Weekly News - Friday 26th January 2024

Month End Music Recital

We were treated to another hour of musicality at the end of the day today, as children from Years 1 to 6 once again had the opportunity to perform vocal and instrumental pieces to parents, siblings and staff. This is always such a wonderful way to round off the week and the month.

There is something very touching about watching a child summon up the courage to perform (sometimes for the very first time) and in seeing the pride each child takes in the achievement when they manage it. At St. Helen's College we know that these informal opportunities to perform are crucial in developing confidence and self-esteem. A big well done to everyone who took part today!

Trunk Theatre Visit Y2

London's burning, London's burning!  Trunk Theatre made a special visit to Y2 this week to present a thoroughly entertaining production of 'The Great Fire of London'.

Continuing classroom work on this topic, the interactive play was full of fun, bringing to life this momentous event in history. Beginning in Tom Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane, and including recollections from the famous diarist Samuel Pepys, it was a riotous re-telling of the story, interspersed with songs, dances and games. The children loved joining in to sing and dance, and even fire a few water pistols! 
 

 

1C Class Assembly 

1C have been learning about significant explorers in their history lessons. On Thursday they performed a wonderful assembly about Neil Armstrong, who was the first man to step foot on the moon in 1969. They had lots of fun exploring his journey and finding out about the important people who contributed to this significant moment in history. The children had learnt so many interesting facts about the Apollo 11 mission and the moon. They delivered their lines with enthusiasm and confidence. The children sang with gusto, played musical instruments, had video clips of the children from the 1930’s (when the astronauts were born) and even had a quiz show! It was a thoroughly entertaining assembly that reflected the children’s enjoyment of their learning. Thank you and well done 1C!
 

6H Class Assembly

It was inspirational this morning to see the children of 6H present their assembly all about the future and what they would like to be when they grow up. Many of them have interesting ideas for future careers in business, the medical professions, sports or the arts; some do not yet know what they want to do, and reminded us all that it is fine to decide later! Ms Drummond noted at the end of the assembly that there are many, many careers open to children now which did not exist when she was young; no doubt there will be even more new pathways by the time the current St. Helen's College children are adults.

The children also reminded us, through a beautiful performance of the song 'SOS From The Kids', that we must all act now to look after our planet in order to safeguard their future and enable them to realise their dreams. This was a poignant, enjoyable assembly which got everyone thinking in the best way about the future and all it holds in store. If you would like to see a video montage of some of the children telling us what they want to be when they grow up, you can see this here and here.

Year 4 Amersham Field Trip

Year 4 experienced a fun trip to Amersham Field Centre this week. It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day which allowed for plenty of time to explore and learn outdoors. The children thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the great outdoors and being in the natural environment.

The day started by meeting ‘Michael Faraday’ and learning about electricity, its uses, dangers and how the substation in the vicinity works to provide power to our homes. The afternoon was spent learning about the way animals conserve energy by creating well-insulated homes and how animals like squirrels try to survive winters by hiding their food. 

The outing finished with a short walk looking for evidence of animal activities on the grounds, pointing out excrements from different animals and their footprints.  Every child has made great progress in their knowledge of one of our curriculum topics, as well as having a fun outdoor learning experience. 

Centenary Challenge

Don't forget that we are keen to see any photographs of your children completing the list of '100 things to do in our centenary year'! You can email these to Mrs. Smith at susmith@sthelenscollege.com. We are hoping to use these in school displays and/or the end of year school magazine.

Year 6 Girls on Board

The Year 6 girls have taken part in their first empowering Girls on Board sessions. This is a short and effective programme to support girls to understand and navigate the dynamics and complexities of friendships. We are piloting the programme with the current Year 6 girls, and hope to expand it in the Upper School in the near future. We feel the approach will help to equip the girls with some useful tools for managing and enjoying their friendships, now and in their transition to senior schools. For more information you can watch an introductory video here. 

Atom Learning Gold Award Unlocks Discount For Parents

We are delighted to share that St. Helen's College has reached the academic milestones to become an Atom Learning Gold School. 

Parents wishing to extend their child’s personalised learning journey beyond the classroom may wish to consider Atom Prime’s home learning companion, Atom Nucleus. As a Gold School, St. Helen's College parents can now enjoy a 20% discount code across all Atom Nucleus subscriptions. Click here to access your discount code.

Community Tree Planting Day

Trees for Cities are hosting a community tree planting day on Saturday 3rd February in Court Park. There will be food and hot drink provided for volunteers and the aim is to plant a mix of both small and large trees in the park. The groups of small trees will increase the diversity and resilience of the existing woodland areas by adding new species and younger trees to the space. The new trees will eventually add depth to the northern border of the park and assist with drainage in the often waterlogged soil area.

We hope that many St. Helen's College families would like to join in with this initiative, and we would encourage your children to wear their school PE kits on that day so that it is obvious which children are from St. Helen's College. We are so very fortunate to have this beautiful park on our doorstep and would love to show the community how much we appreciate it by taking an active part in improving it for the future. It is, of course, also a wonderful chance for the children to put their eco pledges into action and to learn or practise the skill of planting. 

You can sign up to take part here:
https://www.treesforcities.org/hillingdon-court-park

Welfare News

Here are some seasonal reminders from our Welfare team.

Please ensure that all children have gloves, scarves, hats and coats with them during cold weather and that all items are named.

There are, as usual at this time of year, some winter bugs 'doing the rounds'. In order to limit the spread of these, please do not send your child to school:

• if they have a temperature; 
• within 48 hours of a bout of vomiting/diarrhoea;
• after giving them medication for cold/flu/sore throat/viral symptoms;
• if they have a persistently bad cough.

If you do need to keep a child at home for health reasons, please remember to email absence@sthelenscollege.com by 8.30 a.m. with the reason for absence.

Holiday Club

The St. Helen's College Holiday Club will run at half term from Monday 12th to Friday 16th February. Please log in to your SchoolsBuddy account to make your bookings from 4 p.m. today.

Next Week

Monday 29th January - Active Travel and Road Safety
Monday 29th January - Football v. St. Mary's
Monday 29th January - Sick Child Course 7.00 - 9.00 p.m.
Tuesday 30th January -  Year 2 and Year 5 tree planting workshop 
Tuesday 30th January - Year 6 individual and class photos
Tuesday 30th January - Netball v. Laurel Lane
Wednesday 31st January - General knowledge quiz
Wednesday 31st January - Netball v. Orley Farm School  
Wednesday 31st January - Football v. Cowley St. Laurence
Wednesday 31st January - Ducklings, Nursery & Reception parents' evenings 
Thursday 1st February - Robins coffee morning and class assembly 
Friday 2nd February - Natural History Museum visiting Nursery
Friday 2nd February - 5G coffee morning and class assembly