Weekly News - Friday 2nd July 2021
Posted on: 01/07/2021The Lion King!
Wow, wow, wow! We have had wonderful performances from our Year 6 children this week as they have presented their grand musical, The Lion King, to children, staff and parents on our special stage in the Evans Garden. The quality of singing, acting and choreography was extraordinarily high and the costumes and set were amazing! It is always very emotional watching the children perform at school for the final time before they leave us, and we know that the Year 6 parents found tears in their eyes too. Very, very well done Year 6. You are an amazing set of performers and your confidence will stand you in very good stead for success at senior school and beyond. We have posted lots of photographs of The Lion King on the Galleries page for you to enjoy.
Wellbeing Day
On Monday, we celebrated Wellbeing Day, with a focus on activities to boost mental health and wellbeing throughout the school.
Here is a booklet for parents with helpful tips and advice on how to support your children's mental health.
Here is a recipe booklet for healthy smoothies to make with your children.
As the week moved on, the children were given the opportunity to showcase their talents and interests in special assemblies, and it was a real treat to hear them sing, play instruments, show off artwork and more. Very well done to all of the children who shared their talents and interests with us all.
Year 2 Trip to Iver Environment Centre
On Thursday, our Year 2 children enjoyed a super day trip to Iver Environment Centre, where they enjoyed some fantastic outdoor learning. They went pond dipping, caught bugs and went to the rainforest!
Sports Results
We had a very special assembly on Tuesday morning at which our Windsor and Cambria Sports Captains, led by Miss Walker, announced the results of both the Year 3-6 Inter-House Sports Cup and the Year 3-6 Sports Day Trophy. There was much excitement as the results were gradually announced and the children waited to hear who the overall winners were!
In the Inter-House competition, for which matches are played in Games sessions throughout the year, Cambria achieved 38 points and Windsor achieved 46 points, so Windsor were the overall winners. Vidhit N, the Sports Captain of Cambria, gave a motivational speech to the children of Cambria, encouraging them to continue striving in the future and thanking them for all of their hard work and sportsmanship. Reece G, the Windsor Sports Captain, congratulated the children of Cambria for being such worthy opponents and reminded us all that we are all winners if we compete with determination and grace, and are proud of ourselves and others.
The Sports Day results were very exciting indeed and there was much anticipation in the assembled audience as Miss Walker told us all each year group's results:
Year 3: Windsor 94 points, Cambria 160 points
Year 4: Windsor 103 points, Cambria 150 points
Year 5: Windsor 130 points, Cambria 99 points
Year 6: Windsor 131 points, Cambria 88 points
These results meant that Cambria were the overall Sports Day winners, with a total of 497 points.
Amar C, as Windsor Sports Captain, was graceful in defeat, congratulating Cambria sincerely. She reminded the children of Windsor of how hard they had all tried and how proud they should feel of themselves. Cambria Sports Captain Fredericka T then praised Windsor for being such challenging rivals and for all of their individual performances in the track and field events, while congratulating the children of Cambria for their super achievement.
All four Sports Captains gave rousing and heartfelt speeches, thanking staff and pupils alike for making the competitions so meaningful and close, and for all of the organisation that goes into all of the many sports events that take place at St. Helen's College. Well done everyone!
General Knowledge Quiz Team
Our Year 5 and 6 General Knowledge Quiz Teams took part in the national final of the Prep School General Knowledge Quiz last Thursday. The event took place online and was hotly contested, as schools from all over the country competed to answer tricky questions on all aspects of general knowledge.
Our Year 5 team finished 10th overall and got a total of 20 questions right out of a possible 30. Very well done to the team members: Anjika G, Shruthi T, Zachariah F and Aaryan B.
The Year 6 team came 9th in their competition and got a total of 22 questions right out of a possible 30. Congratulations to the team: Ben L, Zail T, Arjan D and Vandan V.
Year 3 Flower Photography Competition Winners
Well done to the six Year 3 children who were chosen as winners of the Year 3 photography competition. All of the children in Year 3 were challenged to take a photograph of a flower over the half term break. The photographs were all stunning and it was really hard to pick the winners! Very well done to Verity S, Arjun S, Samara P, Ali B, Sean R and Zakariya Mi.
Next Week - Charity Week
Our final week of term will be our charity week, with a focus on supporting Cancer Research UK.
Monday is a non-uniform day. Children may wear their own clothes and the theme is the CRUK colours of pink and/or blue. We ask that each child makes a donation in order to wear their own clothes (suggested minimum £2 and more gratefully received!).
All children will also be participating in a theme within their classes to raise money for CRUK - details are being sent to you directly from your class teachers.
All donations should be made via the St. Helen's College CRUK Relay for Life fundraising page here, please. We ask that parents make one donation to cover the non-uniform day and the class activity.
Many thanks, in advance, for your generous support of this cause.
End of Term - Friday 9th July
Term will end on Friday 9th July, which is a half day. Children should be collected at the following times, or booked into Funtasia for the afternoon:
11.50 (Ducklings & Nursery)
12.00 (Reception)
12.10 (Years 1, 2)
12.20 (Years 3, 4)
12.30 (Years 5, 6)
The Upper School final assembly will be live streamed for parents of children in Years 2 - 6. This will begin at 10.30 a.m. on Friday 9th and we hope many of you will be able to join us online. Details of how to join the event will be sent to parents next week.
Library Investment
The library has been enjoying investing in a wealth of wonderful new titles for next year, with fiction refreshed at all reading levels and a fresh injection of non-fiction, from current affairs and biography to nature and sport. We look forward to sharing these with the children in September!
In the meantime may we remind children - and parents - that all books should be returned on or before Monday please. Books which are lost on loan or damaged may need to be replaced and a charge may be made. Please address any queries to library@sthelenscollege.com.
News From The PA
The PA currently have vacancies for class reps for the next academic year in Ducklings, 1R, 5G and 6R. If you would like to become a class rep for one of these classes, please contact the PA at pa@sthelenscollege.com.
There will be a pop up second hand uniform stall, run by the PA, in the school car park on Parkway from 12 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. on both Tuesday 17 August and Friday 20 August. Parents will have the opportunity buy bits ready for the return to school at the start of September whilst also having time to get any additional bits from Pullen's after this date if the PA don't have what you are looking for. Please add these dates to your diary and support the PA by popping along to buy some second hand uniform.
2021-2022 Academic Year
As ever, we are pressing ahead with plans for a normal return to school in the hope that the world will have returned to normal by then! If there are Covid restrictions in place at the end of August, any changes to normal arrangements will be communicated to all parents before the start of term.
Uniform & Equipment
If you have not already done so, please check the Uniform & Equipment list on the School Documents page of the website so that you can ensure that your child has all that they will need for their next year group.
Funtasia/Breakfast Club Bookings
Bookings for wraparound care for the Autumn term will open on the first day of term, 2nd September, very early in the morning. Breakfast Club and After School Club will be available as usual and, as ever, we ask that you book as far in advance as you can, wherever possible, as this is so helpful for us when planning staffing, catering and other logistics.
Co-Curricular Arrangements and Bookings
We are currently finalising the co-curricular programme for the Autumn term. Bookings will open soon after the start of the term and we will send a reminder at that time to ask you to make your choices. Clubs are being planned to start from the week beginning Monday 14th September.
Autumn Term Menu
The menu for the autumn term will be published to the school website over the summer holidays once it is finalised. Please do take a look at it with your child ahead of the new academic year to help them to make sensible choices.
Snacks - A Reminder
When sending in snacks for break times, please follow the school rules and send fruit, vegetables or plain biscuits in a named snack box. In exceptional circumstances, if your child is getting very hungry or needs a second snack for after school before a club, you may send a plain sandwich (cheese, ham or similar). No high fat, high sugar or high salt foods are permitted and please do not send anything messy!
Walking Zone Maps
As we continue to promote sustainable travel and road safety, we have now taken delivery of the display boards containing our school walking zone maps. These will be put up at school over the summer holidays and we hope that you will all continue to walk/scoot/cycle with your children for all or part of your journeys to school, as much as you are able.
Covid-19
Please see below the guidance from the NHS regarding Covid-19 symptoms and actions to be taken. As there are signs of an increase in positive cases in our local areas, it is very important that we follow this guidance strictly as a community.
The main symptoms of COVID-19 are:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
What to do if your child has symptoms
If your child has any of the main symptoms of COVID-19, even if they're mild:
- Get a PCR test (test that is sent to a lab) to check if they have COVID-19 as soon as possible.
- You, your child and anyone else you live with should stay at home and not have visitors until you get the test result – only leave your home to have the test.
Anyone in your childcare or support bubble should also stay at home if your child has been in close contact with them since their symptoms started or during the 48 hours before they started.
