Weekly News - Friday 23rd April 2021

St. George's Day

It was wonderful on the journey to school today to see so many St. George's flags flying. We hope that many of your children enjoyed discussing some of the traditions and activities linked to St. George's Day. Please do ask them at home about their St. George's day activities, and continue to celebrate the day with them.

Here are some of our Ducklings, who enjoyed making St. George's Day flags today!

 

 

 

 

World Earth Day and Climate Change Competition

Yesterday was World Earth Day 2021. Advik S, one of our Year 4 Eco Reps, has written this piece to explain more:

World Earth Day is an annual event that shows support for environmental protection. Every year it is held on the 22nd April. It was started by Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes in 1970 which is approximately 51 years ago. 

Every day around 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean and around 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every year. Although humans have inflicted all this damage upon the environment, there is still time to make amends. Some of the things you could do are to use a cotton or fabric bag when you go shopping, use your own water bottle instead of buying bottled water as much as possible and lastly go on litter walks. You will be helping the environment and I know these changes might be small, but if we all contribute to it we will make the world a better place.

Many thanks to Advik for his commitment to educating others on this important topic.

To encourage more people to think about Climate Change, Hillingdon Council is running a Climate Change Competition, which is open to all St. Helen's College children. The closing date is Saturday 5th June.

Children are urged to get creative and take part in this borough wide competition to get everyone thinking about Climate Change, how it makes us feel and what can be done to do our part. Children are free to use any art form to express what Climate Change means to them, whether it be a musical composition, a drama scene, a poem, a piece of artwork or something else. 

You can find out more information about the competition here, including how to enter and of course what prizes are on offer! We hope that many of your children will create entries for this competition and that, in doing so, they will think deeply about climate change and what it means for all of us.

iArt Competition Winner!

Enormous congratulations to Arya A (Year 2), whose ‘Rainbow Tree’ piece of art came first in the Year 1-2 category of the prestigious iArt competition.

The competition had a record number of entries this year: 168 in total and over 30 entries in the Year 1-2 category (the biggest entry ever). So a huge well done to Arya, whose beautifully framed piece of art is currently hanging in Mrs. Drummond's office where it is being admired by all who visit.

Arya will be presented with a certificate and Amazon gift voucher, and her artwork is being turned into a picture that will hang on the wall of IAPS HQ for a year too.

 

The Big Pedal Week

We would like to remind parents that we will be taking part in the national Big Pedal Week next week to promote physical activity and active travel to school. 

We encourage all pupils and parents to include walking, scooting or cycling in their daily travel to and from school between Monday 26th - Friday 30th April. Pupils will also have the opportunity to take part in a Big Pedal activity in one of their P.E lessons next week. 

We would also like to draw parents' attention to this lovely new walking distance zone map that has been produced for us in association with The Big Pedal Week. This will remain available in the School Documents page of the website for the future and we hope that it will encourage you all to try to incorporate some foot travel into your school journeys.

In-School Peripatetic Music Lessons Resume

We are delighted to hear the musicality of our children throughout the day at school once more, as individual instrumental lessons have resumed in person, after a prolonged remote teaching period. Thank you to all of the parents and teachers who maintained the children's musicality throughout the lockdown period.

Upcoming Author Visit - Baroness Floella Benjamin

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday 11^th May, Years 1 - 6 will be joining a virtual event with Baroness Floella Benjamin. She is a captivating presenter with a powerful story to tell. Her memoir, Coming to England, is already a classic and will soon be available in two new paperback editions: a picture storybook for children in KS1, and a revised and re-illustrated memoir for children in KS2. We have ordered some copies of both for the school and will send out an order form nearer the time for parents, should you wish to order one or more for your child or as a gift.

Before the event, pupils will be shown the following reading of the picture storybook. We encourage parents to watch this too. As well as being a great reading of the story, it adds some historical context to Baroness Benjamin's life and will help you to discuss the event with your child(ren). 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZUHEMM4shI

Singing Competition

Our very exciting Singing Competition final will take place on Friday 11th June 2021 this year. We had our first online solo competition last year, judged by Mrs. Crehan, and this was very much enjoyed by all. Both the semi-finals and the final round will take place like last year, with video entries. This year we have a guest judge and we will share this information with you on the day of the final.

In order for the competition to go ahead, we request that video entries are submitted for the semi-finals. Due to the current circumstances, we can only hold a solo competition again this year. Only one entry per child is permitted and on only one email, please. Please submit your solo video entry by no later than Friday 14th May 2021.

There is no set theme this year and we would like to hear songs from all different genres and eras. Singing in other languages is permitted. All songs must be age appropriate, melodic and have appropriate lyrics and themes. If you are unsure whether your choice is appropriate, please check with Mrs. Belvoir, Mrs. Fawbert or Mrs. Garnes (email addresses below). We would like to see only simple gestures and appropriate movements relevant to the performance - no dance moves please. A backing track is required (without words) for the performance. A child may play the piano/guitar etc. as part of their performance.

For Middle School (Year 2 and 3) entries please submit to both of the following:
sbelvoir@sthelenscollege.com
mgarnes@sthelenscollege.com

For Upper School (Years 4, 5 and 6) entries please submit to both of the following:
cfawbert@sthelenscollege.com
mgarnes@sthelenscollege.com

The subject of the email should be clear, e.g "Singing Competition: name of child, form group, name of song" and it may be easiest to submit using your school Google drive.

Finalists will be chosen and announced by Friday 28th May 2021 on the school newsletter. Good luck to all!

Parents' Evening Bookings Years 1 - 6

Our next parents' evenings for Years 1 - 6 will take place on:

Tuesday 4th May from 4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Tuesday 11th May from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.

Once again, we will be running these remotely due to Covid restrictions. Bookings are now open so please follow this link to book your appointments.

Virtual Open Morning

This term's Virtual Open Morning for prospective parents will take place on Friday 21st May at 10.00 a.m. These events are a lovely opportunity for prospective parents to meet Mrs. Drummond and other school staff and to hear about our provision, ethos and aims. Parents are able to ask questions and really get a feel for the school. If you do have friends and family who might be interested in their children joining us now or in the future, please do encourage them to register and join us on 21st May. The registration link is here.