Weekly News - Friday 17th November 2023
Posted on: 17/11/2023Centenary Party - Tickets Now Available!
We will be rounding off the 2023-2024 academic year with a grand St. Helen's College Centenary Party at the end of the summer term, when the SHC community will join together to celebrate the school's 100th year in style. The party will take place on the evening of Friday 12th July at The Manor Barn in Ruislip and we hope to see many parents there.
There are a limited number of tables (seating ten) available for purchase on a first come, first served basis. These are now available to buy via SchoolsBuddy. One parent will need to buy a table on behalf of ten guests, so please plan your group and buy your table now! Tickets will include dinner, some drinks and entertainment. Tickets are priced at £55 per person (£550 per table). Guests must be over 18 years of age.
We very much hope that you will join us to celebrate the end of the 2023-2024 centenary year with a bang!
Maths News
The pupils have had a blast this week, taking part in Maths Week England, a nationwide celebration of maths in which all schools in England may participate.
St. Helen's College children have been diving into investigations, puzzles and quizzes. There has been collaboration and competition across the year groups, bringing maths to life, and children have showcased their numeracy skills as well as problem solving and reasoning.
There were some online events and talks too. Year 6 joined a webinar to learn about ‘Green Careers’ from three people working in environmental jobs. We met an exploration geologist based in the Arctic Circle, a data scientist working for the Met Office and an architect who designs healthcare settings for the NHS. They talked about how maths is used in their day to day work.
Well done to all for engaging so well with some challenging and thought provoking problems!
There has also been a buzz about school as children from Years 2 - 6 have been engaging with Times Tables Rock Stars and taking part in a nationwide online competition, ‘England Rocks’.
Well done to all of our pupils for working as a team and collecting points for St. Helen’s College! We were up against some tough competition from across the country. Despite this, our pupils persevered until the end, never giving up and helped move SHC up the ladder, finishing in 1057th place overall, which is no mean feat.
Special mentions go to Tiya T, Eva J and Rohan F for finishing in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (respectively) within our school. What an incredible effort!
Over the past fortnight, the Primary Maths Challenge - a fun and exciting mathematical challenge - has also been taking place. Years 4-6 joined in and took the challenge this year. It is run by The Mathematical Association and aims to build children’s enthusiasm and resilience in maths. Results are yet to be published and announced, so watch this space!
Children In Need
The school community joined together today to focus on Children In Need, thinking about those less fortunate and how we can help them. At all three sites, children and staff wore spots and stripes and took part in activities to help raise money for this most worthy charity.
Here you can see our Wrens Nursery class enjoying their Children in Need day!
2H presented a super assembly to educate parents, pupils and staff at Upper School about 'Peace'. They taught us how to say the word peace in many different languages, and about what peace means to them and to us all at St. Helen's College. The children also acted out a beautiful story, 'The Peaceful Pond', during which the animals in a very peaceful pond were disrupted by the arrival of a snappy, unfriendly crocodile. In trying to find a peaceful solution to the problem, the animals discovered that the crocodile had been driven out of his previous home and was really quite sad. Having understood the reasons for his behaviour, and having explained their desire to live peacefully, they welcomed him into their community and peace was restored. Well done, 2H, for helping us all to reflect on the importance of peace and kindness, and for reminding us how lucky we are to have peace within our community.
The winners of the Children In Need raffles were:
Ducklings - Meeshal K
Lower School - Jovun B
Middle School - Ajooni G
Upper School - Mahi D
Thank you very much to everyone who has supported our Children In Need fundraising efforts.
Sports News
3B have enjoyed a week of swimming lessons at Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex this week.
The Year 6 netball team had another great win this Wednesday against St. Mary's. It was a fast paced game and the girls worked hard to keep possession. They won 4-1.
On Thursday the netball team attended the Reddiford School netball tournament. The girls showed great resilience and motivation on the cold and slightly damp afternoon. They played five matches in total and finished in a very impressive 2nd position. Well done to all involved.
Next week, on Tuesday 21st November all of the boys who normally do football will be playing a competitive match against Alpha Prep at Court Park. The girls who normally play football for Games will play an inter-school match against each other. Matches will kick off at 2 p.m. and parents are very welcome to come and watch.
On Thursday 23rd November all of Year 6 will play in competitive matches for football or netball against Alpha Prep at home during their PE times. Matches will kick off at 2 p.m. Parents are more than welcome to come and watch.
The next Thames Valley Cavaliers home game will take place this Saturday at Uxbridge College at 7.00 p.m. Once again, free tickets are available for St. Helen's College pupils. Information is here.
Junior Travel Ambassadors Present To Hillingdon Councillors
On Tuesday evening, Charlee G and Raiden B (Year 6) represented our Junior Travel Ambassadors at the Highways and Transport Select Committee at the Civic Centre, Uxbridge.
They both spoke with confidence and authority to explain to the Councillors the work that our JTAs have been doing, what initiatives our new JTAs have planned and the impact that being part of the STARS programme is having. Their most recent survey showed a 35% decrease in car use since 2018 and 17% increase in active travel.
St. Helen's College has been working with the STARS team for around fifteen years to encourage pupils and parents to travel to school actively wherever possible, sending out maps highlighting safe walking and cycling routes, and promoting 'park and stride' to parents who do come by car. Pupils have taken part in many activities over the years including pedestrian and Bikeability training, Junior Citizens, Eco Schools, Parent Parking Pledge, Air Quality projects, The Big Pedal and Theatre in Education.
In 2018 the JTAs successfully applied for funding for new scooter parking at the Lower School. At the last two 'Dragons Den' events in 2019 and 2020, they successfully bid for funding from the council to go towards road safety and active travel initiatives at the school, including the walking loyalty scheme. In 2021, another successful bid was made to the council. Following some incidents on the zebra crossing on Long Lane outside the school, the JTAs started a petition and sent this to the council, who acted very quickly to install ‘zeebrite’ halos on the lights of the crossing to make the crossing more visible to drivers. Most recently, the JTAs won a Top Influencer Award in West London from TfL for their achievements in active and safer travel initiatives and attended an awards ceremony at the Oval, Kennington.
Many congratulations to Charlee and Raiden for their super presentation and to the whole JTA team for their enthusiasm and dedicated work to promote road safety and active travel.
STARS Competition Winner!
The LBH STARS team ran a competition in October as part of their Walk to School month. They were overwhelmed with the response and there were some fantastic entries from children across the Borough. We are delighted to announce that Yuvraj R - 4B was selected as a 3rd place winner for the Key Stage 2 Road Safety Invention Competition!
The judges felt that Yuvraj's invention - flashing street lamps to alert drivers that there are pedestrians walking too close to the curb edge - was a very clever yet simple, effective and original idea that could work in a real life setting.
Well done Yuvraj!
Diwali Lunch
Thank you to Soula and her team for the wonderful Diwali lunch on Tuesday, which was enjoyed by all! Here are some photographs of the delicious dishes they prepared.
Pullens Black Friday Sale
Pullens (Uniform4Kids) are having a Black Friday Sale next Friday. The offer is valid for one day only, online, and exclusively on Friday 24th November 2023. There will be a 20% discount on all products including school wear, sportswear, footwear and accessories. This offer is available online only via www.uniform4kids.com.
Discount code BLACKFRIDAY20 must be entered at checkout. A discount cannot be added retrospectively to an order already placed.
There will be no Click & Collect or delivery to school available during this event. Orders will be dispatched via courier. Orders may take up to one week to process.
Food Bank
Through our Harvest Festival collections, we recently donated non-perishable food items to Hillingdon Salvation Army. A Lower School parent has suggested making this an ongoing commitment and has volunteered to support the school in getting this initiative off the ground.
We would like to be able to donate to the Hillingdon Food Bank on a weekly basis and will provide drop boxes at Ducklings, Lower School and Upper School. Donations must be non-perishable items such as tinned meat, fish and vegetables, formula milk, jams and honey.
We hope you are able to support us in this ongoing endeavour as we are certain it will make a difference to those in our community who are less fortunate than us.
Wet Bags
As a community we are always eager to look for new ways to reduce waste and damage to the environment. A parent has recommended reusable wet bags, which may be used instead of single use plastic bags for wet children's clothes. If you are interested in purchasing one for your child, you can see an example at the link below.
Next Week
3M swimming all week
Tuesday 21st November - U9 (Year 4) netball v. Alpha Prep School (A)
Tuesday 21st November - Boys' football v. Alpha Prep and girls' inter-school matches
Thursday 23rd November - U11 (Year 6) boys' football v. Alpha Prep School (H)
Thursday 23rd November - U11 (Year 6) girls' netball v. Alpha Prep School (H)
Friday 24th November - 4T coffee morning and class assembly (from 8.15 a.m.)
Friday 24th November - Month End Music Recital in Evans Hall (from 3.45 p.m.)
Friday 24th November - Pullens (Uniform4Kids) Black Friday Sale
Textile Bank
We would like to remind you that you can support the environment, help those in need and raise funds for the St. Helen's College Trust, at no cost to yourself, by donating used clothing, shoes, bedding, bags etc. to the textile bank situated outside 227 Long Lane. Wherever possible, these textile items are distributed to those in need. Any that are not suitable for distribution are recycled into industrial cleaning cloths, so that nothing ends up as landfill. The St. Helen's College Trust receives a small payment for each kilo of textiles donated.
If you are not familiar with the work of the St. Helen's College Trust, please do take a look at the website. The charity is young but growing, and has made a positive difference to many children's lives in the local area over the last two years. If you know of any organisation, group or individual who may benefit from a grant, please let them know that the Trust welcomes applications. The criteria are that the grant must be used to advance the education and/or all-round development of children aged 0-11 in Hillingdon and the surrounding areas.
Multi Sports & Swimming Fun Week
There will be a multi sports fun week at Hillingdon Leisure Centre over the Christmas break, offering various activities including swimming for children in Years 1-7. You can find details here.
