Best Ambassadors

Over the past few weeks we have had many prospective parents visiting the school and on every tour we are always so proud of our current pupils. They truly are the best ambassadors of the school and it would, in fact, be easy for the children to conduct every tour themselves!  In classrooms, corridors and around the school our pupils greet visitors with a friendly smile, from Ducklings all the way through to Year 6, and many of them will stop to chat - only this week our Head Girl welcomed a family and had a long conversation in Chinese, which I was reassured was all complimentary!  

Upon entering classrooms, the children are eager to share what they have been learning, reading examples of their work, explaining the importance of place value, highlighting the features of persuasive writing (with FATHORSE - facts, alliteration, triples, humour, opinion, rhetorical questions, similes, emotive language or exaggeration) or demonstrating their coding ability. The captured moments of learning on a school tour are endless and it is no wonder that our prospective parents are often left speechless! This week we found it hard to leave the 2H classroom, as child after child wanted to share something special with our visitors! Their science investigation was clearly a highlight of their day. 

I only wish that our current parents could see for themselves how their children engage with new adults they meet with such ease and confidence, showing such pride in talking about school work and other achievements.  

I visit many schools throughout the year in my role as Head, including feeder senior schools and other Prep schools within our IAPS group. I also visit schools in my role as an ISI inspector and although I am clearly biased about St. Helen’s College, we really do stand out from the crowd in terms of pupils' personal development and engagement with their learning in all areas.  

Mr. Crehan spent time in school on Tuesday and managed to visit every class in the Lower School and Upper School. He too was delighted with what is going on around the school and he revelled in being back in class with the children!

I am sure that many of you remember your first tour of the school when you visited as prospective parents. I may have shown you around, or you may have been toured by Mr. or Mrs. Crehan, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Stark. I am sure that you recall what left a lasting imprint on that tour - and I suspect that, for most if not all of you, it included the children! I would love to hear from any parent who remembers something specific about meeting pupils on their tour...please do feel free to share your memories with me around school or by email.

Finally, please do congratulate your children on their marvellous ability and willingness to interact with visitors with confidence, honesty and joy - we are so proud of them each and every day! 

Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Drummond