for their obvious favourite, 'Put your socks on your ears', a catchy little number that stayed in our heads for the rest of the day! They were also able to demonstrate their confidence and knowledge when speaking in front of their parents. In short, it was a wonderful way to start our day. Great work, Wrens!
4L Class Assembly
Today, the children of 4L presented their class assembly, which focussed on the importance of love as the cornerstone of some of the most valuable things in life: caring for others and feeling like you belong. They demonstrated the power of true love using the parable of the prodigal son and a song by The Beatles (can you guess which one?!). Well done, 4L, on a very meaningful and enjoyable assembly.
Upcoming Author Visit - Konnie Huq
On Thursday 24th February, we are delighted to be welcoming ex Blue Peter presenter and children’s author Konnie Huq to the school. She will be talking to pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 about her popular book series ‘Cookie’, including a 15 minute Question and Answer session.
To pre-order copies of Konnie’s books, ready to be signed and dedicated at school on the day, please click the link below and place your order through Chiltern Bookshops by 5 p.m. on Wednesday 23rd February at the latest:
£6.99 EACH
https://chilternbookshops.co.uk/product-category/konnie-huq-schools-event/
HOW TO ORDER
Click the link above
Click the book or bundle required
Select the name of your child’s school from the drop-down menu
Add to Basket
View Basket
Click collect free from the Chorleywood Bookshop OR Gerrards Cross Bookshop (this will ensure FREE delivery to the school)
Proceed to Checkout
PLEASE SPECIFY YOUR CHILD’S NAME AND CLASS/FORM IN THE BOX MARKED ‘DETAILS REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL EVENTS’ TO ENSURE THE BOOK CAN BE SIGNED AND DEDICATED BY KONNIE HUQ ON THE DAY
All orders will be delivered free to the school in time for Konnie's visit on February 24th.
We are sure that the children will enjoy hearing from Konnie and hope that many of you will choose to buy them some of her books to read.
U11 Girls' Football Tournament
On Thursday, St. Helen's College entered the Premier League Primary Stars U11 Girls Football Tournament. A mixture of girls from Years 5 and 6 attended and were fantastic throughout the day. Their enthusiasm, teamwork and effort shone brightly and they produced some excellent football. Unfortunately, they lost their first three matches by small margins but they definitely saved their best game for last, winning 5-0. Well done, girls!
Thames Valley Cavaliers
The Thames Valley Cavaliers offer Saturday morning basketball sessions for children aged 7 - 12 and the first session is free as a taster session. Details can be found here.
The club are also running a half term camp next week for children aged 7 - 12. Details can be found here.
On Saturday, the Cavaliers are taking on the Essex Rebels in a game that begins at 3 p.m. Once again, they are offering free tickets and free pizza to children from St. Helen's College (Years 3- 6). You can find details of the game here and pizza vouchers here. We hope that many of you will go along to support the team.
PA Quiz Night - 7 p.m. Tuesday 8th March
Do you fancy a fun packed evening where you can test your grey matter? The St. Helen's College Parents' Association has arranged a quiz night on Tuesday 8th March at The White Bear in Ruislip. Doors will open at 7 p.m. with the quizzing starting at 7.45 p.m. Teams should comprise 4-6 adults and places are limited so get your booking and payment made as soon as you can to avoid disappointment (one team member will need to make a single booking and one payment for their whole team).
There will be a prize for each person in the winning team (who will also win the associated bragging rights). Raffle tickets will also be available to buy on the night so, if you don't win the quiz, you might still be able to win a prize.
Parents, school staff, friends and relatives are all welcome to put a team together (as long as they're over 18). Watch out for the link to the booking form which will be circulated via your class rep and don't miss out!
Royal Academy Young Artists' Show
There is still time for budding young artists to enter artwork for the Royal Academy's Young Artists' Show. For a chance to feature in the on-site and online exhibition, pupils aged 4-19 should submit an artwork of any kind by 30 March 2022. Artwork should be submitted directly to the Royal Academy via the link above.
Staff Raise Money For World Cancer Day
The St. Helen's College staff have supported World Cancer Day for many years and this year was no exception. We have collectively raised £320 in donations which were made in return for staff room treats on the day.
Posted on: 4/03/2022Weekly News - Friday 4th March 2022
World Book Day Fun!
We had so much fun at all three sites yesterday celebrating World Book Day.
At Ducklings the children came dressed in a variety of outfits from Peter Rabbit to The Hungry Caterpillar, while the staff dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland. The children created their own bookmark to take home and enjoyed group discussions about their characters and lots of story telling throughout the day.
At Lower School, Year 1's theme of Roald Dahl was thoroughly embraced and even included Miss Trunchbull and the Chokey! The Reception and Nursery theme was Julia Donaldson and everyone looked amazing in their costumes. Kingfishers delighted us with a superb assembly reminding us all of the wonder of books - you can read more about this below.
At Upper School, we had a Roald Dahl theme and the children and staff all dressed as Roald Dahl characters. The pupils took part in exciting Roald Dahl themed workshops including potion making, designing a new sweet treat in The Inventing Room, guessing Who Is Coming To Dinner, re-writing Revolting Rhymes, making honeycomb and re-enacting scenes from Roald Dahl's books. You can read some of the Year 5 children's imaginative alternative endings to Roald Dahl's version of The Three Little Pigs here and you can see lots of photographs of children across the school enjoying World Book Day on our Galleries page.
Reading is, of course, one of the most important building blocks of an excellent education. Thank you all for supporting our World Book Day celebrations and please do keep encouraging your children to read - and keep reading yourselves!
Mathematics Success
For the first time at the school, a number of children took part in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate Mathematical Challenge. This challenge is open to children up to Year 11 (GCSE). Our expectation was that the children would simply enjoy participating. However, two of the children achieved a gold certificate, one a silver and four bronze. Those who achieved gold or silver have been invited to participate in the next round on 17th March.
Well done to everyone who participated and particularly to:
Zachariah F Gold
Zakariya M Gold
Shruthi T Silver
Luka K Bronze
Eshan N Bronze
David W Bronze
Aryan B Bronze
5A Class Assembly
Today the children of 5A presented their class assembly in which they told us the story of Pandora's Box. Their performance was confident, extremely well delivered and very poignant. In a time of difficulty, the message that there is hope in the world was a welcome one and the children's understanding of this concept was heartwarming. The class sang beautifully and shared some of their work from their Positive Psychology sessions with us too. Congratulations, 5A, you have sent us into the weekend with pride in our hearts and an important message to consider.
Owls Class Assembly
Our Owls class performed a super assembly on the theme of 'Hot and Cold' this week.
The children sang, danced and recited rhymes with enthusiasm and confidence. They also managed to inspire us all to remember the 3Rs - reuse, reduce, recycle. Well done Owls, you did a great job!
Kingfishers Class Assembly
The children of Kingfishers presented their assembly themed around World Book Day on Thursday. They explained the importance - and joy - of reading together, and exhorted us all to turn off our television sets and install bookcases instead! They sang some uplifting songs and recited a lovely poem as a class, which you can read below. Very well done, Kingfishers, on a confident and very enjoyable performance.
Open a book and you will find
People and places of every kind
Open a book and you can be
Anything you want to be
Open a book and you can share
Wondrous words you find in there
Open a book and I will too
You read to me and I’ll read to you!
British Science Week
Tomorrow marks the beginning of a ten day celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Parents may wish to look at the British Science Week website or even take a visit to the Science Museum or the local Heath Robinson Museum based in Pinner.
Sports News
Last Saturday, our A and B teams played at the Ryefield netball tournament.
The girls all played very well. Unfortunately the B team did not progress past the group stages. However, the A team got to the finals where they were beaten by Hermitage who won 4-3.
Natalia C was our A team captain and she collected the trophy for St. Helen's College winning the league.
The U11 girls' football team took part in the Borough Girls' Football Tournament on Wednesday in the pouring rain. The girls really enjoyed competing although unfortunately they did not progress to the next round. Thank you to all of the parents who came and supported the team in such awful conditions.
Music News
We were delighted to hear from our cello teacher, Mrs. MacLean, that there were some St. Helen's College families amongst the audience at the concert she played last weekend with the Elgar Symphonia of London. This event took place in the beautiful St. Andrew's Church in Holborn, which was designed by Christopher Wren. Grace O'H (Year 4) was even offered the opportunity to conduct the orchestra (which had almost 80 members!) in front of the large audience.
National Online Safety Whatsapp Guide
National Online Safety have this week shared an excellent guide for parents/carers about Whatsapp. It includes useful advice about how to ensure that your child's Whatsapp use is safe. You can access this here.
PA Forum Meeting
Thank you to the parents who attended the PA Forum meeting on Wednesday evening with Mrs. Drummond, Mrs. Hunt, Mr. McLaughlin and Mrs. Smith. As always, it was an enjoyable and productive meeting in which parents and staff shared ideas for ways in which to enhance the children's education, personal development and daily life. Minutes have been circulated by email to all parents and staff.
Ukraine Appeal
Thank you so much to all of the families who have made donations of colouring pencils, books, toys and games for refugee families fleeing from the Ukraine war. We have today shipped four large boxes of items to Mr. Harrington's brother who is currently assisting at a hotel in Poland to support refugee families, so these will go straight to the point of need and will really make a difference to children whose lives have been turned upside down.
Thames Cavaliers - Free Tickets & Pizza for Last Home Games
Once again, Thames Cavaliers Basketball Club are offering FREE tickets and pizza to St. Helen's College children in Years 3-6 for this weekend's matches on Saturday and Sunday. These will be their last regular season home matches and it is also 'selfie weekend' so pupils will have the chance to take photos with their favourite players after the match as well! Further details about both the Saturday and Sunday games are here and free tickets/pizza vouchers are here.
Free Sound Therapy Sessions for Parents
Karen Miles, who facilitates NCT classes at St. Helen's College, is training to become a Sound Therapist through the British Academy of Sound Therapy and will be offering free sound therapy classes in The Evans Hall at St. Helen's College as part of her training. She will be using Himalayan singing bowls, crystal bowls and therapeutic percussion. There are many benefits to Sound Therapy: it can provide deep relaxation and relief from stress and anxiety, and relieve muscle tension and pain. You can find full details here. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis so please contact Karen promptly if you are interested in taking part in these free sessions while she is training.
Bikeability (Year 6)
If you have a child in Year 6 and they would like to take part in the Bikeability training sessions, please remember that Monday (7th March) is the deadline for signing up for these. An email was sent directly to Year 6 parents earlier this week - please check this for instructions of how to sign up.
Perform Drama School Easter Holiday Camp
Perform Drama School, who often run excellent workshops at school for St. Helen's College children, will be running an Easter holiday camp in Eastcote themed around The Secret Garden. If you are interested in signing your son or daughter up for this, you can find full details here.
Posted on: 25/02/2022Weekly News - Friday 25th February 2022
1R Assembly
Class 1R presented their class assembly on Thursday morning to staff and parents at the Lower School. They focussed on the St. Helen's College values, particularly friendship, patience, perseverance and kindness. They spoke with clarity and projection, sang with great gusto and even treated us to some wonderful dance moves! Their message was clear: if we are kind to one another, if we are good friends, if we work hard and keep going when things are difficult, then we will find joy in being our best selves. Well done, 1R, this was a thoroughly enjoyable performance.
Friday Music Recital
We enjoyed another super Friday Music Recital today in the Evans Hall at Upper School, with several children playing instruments in a friendly and informal setting. Thank you to all of the families who attended to support the children, and well done to all of our performers!
Konnie Huq Author Visit
On Thursday afternoon, children in Years 3 to 5 were treated to a visit from ex-Blue Peter presenter, and popular children's author, Konnie Huq.
Konnie gave an excellent interactive presentation, bringing to life her funny and informative book series 'Cookie'. The books have been inspired by her childhood, her family and her Bangladeshi heritage. The activities included: illustrating characters, a secret code, a live science experiment, learning about the environment and looking at some big words (troglodyte, defenestration and tautology to name a few!). We finished with a Q&A session, with the children asking a range of excellent questions about Konnie's writing process and other avenues of her career in TV and radio, including her time as a presenter on Blue Peter, and a book signing in the Upper School library.
It was fantastic to have an author visit in person after more than two years of online visits, and the children were certainly left inspired to read more and maybe even write their own stories.
It is not too late to order signed copies (while stocks last) of the following books, as Konnie kindly signed a few extra while she was here. Just click on the link below and follow the instructions under 'How to Order'. The deadline for ordering these is 5 p.m. on Sunday, 27th February.
£6.99 EACH
https://chilternbookshops.co.uk/product-category/konnie-huq-schools-event/
HOW TO ORDER:
Click the link above
Click the book or bundle required
Select the name of your child’s school from the drop-down menu
Add to basket
View basket
Click collect free from the Chorleywood Bookshop OR Gerrards Cross Bookshop (this will ensure FREE delivery to the school)
Proceed to Checkout
PLEASE SPECIFY YOUR CHILD’S NAME AND CLASS/FORM IN THE BOX MARKED ‘DETAILS REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL EVENTS’
Orders will be delivered free to St. Helen's College next week and given out to the children.
Year 2 Trip to Heath Robinson Museum
Also on Thursday, our Year 2 classes went on an outing to the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner, where they took part in an art activity called ‘wet felting’. Year 2 have been studying the topic materials in science. They looked at the colour wheel and used coloured wool to make felt. They produced some beautiful and imaginative pieces of work.
Thames Cavaliers v Reading Rockets - Free Entry and Pizza for St. Helen's College children
On Sunday at 3 p.m., the Thames Cavaliers will be taking on the Reading Rockets and, once again, they are offering free tickets and a slice of pizza to children in Years 3-6 at St. Helen's College. Details are here and free entry/pizza vouchers can be downloaded here.
World Book Day Reminder
Next Thursday, 3rd March, is World Book Day. Throughout the school, children should come to school dressed as a favourite book character and they will be taking part in a range of fun activities centred around reading. This year's themes are:
Ducklings - free choice of book character or author.
Nursery and Reception - A Julia Donaldson character.
Years 1 to 6 - A Roald Dahl character.
PA Forum Meeting - Wednesday 2nd March
The next PA Forum meeting will take place on Wednesday 2nd March. If any parents would like to put forward points for discussion, please send these to your PA class rep over the weekend. Class representatives should collate points and send them to Mrs. Smith by Tuesday 1st March at the latest please.
Catering Next Week
We will be celebrating Pancake Day at school on Tuesday 1st March and there will be a slight change to the menu so that the children can have pancakes for dessert that day. The new menu is here.
We also have a special Roald-Dahl themed menu for World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March. The World Book Day menu is here.
Comic Relief
St. Helen's College will be supporting the charity Comic Relief on Friday 18th March.
The children should come to school on that day dressed in red and/or comic relief t-shirts. They are also welcome to wear a red nose on this day if they have purchased one from one of the many retailers.
We will be doing several different events on the day including:
Upper School - a raffle, sporting quiz and a sporting event.
Lower School - a raffle, danceathon and an obstacle course to different landmarks.
Ducklings - a raffle, danceathon and stick the 'red nose' on the face.
To participate in these events and the tog day we would like to suggest a donation of £5 which your child can either bring with them on the day or you can donate via our JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/st-helen-s-college3
In addition we will be selling Comic Relief wristbands for £1 from Monday 14th March on all three sites. Please note the wristbands will be sold on a first come first serve basis until we have sold out.
We are sure that you are aware of Tom Daley's 'Hell of Homecoming' Comic Relief challenge that he did recently. With this in mind we would like to set the children a fun sporting challenge which they could get sponsorship for. We would like the children to run, walk, scoot or cycle to a variety of different landmarks and be sponsored to reach them. Please take photos of the different landmarks you visit and upload them for us here before Friday 18th March. Simply click on your child's year group to upload their photographs.
You can download a sponsorship form here for the children to print at home and use for this challenge.
Ukraine
Some of the children may be asking you questions at home about the situation in Ukraine, as many of them may have been hearing snippets of the news. If you are looking for a child-friendly video to share with your children then please do take a look at the BBC Newsround video below which gives a factual account including some history which you may find useful. It is key that the children are able to share any worries that they may have with adults and that we listen to and support them as appropriate.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/news/watch_newsround
The British Red Cross, a humanitarian charity, have launched an emergency appeal to support those affected by the action in the Ukraine. If you would like to make a donation to support the Red Cross in providing food, medicines, shelter and water for refugees and casualties of the war, you can do so via the Red Cross website link here.
Our thoughts go out to all families who may know of people who are being affected by what is going on in the Ukraine.
Posted on: 4/02/2022Weekly News - Friday 4th February 2022
Chinese New Year Celebrations
Well done to all of the pupils who contributed this week to our Chinese New Year celebrations! In Monday's assembly, Ruby L presented a wonderful video she had made which explained the traditions behind Chinese New Year celebrations. Aman B shared a lovely video of himself and his neighbour performing a piece of Chinese guitar music and 3MB performed a 'Song of the Dragon' for us all too.
4T Class Assembly
4T presented a very meaningful class assembly today all about friendship and friendliness. They told a story about friendliness and did sign language along with a beautiful performance of the song 'You've Got A Friend In Me'. The children all spoke their lines confidently and it was clear to see that they were invested in the meaning of what they were presenting. Very well done, 4T.
Travelling Natural History Museum Visits Nursery
The Nursery children had the most wonderful dinosaur experience last Friday when they enjoyed a visit from the Travelling Natural History Museum!
Dinoman told them all about the different dinosaurs. He shared information about their size and what they ate, explaining the difference between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. The children were able to touch a real dinosaur claw and a T-Rex tooth as well as touching the dinosaur models and the baby dinosaur.
The boys and girls all enjoyed taking part in a dinosaur dig to find fossils and using dinosaur feet to stomp around! They also learnt about how the dinosaurs became extinct with a meteorite explosion but the crocodiles survived.
This was a truly memorable experience which they will be talking about with joy for a very long time. You can see lots more photographs of their day on our Galleries page.
Science Quiz Club
Luka K, Aryan B, Advik S and Jacob N took part in the semi final of the Science Quiz Club competition today. They were up against strong competition and it was super to see them work so well as a team and enjoy the experience so much.
Year 5 and Year 6 Basketball
The children in Year 5 and Year 6 were very fortunate today to take part in basketball training sessions with Coach Pete and Coach Juan from the Thames Valley Cavaliers.
Thames Cavaliers Basketball
It was super that so many families attended the basketball match last Saturday to support the Thames Cavaliers. The team have offered free tickets and pizza again this weekend for St. Helen's College pupils in Years 3 - 6. The match is on Sunday afternoon this week, with doors opening at 3 p.m. You can find details and pizza vouchers here and here. St. Helen's College children from Year 5 and 6 who are attending the match on Sunday will be taking part in a half time shoot out against another school.
Sports Results
It was a good week for the St. Helen's College football team this week as they won their mid-week game against Laurel Lane 6-0. Well done to all those who played.
Cookery Club
The Year 4 children in Cookery Club have had a stupendous time cooking and baking this half term. Their enthusiasm, appreciation and appetite for delicious food were evident! They have made sausage rolls and pizzas, and baked apple crumble cake and brownies. Ms Gilham has enjoyed sharing their love of food.
Online Safety
National Online Safety have shared these two excellent guides about Respect on the Internet, one for parents and one for children. We will be discussing these in school with the children after half term, and would like to encourage parents to read them and discuss them at home too.
Respect Online - Guide for Parents
Respect Online - Guide for Children
Mother/Baby Mindfulness Classes
Our next set of Mother/Baby Mindfulness classes will begin on Wednesday 23rd February, the week after half term.
These are completely free to parents. They take place on Wednesday mornings at 9.00 a.m. in the Evans Hall at our Upper School site on Long Lane, opposite Lower School. Classes run in half termly blocks. Each class lasts for 45 minutes and is followed by optional tea/coffee/chat.
The classes are led by Mrs. McLaughlin, one of our Year 3 teachers, who qualified as a PAUSE Baby Mindfulness practitioner after having her first baby a couple of years ago. They provide a safe space for mums and babies to bond and relax, taking part in Mindfulness exercises and some very gentle yoga, and have proved very popular so far.
If you would like to join the set of six classes starting in February, please email susmith@sthelenscollege.com with your baby's name and date of birth and your telephone number. Please do also feel free to share the information about the classes with any other friends or family who might have a baby (birth to crawling - no crawlers allowed!). They don't have to have children at St. Helen's College (or intend to send children here) to come along - the classes are free to anyone.
IAPS iArt Competition
After the success of iArt 2021, in which Arya A at St. Helen's College was a winner, IAPS will be running the competition again in 2022 and hopes to receive more submissions than ever. Shortlisted entrants will receive prizes of vouchers for local independent bookshops.
This year, the competition will have a theme and all submissions must in some way relate to this theme. The theme is my role model.
This theme has been chosen because IAPS is interested to see who inspires pupils, who motivates them, who they admire and who they would like to be like when they grow up. The role models can be anyone:
someone personal e.g. a family member, friend, teacher, coach, librarian, a member of the local community;
someone “in general” e.g. nurses, doctors, train drivers, farmers;
someone public e.g. a famous person, such as a sportsperson, environmentalist, singer
While IAPS encourages pupils to attempt a portrait of their role model, pupils – and particularly, younger pupils – should feel free to just paint / draw / create something which reminds them of their role model instead. For example, if a pupil’s role model is David Attenborough, they might choose to paint trees and animals, or if their role model is a parent, they might choose to draw a picture of their house.
Each pupil must write a maximum of 100 words in a sentence or two to accompany their piece of work, saying 'My role model is...because...'.
Entries will be judged on a) interpretation of the theme; b) creativity around the theme; c) overall design; d) and that ‘certain something’ that just draws you to the artwork! There is no set format for entries and artwork can be submitted in any medium. Submissions can be paintings, drawings, or models, any size, and use any art supplies.
There are five categories for the iArt competition: Years 1 & 2, Years 3 & 4, Years 5 & 6, Years 7 & 8 and Years 9 & 10. Each school may enter one piece of art for each category. For example, one piece of artwork representing the Years 5 & 6 category, not one artwork from Year 5 and one from Year 6.
The competition opens for entries on Thursday, 6 January. The deadline for submission is noon on Wednesday, 4 May and the shortlist will be announced later that month. Winners will be invited to attend an awards ceremony which will take place towards the end of June.
Pupils who would like to enter this competition should submit their pieces of art and accompanying sentences directly to Mrs. Pruce or via their class teacher. Mrs. Drummond and Mrs. Pruce will judge which entries to put forward from St. Helen's College.
This might be a lovely half term activity for the children. Good luck everyone and happy creating!
Dining Room Etiquette
We are encouraging parents to support us in helping pupils with their dining room etiquette at lunch times. We have in the past run 'Cutlery Club' but are hoping that you may be able to share your 'eating etiquette' with your children and this video here may be helpful for you. We will be assisting the pupils in the dining room and will discuss knife and fork skills and table etiquette in assemblies over the next few weeks.
Posted on: 28/01/2022Weekly News - Friday 28th January 2022
1C Class Assembly
What a super assembly the children of 1C performed for us on Thursday, all about Queen Elizabeth II. They relayed all sorts of information about the Queen and her reign, performed the Changing of the Guard to a super song and sang the National Anthem with pride! It was clear how much they have learnt about our sovereign and how enthusiastic they all are about this topic - they are very much looking forward to their trip to Windsor Castle next month!
Every child spoke their lines with confidence and projection. There was a lot of humour and the smiles on the children's (and adults') faces showed how very much we all enjoyed the performance. Well done 1C!
6R Class Assembly
The pupils of 6R planned and created their own assembly which they performed to us today, entitled Our St. Helen's College Journey.
They used their assembly to look back and reflect on their journey through St. Helen's College over the years. They shared a brilliant piece of collaborative art, performed some wonderful poems that they had written themselves all about their experiences at St. Helen's College, and sang 'A Million Dreams' beautifully. There was hardly a dry eye in the house!
The children also guided us through a brief Mindfulness session.
Well done, 6R, on a first class assembly.
Month End Music Recital
Well done to the performers who entertained us at today's Month End Music Recital in the Evans Hall. We heard a variety of instruments and, as ever, it was lovely to see our young musicians take the opportunity to perform in an informal environment. It was clear to see that the pupils enjoyed it as much as the parents and staff did! Thank you to the families who attended to support our young performers.
Fairness
The children at school have been discussing our value of Fairness this week and thinking about ways to be fair to themselves, to each other and to the world. Mrs. Hunt has written a guest Head's Blog this week which links to the value too - you can read it here.
Burns Night
On Tuesday we thought about Burns Night and the children at school had the opportunity to try some Scottish food. They really enjoyed sampling the haggis, neeps and tatties, orange cranachan and orange and lemon caraway shortbread. Thank you so much to our lovely chef Soula for preparing these extras on the day!
Pupil Welfare
We are delighted to share the news that St. Helen's College has once again been named an 'Asthma Friendly School' by the North West London Health and Care Partnership.
This recognises all that the school does to support children with asthma. This includes our regularly reviewed Asthma Policy, frequent training for the entire staff body, monthly asthma audits and, of course, the first class care that is given to children in school every day. Mrs. Wilcock and Mrs. Beale, our Welfare staff, communicate regularly with parents before children join us and throughout their time at the school to ensure that asthma and other medical issues are managed effectively and sensitively.
Please also see the winter edition of our Welfare Newsletter here. This contains important information about Covid-19, sleep and healthy snacks as well as some fun facts. Thank you for your continued support in keeping children healthy and well so that they are best able to make the most of all the opportunities at school.
Football News
This week, the boys' football team won 5-0 against Whitehall School in a super display of teamwork and skill. The team now progress to the quarter finals of the cup and we wish them well in the next stage of the competition!
Thames Cavaliers - Free Basketball Tickets and Pizza for SHC Pupils
The Thames Valley Cavaliers have a home fixture this Saturday and they would like to invite St. Helen's College pupils (Y3-6) to watch the match for free. They also have free pizza for any St Helen's College students who go to the game! There will be music, entertainment, half-time competitions with prizes and also a chance to meet the team afterwards for some autographs.
Please see this flyer with all the details. There are also free pizza vouchers for your children.
They hope to see lots of you coming to the game to support the Cavaliers! It should be a great night of fun and entertainment.
Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Centre Swim Offer
As parents will know, St. Helen's College has a long-standing relationship with Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Centre, where we take Upper School pupils for swimming lessons as part of our PE/Games curriculum.
The centre are running a special promotion for children of partner schools, which will give parents a £10 discount for a course of Better Swim lessons for your child. Swimming is a vital life skill so we hope that many of you will take up this opportunity to receive a discount on further swimming lessons/practice for your child. You can find full details here.
Heath Robinson Museum 150th Anniversary Art Competition
The Heath Robinson Museum are running a competition for young artists to mark their 150th anniversary this year. Children are asked to produce a piece of art on the theme of 'What would Heath Robinson make of the world today?'. The deadline for submissions is 15th May and there are various age categories. You can find out more, and enter the competition, here. Shortlisted entries will be exhibited at the museum over the summer and there are prizes to be won too. We hope that you will encourage your children to enter - do let us know how you get on!
Jungle Rumble
Perform's family musical Jungle Rumble is being performed at the Fortune Theatre over the February half term. You can see full details and purchase tickets here. St. Helen's College have worked with Perform in the past and we hope that parents will want to support them and that you will enjoy taking your children to see Jungle Rumble!
Lacrosse Easter Camp
Chiswick Lacrosse Club are running an Easter Camp which will be open to girls in Years 5 to 9. This would be a great opportunity for girls currently in Year 5 or Year 6 to have a go at lacrosse before moving on to senior school. If you are interested in finding out more, details are here.
Posted on: 21/01/2022Weekly News - Friday 21st January 2022
Year 4 Trip To Amersham Field Centre
Year 4 enjoyed a wonderful field trip this week, exploring electricity and energy conservation. They toured around a national grid substation, learning all about how electricity gets to our homes. They generated electricity using wind power and water power and went on to power motors using solar panels. The children discussed renewable energy and energy conservation. They put their experimentation skills to the test, making predictions and drawing conclusions. Their final challenge was to build a suitable nest for a small mammal which would keep it warm. They measured the temperature of their dormice after some time in their nests and compared these to a control mouse out in the open. Their nests proved successful at conserving heat within a small mammal!
Value of the Week - Cleanliness
Pupils at the Upper School were introduced to the concept of cleanliness as the value of the week. We discussed the moral aspect of cleanliness of spirit as well as personal hygiene and looking after our environment. It has been wonderful to see the children being extra vigilant around the school looking after the school grounds and taking responsibility for their personal belongings. We hope that this continues at home for you!
We are proud that the pupils of St. Helen's College display cleanliness of morals in their day to day lives too. Their spiritual awareness, willingness to help others and sense of collegiality shine through every day.
Month End Music Recital
Next Friday (28th January) we will have our first Month End Music Recital of 2022. Please join us in the Evans Hall from 3.45 p.m. where many of our young musicians will perform in an informal and friendly setting.
Individual Music Tuition
There are spaces currently available for trumpet, flute and singing lessons. If you wish to begin learning one of these instruments please complete this form to register.
The form can also be used to register your interest to be added to the waiting list for other instruments taught in school (including Violin, Cello, Piano, Guitar and Singing).
Please note that we only currently offer lessons on Violin and Cello to students in the Lower School. All of the instruments mentioned are available from Year 2 upwards.
We would also like to remind parents that a half term's notice is required if you would like to cease individual instrumental or singing tuition. You should give notice by emailing our Director of Music, Mrs. Fawbert, at cfawbert@sthelenscollege.com.
Blaze Netball Club
If you have a son or daughter in Years 2 -5 and they would like to develop their netball skills, you might be interested in Blaze Netball Club which runs at Douay Martyrs School on Saturday mornings. Full details are available here.
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