Weekly News - Friday 24th May 2024

Year 6 Residential Trip To France

Our Year 6 children return today exhausted but elated after an extremely busy, successful and enjoyable week-long residential trip at the Chateau de la Baudonniere in Normandy, France. While there, they immersed themselves in French language and culture, taking part in a wide range of educational and fun activities. They visited a goat farm, made bread, tried out various French foods, visited Mont St. Michel, had a go at a muddy obstacle course, made some purchases at a French market and much more! One of the many highlights of the week was meeting their French pen pals, with whom they have been corresponding during the year. 

It is always astonishing to see our oldest pupils' self-development, and this Year 6 group have been exceptional. Their maturity, excellent behaviour, independence and willingness to try new things and support each other away from home has been a joy to behold.

Year 4 Residential Trip to Flatford Mill

Despite some rather unkind weather, the Year 4 pupils and accompanying staff set off with excitement on Wednesday morning for their three day residential trip to the beautiful Flatford Mill in John Constable country in Suffolk. While there, they spent their time pond dipping and working with microscopes, investigating the times of John Constable and laying traps to investigate small mammals. They also enjoyed shelter building, creating videos, painting and a twilight walk.

Every child threw themselves whole-heartedly into the experience and activities with enthusiasm and joy. There is no doubt that they have all increased in confidence and independence over the past three days, as well as learning the importance of resilience and perseverance during the more challenging tasks. The staff particularly enjoyed observing the strong friendships amongst this group of children, who consistently showed a determination to make the trip the most enjoyable it could be for every person present.

Photos And Videos

There are a few ways for parents and families to see photographs and short videos of the children taking part in daily activities here at school. The St. Helen's College Instagram and St. Helen's College Facebook feeds are updated every day during term time and feature a range of ages and activities from all across the school. We do not name or 'tag' children or families, so please follow the feeds if you would like to keep up to date with what is going on daily at school. We have been delighted to hear from so many parents how much you appreciate the feeds.

We also regularly post a selection of photographs to the Galleries page of the school website, particularly of major events like play performances, Sports Days and residential trips. Do check there regularly if you are keen to see photographs of the children's experiences. 

Sports News

An elite team of runners from Years 4 and 5 took part in the inter-school District Cross Country this week, competing against other local schools at Viners playing fields. The girls were up first and showed tremendous spirit and desire to get around the undulating course. All of the girls crossed the line without stopping with Inaaya S coming in first for the school and 33rd in the competition. The boys were up next, on the same course, showing impressive pace with Jack K finishing 13th overall. A special mention for our two Year 4 boy runners Thomas R and William B who ran a great race. It was a brilliant afternoon for the whole team who gained vital experience for the competition next year. 

It was a rather wet afternoon on Tuesday for our U9 A and B cricket fixtures against Buckingham Prep School. The A team took part in a twelve-a-side paired cricket match and did really well winning by nine runs and our B team had a ten-a-side paired match but unfortunately lost by seven runs. The boys played very well, especially showing huge improvement in their bowling. 

Wrens Class Assembly

The children of Wrens Nursery performed a beautiful assembly on Thursday to an eager audience of parents and staff. They acted out a story about a bumble bee called Billy. The other bees are unkind to Billy because he is different from them and unable to make a buzzing sound. Eventually, however, they realise that it is good to be different; they apologise for being unkind and all the animals become friends. The assembly has formed part of the Nursery topic of learning about how important mini-beasts are and how we should all respect them. 

The acting was accompanied by some lovely singing. The children all made a great effort to speak their lines clearly, sing their songs loudly and stand with poise and confidence in front of a large audience. We were very impressed with them!

Pre-Prep Sports Day

Sports Day for the pre-prep classes will take place on Thursday 6th June in Court Park.  There will be two separate events, one for Year 1 and Year 2 in the morning from 8.45 a.m. – 11.45 a.m. and one for Foundation Stage (Nursery & Reception) in the afternoon from 12.30 – 3.00 p.m.  

All children will take part in a variety of sporting events. There will be six activity stations and the children will move from station to station in groups, followed by some races on the track.

All children should come to school in their PE kit and sun hat and, if the weather dictates, rain macs. All children will need a named, refillable water bottle. 

Year 1 & 2 children Morning snacks should be brought in as usual. The children will return to school after their Sports Day and complete their day as normal.

Nursery & Reception children At the end of Sports Day the children should be collected from their teachers on the sports field and taken home. 

Please note:

• There is no seating available in the park, so parents may wish to bring fold-up chairs.
• Parents are asked to keep a respectful distance from the multi skills station, not to cross the barrier tape or to cross to the children's side of the track, and to keep the area behind and to the side of the finish line clear.
• Please do not give your child ice cream, snacks or drinks during the event. 

Refreshments Parents will be able to purchase refreshments, provided by the Parents’ Association, in Court Park during both the morning and afternoon events.  If you are able to assist the PA with this, please speak to a member of the committee as soon as possible.

Parking To prevent congestion and chaos it is most important that you follow these instructions:

Do not park in Parkway

Do not block other cars in the car park

If the car park is full, then drive away and park elsewhere e.g. Court Drive (very convenient for the park) or Long Lane. If you do park in the car park, then please do so in such a way as not to cause congestion. 

It should be a fantastic event, and we look forward to seeing you on the day!

Year 6 Author Visit

St. Helen's College will be hosting a visit from children's author Caroline Boxall on Monday 3rd June for Year 6 pupils. The author of 'The Secret Children of Mumbai' and 'The Runaway Children of Chennai' will be here to talk about her experience as an author and how to become a published writer. She will also be introducing her International Creative Writing Competition for children to have the opportunity to write their own story and win copies of her books.

Signed and personalised books are available to order in advance here.  

Please could we also take this opportunity to remind pupils to be sure to return any borrowed or overdue library books to the library after the half term break to enable them to be available for other children to enjoy. 

Singing Competition

A reminder that the final deadline for video entries for the singing competition is Friday 31st May. Late entries will not be considered so please submit entries as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Entries should be recorded at home and uploaded using this form. Backing tracks must not contain the main vocal line. Singing from memory is preferred and will be required for the live final. The finalists will be announced on Friday 7th June. Good luck! 

Competition: Design A Healthy City

If you are looking for a half term activity for your child, Healthy Cities, Eco-Schools and The Bupa Foundation have teamed up to run a competition for children to create a picture showing what they think a 'healthy city' could look like. Children could create a cityscape, a map, a new invention that might make a city healthy or anything else they can imagine. Full guidelines and an A3 template which must be used are available here. Good luck and please do let us know if you enter. You will need to submit your own entry electronically by 10th June, including our school name and postcode on your entry form. Winners will be announced in the week beginning 26th June, the start of World Wellbeing Week, and will win £1500 for their school to spend on outdoor learning equipment!

PA News

The summer term is packed with fun activities for the children and a busy time for the PA who are always looking for volunteers to help make each event a success. Please make a note of the forthcoming dates and get in touch if you are able to help, all contributions are much appreciated:

Tuesday 4th June 7pm - PA meeting in the Evans Hall. Everyone is welcome to discuss upcoming events and share ideas. 

Friday 14th June - PA Father's Day stall for children to purchase a gift to celebrate significant male figures in their lives. The Upper School stall will run before and after school and during breaktime. Children should have no more than £5 to spend. The Lower School stall will be available for parents to attend, with their child, before and after school.

Friday 21st June - Upper School Sports Day at Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Centre. Volunteers needed for sports day stalls, please get in touch if you can help. Donations of refreshments would be much appreciated.

Saturday 22nd June - The much anticipated centenary Summer Fete. You will have been contacted by class reps with your allocated stall rota and request for specific donations. The success of this fun packed event relies on a whole class effort to run their allocated stall; please review your rota to see where you can get involved.

External stall holders: This year we have invited Year 6 students to apply to hold stalls. Please contact your class rep if your child is interested. If you know of a business that would like to hold a stall at the school, please check the announcement on Classlist where there is a form to sign up for stalls.

Upcoming Dates

Monday 27th May - Friday 31st May - Half term. 

Monday 3rd June - Year 6 author visit.
Monday 3rd June - U11 A (H) and U11 B (A) cricket v. Highgate School.
Tuesday 4th June - Class photographs (Ducklings, Lower School and Upper School).
Wednesday 5th June - Year 1, 2 and 6 costume photographs.
Thursday 6th June - Pre-Prep Sports Day.
Friday 7th June - Whole school centenary photo.
Friday 7th June - Month End Music Recital in Evans Hall (from 3.30 p.m.)