Weekly News - Friday 7th July 2023

Cancer Research UK Charity Week

Thank you so much to every member of the St. Helen's Community who has been involved in raising money for Cancer Research UK this week.

Our Year 5 children held a cake sale on Tuesday morning at Upper School which was very popular!

 

The school was pink and blue all over on Thursday when the pupils and staff wore their own clothes in CRUK colours in return for making a donation. Ducklings and Lower School children took part in a Danceathon on this day and the Upper School children enjoyed a walk around Court Park.

Lower School children will also have the opportunity to 'Soak The Teacher' next Friday!

The total raised so far by the SHC community is well over £1000. It is not too late to donate if you would still like to do so. Our JustGiving page remains active and you can donate by following this link:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/st-helens-college-1688112386262

 

 

Sue Blackstone

We are devastated to share the news of the death of our former St. Helen's College colleague Sue Blackstone. Many families will remember Mrs. Blackstone who worked with the school for around thirty years, most recently as our Wraparound Care Manager. She dedicated so much time and love to the children of St. Helen's College before her retirement a few years ago and had been enjoying time with family and friends before her death. She will be very fondly remembered and very greatly missed by all.

Ducklings Sports Day

Today our youngest St. Helenians enjoyed their first ever St. Helen's College Sports Day in the Ducklings grounds, where they took part in several different activities designed to develop their future sporting prowess!

Wimbledon!

On Monday 8 of our Year 6 children were lucky enough to go to Wimbledon for the first day of the tennis championships. We saw some fantastic tennis and had a great day out. The children were a credit to the school and really relished the opportunity to be inspired by some of the best tennis players in the world! 

 

 

Year 1 Trip To Mad Bess Woods

Despite the heavy showers, rain did not stop play for Year 1 at Mad Bess Woods on Wednesday! The children had lots of fun playing on the lawn before going on a mini trek in the woods. Due to the damp weather they were unfortunately able to find many different minibeasts.

After lunch they explored Mrs. Hunt's garden and found some of the sunflowers we had planted in the spring. One of them is now nearly six feet tall! They finished the trip with a visit from Pino and his ice cream van! All agreed it was a wonderful way to celebrate a great year.

 

Prizegiving

On Thursday evening we enjoyed a marvellous evening reception and Prizegiving ceremony in The Evans Garden at Upper School, at which our leaving Year 6 children were recognised for their hard work, talents, personal development and contribution to the school. Our Guest of Honour was Peter Cregg who inspired the pupils by speaking about self belief and how to make the make the most of one's potential. It was very special to celebrate our leavers' achievements and personal qualities with such a ceremony, which included beautiful performances from the Chamber Choir and a stunning vocal solo from Minaya W. Thank you to all of the parents who attended, to the Chamber Choir and Minaya for their musicality, and to all of the staff involved in organising the evening.

Year 6 Projects And Teacher For A Day

The Year 6 children have produced some wonderful independent projects this year and on Wednesday these were exhibited around the school for parents and the other Upper School children to see.

On Friday, Year 6 took control of the school as they became 'Teacher For A Day'. According to the teacher role they were assigned, they led assembly, taught lessons at both Upper and Lower School, assisted with supervision, experienced a morning of office work, cut grass or did other maintenance jobs, toured prospective parents, helped run the kitchen for a morning and much more. Everyone had a lot of fun and learnt a lot too! The Year 6 pupils also raised £447 for CRUK by buying raffle tickets in advance for the teacher they wanted to be!
 

Hillingdon Chess Tournament 

On Sunday 2nd July, some of our keen chess players took part in the Hillingdon Chess Tournament. Mr. Foale reports that it was a fun, hard-fought tournament. St. Helen's College came third and individual successes were:

Kamran-Cyrus A came third in Year 6 and got a bronze medal. 

Leonard S got first place in Year 2 and got a gold medal. 

It was a Year 2 player from another school who won the tournament overall, beating much older players to take the title, which goes to show that it is always worth uncovering a new talent and working to develop it, no matter how young you are!

All the players behaved well and showed determination combined with sportsmanship. We are proud of all the participants.

Musical Success 

Minaya W (Year 6) auditioned at the Guildhall Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) on Saturday, playing her viola, and was offered a place! Minaya is looking forward to playing with the CYM Symphony/Chamber Orchestra while exploring composing and music technology.  The Guildhall Centre is super-selective and ranked number one in Arts, Drama and Music in the University Guide 2023 so this is a fantastic achievement. Well done, Minaya!

Pupil v Staff Rounders

On Friday afternoon, the staff took on the Year 6 pupils in our annual rounders match at Court Park, cheered on by the other classes from Upper School. As usual, it was a fiercely contested game and an enormously fun afternoon! The staff were victorious on the day.

Move Up Mornings

The teachers all very much enjoyed meeting the pupils they will be teaching next year during our annual 'Move Up Mornings' this week. We hope that the children also enjoyed seeing their new classrooms and meeting their new teachers.

Nursery and Ducklings Parents' Evenings

It was lovely to see many Ducklings and Nursery parents at the parents' evening on Thursday. We hope that you found the conversations useful.

Year 6 Musical - Honk! Jr.

Our Year 6 classes have been working very hard to prepare their grand summer musical production, Honk! Jr, which they will be performing at The Compass Theatre on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th July. Tickets are now on sale and must be booked directly with The Compass Theatre's box office. 

There is a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Thursday 13th July and if you are able to do so, we encourage parents to take child(ren) to see this show. You will be permitted to collect them early from school on that day in order to do so. It will be particularly valuable for the children in Years 4 and 5 to see the production as it will be their turn to stage their own Year 6 musical soon!

There are also performances at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th July.

The link for ordering tickets is here: Honk! | Hillingdon Theatres.

Calendar Reminders - Last Week Of Term

Wednesday 12th July - Reception class outings to Oak Farm Library
Wednesday 12th July - 7.30 p.m. Year 6 performance of Honk! Jr.
Thursday 13th July - 2.00 p.m. & 7.30 p.m. Year 6 performances of Honk! Jr.
Friday 14th July - End of Term (Half Day)

End of term pick up times are: 
11.50 a.m. Ducklings and Nursery
12.00 p.m. Reception 
12.10 p.m. Year 1 and Year 2
12.20 p.m. Year 3 and Year 4
12.30 p.m. Year 5 and Year 6

Funtasia will be running on the last day of term for Nursery to Year 6, located at Lower School - please ensure that you book a place for your child if you need it. Year 2 to Year 6 children will be escorted across to Lower School.
 

Summer Library Events

Oak Farm Library are running some events and schemes to help children continue with their reading over the summer and to inspire them to try new and different books. You can find full details on their summer newsletter here.

Summer Netball Camp

Blaze Netball Club will be running a summer camp for children from Reception to Year 9 at Douay Martyrs School from 21st to 24th August. You can find details here.

Hillingdon Leisure Complex Fun Weeks

There will be two fun weeks at Hillingdon Sports Centre this summer. You can find details here.