Weekly News - Friday 11th May 2018

The children of Kingfishers Class educated and entertained us with an assembly about the history and traditions of 'May Day' this week. There was some superb singing, morris dancing and even maypole dancing! This was a vibrant and colourful assembly to celebrate those days of sunshine which we hope will be plentiful over the next few months. Well done indeed, Kingfishers. You can see photographs on our Galleries page.

Cancer Research Relay for Life

Today is 'Relay Friday' and we have launched Relay for Life to the children at school in assemblies. St. Helen's College teams have taken part in this special event for many, many years now, following the battles of dear colleagues against cancer and the losses of much loved family members, colleagues and friends to this merciless disease. Today we wore Relay for Life colours and explained to the children what the event is all about and why we will be working to raise money for this cause.

If you would like to find out more information about the event itself, and perhaps join the St. Helen's College team or sponsor us, please follow the link below. We would be delighted to welcome parents, children and extended family members to our team!

http://relay.cancerresearchuk.org/site/TR?fr_id=1850&pg=entry

Royal Wedding Celebrations

Next Friday we are encouraging the children in Ducklings, Lower School and Upper School to come to school dressed in red, white and blue (no football tops please). Ducklings and Lower School children may wish to make a crown at home to wear on the day.  

We will be celebrating the upcoming nuptials with a street party themed picnic lunch. (Ducklings children should supply lunch as normal). 

Junior Language Challenge

There are now just three weeks to go in this year's Junior Language Challenge first round. If your child is taking part, please encourage them to put on a final push - all is still to play for and we hope that some of our pupils will manage to secure a place in the semi final!

More Music Results!

We are pleased to announce an additional music examination result:

Piano
Reece G   Grade 1  Pass

Well done Reece!

Reminder - Holiday Club Bookings

We would like to remind parents that bookings for the May half term Holiday Club are now open. The booking form is available on the Documents page of the website and the deadline for bookings is next Friday, 18th May.   

Summer School 2018

Bookings are now open for this year's Summer School, which will take place from 20th to 24th August. The themes for this year are 'On The Farm' for children currently in Nursery - Year 1, and 'Under The Sea' for children currently in Year 2 - Year 6. The Year 2 - Year 6 Summer School will take place at Hillingdon Outdoor Activity Centre. Both Summer Schools will include a programme of fun and exciting activities for the children. Full details and the booking form are available here.

PA Quiz Night - Cancelled

Sadly, the PA Quiz Night (which was scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday 12th May) has been cancelled due to lack of interest. We are very sorry that this event will not go ahead and we urge parents to support the PA's events wherever you can; the committee work so hard to put on events to bring our community together and it is such a shame that parents won't enjoy the feeling this year of 'beating the teachers'!

Tax-Free Childcare Accounts/Childcare Vouchers

If you are using a tax-free childcare account to pay the school, please email our Finance Office at finance@sthelenscollege.com as soon as possible to let them know the account reference number. This will make it much easier for the school to locate your payments and allocate them correctly to your account. 

We are aware that there is currently some confusion over whether parents may use a tax-free childcare account (or childcare vouchers) to pay for school fees after their child's 5th birthday.

As St. Helen's College is not an Ofsted registered school (because we are regulated by the Department for Education under the Independent Schools Inspectorate), we do not currently accept childcare vouchers or tax-free childcare account payments towards school fees after a child's 5th birthday. However, the school is currently taking independent legal advice on this issue and if there are to be any changes, we will let parents know as soon as possible.

You may continue to use childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare accounts to pay for Breakfast Club, After School Club and Holiday Club provided by the school on the school premises, throughout your child's time at St. Helen's College.

School Fee Plan/Third Party Providers

If you are using School Fee Plan or any other third party provider to pay your school fees, please ensure that the Finance Office knows this, so that they are able to correctly match payments received to your account. You can email the Finance Office at finance@sthelenscollege.com.