School News and Head's Blog
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: 4/02/2022Habits Of Learning
Children in Years 1-6 will soon be receiving their first interim report of this academic year. Reporting to parents in this manner is only one of the ways in which we communicate your child’s progress to you. Regular communication between teachers and parents is important thus there should be no surprises in your child’s February report.
Several years ago we made changes to our reporting process to capture what we felt as educators was important to report to parents to enable them to support the children’s progress. Ultimately all parents have joined St. Helen’s College to give their child/children the best start in life, investing in their futures, and during your child’s journey with us we aspire to fulfil our school aims, which are:
Love of Learning
We aim to inspire a lifelong thirst for creative, stimulating and rewarding learning, leading to the full development of every child’s academic potential.
Personal Growth
We aim to instil core moral values, inspiring virtue, responsibility, resilience, independence, mindful self-awareness and a desire for continuing self-development.
Involvement and Challenge
We aim to inspire an ongoing desire to develop talents, nurture the widest possible range of interests, and contribute to society as confident, compassionate and responsible citizens and leaders of the future.
Fostering good habits of learning is essential to the children’s success. Cultivating these habits has a profound impact on their achievement and their ability to thrive both in and out of the classroom.
The Habits of Learning we focus on are:
Organisation and readiness
Collaboration
Initiative and resourcefulness
Self-discipline (Years 1, 2 and 3) / Focus on Learning (Years 4, 5 and 6)
Independent work (added from Year 2)
All children will develop these habits of learning at different rates. In the reports, we give parents an indicator of where we perceive their development of these habits on a continuum from ‘cause for concern’ to ‘excellent’.
What is important is that we understand how to support each child in developing good habits to become a good learner. Mrs. Hunt’s blog on ‘Sleep’ is critical to your child developing these habits and having good routines both at home and school will help to foster your child’s learning habits. There is a super article in Nursery World magazine which discusses the value of routines - you can read it here.
Over the past few years as a whole school we have been explicitly engaging the pupils in our ‘meta-learning strategies’ in order to assist in nurturing good habits of learning. We are confident that when our pupils leave us at the end of Year 6 they have a superb understanding of ‘how’ to be a good learner and it is always so rewarding when we have feedback from our senior schools on how well our pupils settle and what they achieve in their new schools.
We urge parents to discuss the habits of learning with your children and to help them to develop these habits even when they are at home. This could be as simple as packing their own bags (organisation), attempting their homework without adult support/input (but please do take an interest without doing it for them) or encouraging them to ask questions about their learning and the world around them. Learning is a lifelong activity and if the children can see that adults are lifelong learners too, then this will motivate them to become curious and independent and to aspire to greater things.
So maybe as adults too we should review our own habits of learning. Give yourself time to reflect on you as a learner, what habits do you still need to cultivate and improve upon? Do not worry though - we will not be asking you to give yourself an interim report!
We hope that you will find your child's report useful and informative and a springboard for conversations with your child about how they learn.
Mrs. Drummond
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: 28/01/2022The Power Of Sleep
Are you a lark or an owl? Chronotype is the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time. I’m definitely a lark; I wake up at 5.15 a.m. and visit my horse before getting ready for school, and I am happily at my desk by about 7 a.m. However, come 9.30 p.m. I am basically done and I’m ready for my bed! Now, I know that my advancing years may impact my early evening bedtime but I do strongly believe that having a good night's sleep is absolutely paramount.
I am not alone in this belief. Research tells us that good sleep is essential for the whole family, which is why we spend a third of our lives doing it!
Sleep is the foundation for good health. It affects every single part of our body, it affects our eating habits, exercise, hormones, immunity, learning, memory, creativity, decision making, mood and behaviour. While we sleep our brain is creating links and making memories. Put simply, sleep is replenishing and repairing.
We have been discussing our value of fairness this week and it has been fascinating to hear the children’s perceptions on what they feel is fair. Numerous children with older siblings have spoken about how they feel it is unfair that their sibling gets to go to bed later than them. I urge you not to succumb to your child bemoaning that their bedtime is too early and give sleep the kudos it deserves. By teaching your child/children to have a bedtime routine that precedes a good night's sleep, you are giving them a wonderful skill for life.
I refer back to my sleep routine. Yes, I get up early but I go to bed early too, meaning that I am getting the recommended 7-9 hours for an adult.
The recommended amount differs for children according to their age. For example, 5 year olds need 11 hours a night, while 9 year olds need 10 hours. You can see the NHS guidelines for recommended sleep times here:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/how-much-sleep-do-kids-need/
Routine is key and doing the same relaxing things in the same order will greatly support your sleep pattern. For example, a warm bath, dimmed lights and a shared story. I am an advocate of mindfulness and will often practice the ‘body scan’ meditation just before I go to sleep. I have to be honest and admit that I often don’t get past my knees before I nod off!
Avoid screen time before bed. This wouldn’t be my blog if I didn’t mention the perils of screen time at some point! But once again I am backed by research, so please do try to keep your bedrooms a screen free zone - ye,s I mean you too, mums and dads!
So, referring back to our current value - be fair to your family and yourself and never underestimate the power of sleep!
Mrs. Hunt
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.
Posted on: 14/01/2022Staying Safe
We pride ourselves at St. Helen’s College on ensuring that your children are well looked after and remain safe in our care. However, we also have the responsibility, along with you as parents, to ensure that the children understand how to stay safe when they are not under our supervision and that we are preparing them for life.
The simple definition of safety is being ‘free from harm or risk: unhurt or secure from threat of danger, harm, or loss.’
There are many aspects of our curriculum which build upon this and our school behaviour mantra ‘Ready, Respectful, Safe’ helps to embed the principle of safety. We ‘teach’ road safety, first aid and water safety (as part of the swimming programme). We encourage a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition and physical exercise and our PSHCE curriculum promotes well-being and good mental health, incorporating aspects such as stranger danger, inappropriate touching, mindfulness, positive psychology and peer support.
As you are all aware, online safety is an increasingly important aspect of safety, in which it is crucial that home and school are supporting children from a very young age. As part of our ‘Pre-Parenting Programme’ for preschoolers we have focussed one of our Teddy Talks on digital awareness - it can be viewed here.
On Tuesday this week, we welcomed Paul Hay back to St. Helen’s College. Paul is an Internet Safety Consultant (Paul’s website can be viewed here) and he has trained with CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) as a training ambassador. This was Paul’s fifth visit to St. Helen’s College and pupils, staff and parents yet again benefitted from his expertise. Paul’s visit is part of our ongoing programme to help keep children safe online. Although we have software to control internet access at school and children work under supervision, it is through education that we can keep the children safe wherever they are. Rather like road safety, we need to hold children's hands when they are young but teach them how to be safe when we are not there. We discuss safety and well-being in PSHCE and computing lessons every year and in Year 5 the children build their own websites on the subject. Topics covered include stranger danger and keeping information secret but of equal importance is the children’s own behaviour online and ensuring they are as kind and honest online as they are in the playground.
Reception and Year 1
Paul shared the story of ‘Smartie the Penguin’ to capture the children’s attention and taught them a short snappy song about what to do if they came across something that troubled them on the internet - you may wish to view the story here.
The words of the song are a simple ditty for pupils and parents to share:
“Before you tap and click….
You need to stop and think…
And TELL someone!”
Years 2, 3 & 4
In advance of Paul’s visit the class teachers had shared a video with the pupils on ‘Playing Games’ - the video can be viewed here.
The key tips from Paul’s session following discussions with the children were:
1. People online may be not be who they say they are.
2. Be nice to people online.
3. Do not share private information.
4. If you are worried - tell an adult.
Years 5 & 6
The pupils took part in a ‘Private Information Exercise 2021’ which highlighted to the pupils the importance of not sharing personal information and revisited them being aware of ‘strangers’ online and the importance of speaking to adults if they feel uncomfortable about any activity they have online.
All our teaching staff also participated in a session after school with Paul and it was reassuring to know that all that we do as part of our normal routines was ratified by him in his talk to us. Paul was pleased that staff and parents have access to the National Online Safety website with training and weekly updates. If you have not already registered with NOS (National Online Safety) please do so here and you will be able to self register as part of the St. Helen’s College membership. I attach at the end of this blog the jpeg of one of December’s weekly updates on age-appropriate content. Each week there are very useful updates - this week’s happens to be all about ‘Fortnite’.
It was great to see so many of our parents attending the evening session with Paul via Zoom and we are grateful for your continued support in keeping your children safe online. At school our systems are very secure and the children are not able to access content which is not suitable. It is equally important that parents are doing their best to ensure that your children’s online activities are as safe as possible. Paul’s website (here) has lots of superb links and help and he is more than happy for parents to email him with any questions which they may have. Please feel free to email him on paul.hay@pclstraining.com.
For those of you who were unable to attend the parent session we have a recording of the talk which may be accessed here.
As always it is gratifying to know that home and school are all striving to do our best to keep the pupils of St. Helen’s College safe but also to prepare them for this digital world which is ever changing but such an exciting world to be part of!
Mrs. Drummond
Posted on: 7/01/2022Weekly News - Friday 7th January 2022
ISI Inspection Report
We hope that all parents have now had an opportunity to read the report from the ISI Educational Quality inspection which took place towards the end of last term. We are sure that, in doing so, you share our pride in the pupils, staff and parents who make St. Helen's College such an amazing community. We were delighted that the inspectors found so much evidence of the superb work and excellent pupil progress at St. Helen's College, and were equally delighted that they were able to include so many examples in the final inspection report. The report is available on the website here and has also been featured by IAPS, ISC and Attain magazine.
We will be producing a printed booklet containing the inspection results and will send one home to each family when this is ready. If you have a local business or anywhere else to share more booklets with the community and would like some more copies, please just let us know by contacting the school office and we will be pleased to provide more.
Internet Safety Day Information
Next Tuesday, 11th January, will be an Internet Safety Day here at St. Helen's College. We will be joined at school once again by Paul Hay from PCLS Training. All classes from Reception to Year 6 will have specific lessons/workshops on Internet Safety, staff will receive a twilight training session and there will be an evening Zoom session for parents too. Information about this has been emailed directly to parents and is copied below.
Keeping your Child Safe Online
Tuesday 11th January 2022 7.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.
Our children live in the Internet Age. They love to use technology and play the latest games. However, it is not always easy for parents and carers to understand what they are doing and how we can help to do the right things to keep them out of danger.
It is important that parents are also involved so they are able to help their children when they are at home. We would like to invite you to an online talk, which will be delivered by Paul Hay, a specialist in internet safety. Paul will be spending the school day with the children and staff and will then present to parents in the evening.
He will tell you :
How young people use the Internet.
Show how children use programs such as Moshi Monsters, Minecraft, Roblox, Instagram, SnapChat and Tik Tok.
Describe how information young people post can be misused by people who are not their friends.
Explain what you, as parents, can do to help keep them safe.
Above all it will give you as parents and carers the confidence to help your child get the most benefit and enjoyment from the internet while keeping safe.
Topics will be discussed in language we as parents understand. No technical or computer knowledge is required or expected.
To attend this session, please join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85069890558?pwd=WUc1d0p5a1NOQi9KUGk5SGk1Tm15dz09
Meeting ID: 850 6989 0558 Passcode: 813801
We look forward to you joining us. You may join on the night but it would be useful if you could complete this short form if you intend to attend.
Ducklings/Nursery/Reception Parents' Evenings
Parents' evenings will take place for Ducklings, Nursery and Reception on:
Thursday 27th January 2022 (5.00 - 8.00 p.m.) - remote.
Tuesday 1st February 2022 (4.00 - 7.00 p.m.) - in school.
To book your appointment(s), please use the following link: https://sthelens.schoolcloud.co.uk/
Bookings will go live from 6.30 p.m. on Friday 14th January 2022.
For parents who chose to have a remote meeting last time, it would be lovely to see you face-to-face in school this time if you can make it.
Full class names should be used to access the system: Ducklings Kindergarten, Robins Nursery, Wrens Nursery, Owls, Kingfishers.
Year 5 Transfer Meetings
Mrs. Drummond will be holding individual meetings with Year 5 parents next week to discuss senior school transfer. If you have a child in Year 5 and have not yet booked an appointment with Mrs. Drummond, you can do so by following the link on the email sent out this week via SchoolsBuddy.
Co-Curricular Activities - Spring Term
Co-curricular activity sessions for spring term clubs will begin from Monday 10th January, apart from any clubs which take place outdoors at the end of the school day. These will begin from Monday 17th January (which will allow for more daylight as the days get longer).
RSPB Bird Watch Week 2022
We continue to encourage families to enjoy the outdoors and sign up for the annual Big Garden Bird Watch which will be running from 28th - 30th January 2022. Please see the link here on how to sign up.
Happier January Calendar and Happiness Jars
As per the Head's Blog this week please see the link here to download your Happier January Calendar. We look forward to hearing about the 'happiness jars' that your children are creating at home. You may wish to join them in this lovely gratitude/happiness activity.
Class Assemblies
We will not be having our usual annual Exhibition Day this year but instead parents will be invited to to view pupils' work back in the classroom following your child's class assembly. You may therefore wish to schedule in a little more time to spend at school on the morning when you attend your child's class assembly.
Covid-19 PCR Tests
Confirmatory PCR tests following a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test result are to be temporarily suspended from Tuesday 11th January. This will mean that anyone who receives a positive LFD test result will be required to self-isolate immediately and will not be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.
Posted on: 7/01/2022Perseverance leads to Happiness
Happy New Year to one and all! It is a joy to be back at school with our pupils and staff. The cold, crisp, blue skies of recent mornings have been such an invigorating start to this new term.
In the first assembly of this term our new school value of ‘Perseverance’ was introduced to the children along with the Action for Happiness calendar for January (feel free to download).
We are encouraging everyone to focus on small steps to try to boost happiness - for ourselves and others around us - to spread kindness and hopefully inspire others to do the same. Some days this may not be as easy as it sounds and perseverance is required. It is often easy to feel frustrated when we are challenged by something or someone, easy to give up, walk away or even respond in a negative way. However, if we can all nurture the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult, by persevering it can often lead to ‘happiness’. Happiness is an emotional state characterised by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfilment. While happiness has many different definitions, it is often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction. Happiness is generally linked to experiencing more positive feelings than negative.
To help us all become more aware of our happiness the children have been challenged to create their own ‘Happiness Jars’. A happiness jar is quite simply a container in which you put a daily or weekly note of gratitude. On a piece of paper, write down one good thing that has happened or one thing you are grateful for that day, fold it up and pop it into the jar. My empty ‘Percy Pig’ jar has made a superb ‘happiness jar’ and I have already popped my first gratitude note for what made me happy in my jar. As I explained to the children in assembly, I will choose when I need to dip into my happiness jar to reflect on my happy moments to savour the gratitude and joy I experienced. It may be that I choose to do this regularly or wait until the end of the year to reflect upon my happy moments of 2022. We can choose when we may need to be boosted and reminded of the good things in our lives.
I wish you all a very ‘Happy’ start to 2022 and good health as we take steps into the next phase of our turbulent journey through this pandemic time we are living in. Let us take time each day to be grateful for our families, friends and each other.
Mrs. Drummond
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