Weekly News - Friday 2nd December 2022
Posted on: 02/12/20221C, 1R, Owls, Kingfishers and 3B Class Assemblies/Nativities
What amazing performances we have seen throughout the school this week!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, 1C and 1R presented their Christmas assemblies at the Methodist Church, through which they encouraged parents, children and staff to think about the true meaning of Christmas. The Year 1 classes related the story of the birth of Jesus and explained some Christmas traditions going back to Victorian times. They sang a mixture of traditional and modern, upbeat songs to entertain us too! These were two polished, confident performances which made us very proud indeed. Well done, Year 1.
On Thursday and Friday, the Owls and Kingfishers Reception classes performed beautiful nativity plays to families and staff in the Methodist Church. In stunning nativity costumes, they enacted the story of the birth of Jesus with many delightful songs along the way. Each child spoke individual lines and there was plenty of musical singing and some super actions too. It was wonderful to see the children growing in confidence and enjoying performing publicly.
Year 3 Roman Studies
On Monday, our Year 3 children enriched their history topic of 'The Romans' with a themed Roman Day. They had the opportunity to try Roman food, learn about Roman numerals, make Roman shields and coins, dress in Roman costume amd to take part in activites in Court Park.
On Friday, 3B performed their class assembly about the Romans. The children sang, spoke their lines confidently and used a variety of technology to demonstrate their learning. Well done 3B, this was an informative and entertaining presentation.
Carols Around The Tree
Thank you to all of the families who joined us for our annual 'Carols Around The Tree' singalong in the Upper School playground this afternoon. It is always lovely to have so many members of the St. Helen's College community together to celebrate the start of the festive season.
Woodlands Care Home Visit
A group of Year 4 and 5 children from our Chamber Choir visited Woodlands Care Home this morning and brightened up the residents' day by singing Christmas carols for them.
Christmas Tree Decoration Competition and Christmas Postboxes
If your child would like to send Christmas cards to their friends or teachers at school, they may post them in our Christmas postboxes during the coming week. All cards MUST be clearly named with the recipient's first name, surname and class to ensure that they may be correctly delivered.
Children may still bring in their home made decorations for our Christmas trees too. Please encourage them to be as creative as they like and to name their decorations clearly. The decorations will be judged towards the end of the week and there will be prizes for the winners.
Christmas Events and Christmas Lunch Menu
During the final week of term there will be several special events to lead us into the Christmas break. Parents of the relevant classes are warmly invited to attend the events shown in bold below. Please note that children at Upper School have the option to wear Christmas jumpers over their uniforms on Thursday 8th December. Children at Ducklings and Lower School should wear Christmas party clothes on this day.
Monday 5th December
Robins Christmas Assembly at 8.45 a.m. (with coffee served from 8.15 a.m.)
Chamber Choir visit to Chalfont Lodge Care Home (1.00 - 3.00 p.m.)
Ducklings Christmas songs for parents 2.45 p.m.
Tuesday 6th December
Wrens Christmas Assembly at 8.45 a.m. (with coffee served from 8.15 a.m.)
Wednesday 7th December
Year 2-6 pantomime trip to Sleeping Beauty
Thursday 8th December
Christmas Jumper Day - children may wear Christmas jumpers over uniform
Lower School visiting pantomime - Sleeping Beauty
Christmas lunch - you can see the special menu for the day here.
Friday 9th December - End of Term (Half Day)
Year 2 - 6 Carol Service at All Saints Church at 11.00 a.m.
End of term pick up times:
11.50 a.m. Ducklings & Nursery
12.00 p.m. Reception
12.10 p.m. Years 1 & 2
12.20 p.m. Years 3 & 4
12.30 p.m. Years 5 & 6
Co-Curricular Clubs
Club allocations have been sent to parents today. Please make payment over the weekend via your SchoolsBuddy account.
Children In Need Total
The St. Helen's College community raised an amazing £2,365 for Children In Need this year. Thank you so much to everyone involved for your efforts and generosity.
Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal
Thank you to all of the families who donated gifts for the Salvation Army Christmas Present appeal. The gifts have been collected from school today and each gift will, we are sure, make a big difference to a child's Christmas.
St. Helen's College Trust Supports Hillingdon Basketball Club
Following their successful application for a grant from the St. Helen's College Trust, Hillingdon Basketball Club have now bought t-shirts for their youth members to create a real community spirit at the club. To further add to inclusivity within the club, and to give young players another opportunity they may not have had, the club spent the remainder of their grant money on tickets to a Thames Valley Cavalier match. They tell us that their young players were really inspired by the experience!
St. Helen's College parents are generous in supporting the SHC Trust by using EasyFundraising and making donations to the textile bank at 227 Long Lane, as well as in donations when children join and leave the school. We hope you will feel proud that the Trust is able to make a difference to children in our local community.
Vidya Dhan
This year, we have chosen Vidya Dhan as the global charity supported by the St. Helen’s College community. St. Helen’s College staff may choose to donate to the charity in lieu of sending Christmas cards to colleagues, and we have been inviting parents to donate to the charity at our Christmas assemblies. Some parents have asked whether it is possible to donate online and the answer is yes. The link is below.
Vidya Dhan means the ‘Gift of Education’ and the charity was founded in 2012. Vidya Dhan’s main area of operation is in India where the charity helps to educate girls from poor families. Its objectives are:
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to contribute fully or in part towards the school fees of children;
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to contribute fully or in part towards costs of school uniforms, shoes and stationery;
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to reimburse children’s medical costs if parents are unable to afford such costs and
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to counsel parents to provide a safe and nurturing home environment.
The charity aims to sponsor all children in the sponsorship programme to Year 12, which is approximately equivalent to GCE A level. In addition, some girls are sponsored through college and university. This allows the girls to go on to support their own families when the time comes. At present, Vidya Dhan supports the education of fifty girls. Five of the girls have earned first class degrees and one has earned a Master’s in finance and business studies.
We would like to thank parents and staff for your generosity in making donations to the charity. Every penny really does help and what better gift can we give at Christmas than the gift of education?
