Weekly News - Friday 24th February 2023

UKMT Intermediate Challenge

Many congratulations to those pupils who took part in the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate Challenge. This challenge is for pupils in Year 11 and below, so our children were competing against GCSE students from across the country. There were very impressive performances from several St. Helen's College children and particular congratulations go to those awarded bronze, silver and gold awards:

Zakariya Mo - Gold
Malek C - Silver
Jacob N - Bronze
Arshvir S - Bronze

Zakariya's exceptional performance means that he will be progressing to the next round of the challenge on Thursday 16th March and we wish him lots of luck.

Artist Visit

Year 2 were very lucky to be visited by artist Emma Collins this week. Emma offers workshops in her studio in Hertford and also travels to deliver them within schools having been a teacher herself for 20 years. She linked her workshop to Year 2's science work to help the children to produce giant botanical lanterns using paper lanterns, decoupage and ribbons. Their beautiful artwork is now on display in the Upper School Hall.

Year 1 Visit Windsor Castle

Thursday saw our Year 1 pupils enjoy a day out at Windsor Castle to enrich their history learning about 'Kings and Queens'. They enjoyed taking part in a practical workshop learning all about King Charles III, especially the costumes and role play activities! 1C then had the opportunity to look around the State Apartments while 1R saw Queen Mary's doll's house. The children were mature and sensitive when they walked through St. George's Chapel and saw the resting place of Queen Elizabeth II. 

Year 1 had a wonderful day and behaved impeccably, especially given the number of other members of the public visiting to pay their respects. 

Wrens Class Assembly

The children of Wrens Nursery performed an assembly to their parents and staff on Thursday morning all about weather. They took us through the seasons with some beautiful songs about the cold, snowdrops and rain, spoke a choral poem and led us in a prayer to be thankful for the beautiful world we live in before rounding off with a wonderful rainbow song with colourful actions! We all reflected on how lucky we are to live in a country with such diverse weather. Very well done, Wrens, on a confident and very enjoyable presentation.

Month End Music Recital

Our February Month End Music Recital was very well attended this afternoon in the Evans Hall. As ever, many young musicians performed on a wide variety of instruments and they did so with courage and talent. This was a super way to round off another busy week at St. Helen's College!

Sports News

This Tuesday all girls in Year 3 and 4 travelled to Orley Farm School to play lots of small sided netball matches. The matches were competitive and the girls were able to put into practice everything they have worked on since September. The focus for all the girls was on participation, enjoyment and progression and they represented St. Helen's College fantastically. 

 

 

 

On Wednesday the Year 5/6 girls had a netball match against Hermitage Primary School. Unfortunately they lost 10-2,but  the girls worked hard throughout a very fast paced game and it was good for the girls to be challenged. After reflecting on the match the girls know which areas they could improve on when playing Hermitage in the future. 

 

 

Also on Wednesday, the boys' football team resumed their league campaign with a game away against St. Andrew's School. After some late changes to the team due to injury and illness, the boys set off hoping to return to winning ways. The pitch there is always a bit of a leveller as it is fairly small with a significant slope. St. Helen's College took the lead through a goal from Malek C and St. Andrew's equalised with a breakaway goal. Maicen M then restored our lead with a nice close finish after a very good passing move but unfortunately a deflected shot brought St. Andrew's level again. The boys tried to play as well as they could on a difficult surface but were unable to find the winner. Many thanks to Viren C and Aaron B for stepping into the team at short notice and a big thank you to the parents who helped with transport and provided great support on the touchline.

On Thursday, the boys' football team had an incredibly exciting cup match against Rabbs Farm School which ended 1-1 and went to extra time and then penalties. Viren C managed to save two penalties to help St. Helen's College come out the winners! So we are through to the next round. 

We also wish our St. Helen's College teams the very best of luck for the tournaments in which they will be taking part tomorrow: the U11 netball tournament at Ryefield School and the U9 football tournament at HABS.

CPR Training For Parents

Following the Sick Child Training in the first half of term, a group of St. Helen's College parents attended CPR Training with Dr. Dharsi in the Evans Hall on Monday evening. They learnt how to administer emergency first aid and CPR to an infant or child in need. We are grateful to Dr. Dharsi for offering her time to provide this training. Another session will be taking place on Wednesday 1st March. 

iArt Competition 2023

Once again this year, St. Helen's College pupils are invited to take part in the iArt Competition. We have a very good track record in the competition and are hoping that this year will see further St. Helen's College success.

The competition’s theme this year is The Environment.

We know that our pupils feel passionately about the environment and sustainability. Their competition entries might show what motivates them to feel like this and which projects and individuals they admire. The subject of their artwork can be anything to do with the environment, for example:

• An environmental concern, e.g. pollution, litter, mining, electricity generation, traffic, warming of the oceans etc.
• A simple landscape the pupil loves and which could be severely affected or disappear altogether if global warming is not tackled.
• A project the pupil admires, e.g. litter-picking, beach cleaning, animal rescue, wind farms, tidal defences etc.
• A person the pupil admires, e.g. environmentalist, famous person passionate about environmental matters etc.
• Anything else they feel fits the theme!

Pupils can paint, draw, make a collage, create a model – anything that stimulates and interests them, as long as it relates in some way to the theme.

The school is permitted to submit its best four entries for the competition and all entries must be handed into form teachers or to Mrs. Pruce by April 24th at the absolute latest. Entries will also be displayed around the school.

Shortlisted entrants will not only receive vouchers to use at local independent bookshops but will also have their entry pitched as a story to local newspapers, with the chance that the entry and a photo of the entrant will be published.

We wish the children happy creating!

World Book Day

St. Helen's College will be celebrating World Book Day on Friday 3rd March.

This year's theme is 'Bedtime Stories.' In keeping with the theme, we would love for the children to come to school wearing bedtime clothing. As it is likely to be cold, pyjamas and a dressing gown would probably make for the most comfortable option. To celebrate the joy of bedtime stories, children are also encouraged to bring their favourite ‘bedtime’ story into school.

Prior to the event, all children are invited to take a photograph of themselves reading in a cosy place before bedtime (NOT in bed); form teachers will create an area on Google Classroom for these to be uploaded. In class, the children will be sharing and discussing their nighttime reading routine with their classmates. Sharing stories really is a special experience, so this year’s theme celebrates reading as a way to relax and send us happily into sleep.

During World Book Day, pupils will take part in a number of activities including a World Book Day assembly, reading activities in the library and a class story at the end of the school day.

Thank you for your support in celebrating the world of books and reading.

Westminster Abbey Performance

Congratulations to Anika C (5G) who performed at Westminster Abbey over half term as part of the Commonwealth celebrations. Ms Gilham and Mr. Lewis, who attended to see Anika dance, were very impressed by her bravery and the sophistication of her performance. You can see some of her performance here.