Weekly News - Friday 13th December 2024

We would like to thank you for your support this term and wish you all a peaceful, joyous Christmas break. Your children have been enormously busy at school this term and have achieved so much; please help them to relax and enjoy some 'down time' before the next jam-packed term begins. 

Christmas Carol Service

Thank you to everyone who joined us at All Saints' Church this morning to share in our very special Christmas Carol Service. It was, as ever, a magical occasion, with traditional bible readings and prayers delivered by our Year 6 children and musical performances from our orchestra, string quartet, Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Chamber Choir. Particular thanks and congratulations to Zinnia M, who performed the solo verse of Once In Royal David's City with grace, precision and wonderful timing.

 

Year 1 Christmas Assemblies

On Monday and Tuesday our Year 1 classes presented their Christmas-themed assemblies to their parents (and to an eager audience of Nursery children!) in the Methodist Church. The children re-told the story of Christmas, looked at Christmas traditions and reflected on the meaning of this very special time. They also donned Santa hats and sang some upbeat numbers to reflect the joy of this time of year! Very well done to all of the children involved; they spoke with great clarity, expression and projection and sang with tunefulness and gusto. 

 

Year 4, 5 and 6 Theatre Visit 

On Tuesday Years 4, 5 and 6 visited the Rose Theatre in Kingston to watch a fun musical production of Robin Hood & The Christmas Heist. The children had a terrific time getting into the spirit of things by clapping and singing along to some rewritten, familiar Christmas tunes. It was a hugely entertaining show but it also carried an important moral message about sharing and generosity at Christmas time.

 

 

ABRSM Music Achievments

Congratulations to all of the children who took ABRSM examinations this term. We are pleased to share another set of terrific results:

Name	Class	Instrument	Grade	Results
Anika S	3B	Piano	Grade 1	Pass
Melissa D R	3B	Piano	Initial	Distinction
Shayla R	5G	Piano	Initial	Merit
Zoe F	4T	Flute	Grade 3	Merit
Liberty Y	4T	Piano	Grade 2	Merit
Mark D R	6H	Piano	Grade 3	Pass
Avaani H	4C	Flute	Grade 1	Merit
Aaria M	4C	Piano	Grade 1	Pass
Emily K	4C	Piano	Grade 1	Pass
Mona C	5R	Piano	Grade 2	Pass

 

Santa Dash in Court Park

Wednesday saw Upper School children enjoy what has now become our annual 'Santa Dash' in Court Park. Around 130 pupils took part, donning Christmas-themed hats or jackets and running a course through the park at lunchtime. It was great fun even in the cold!

 

 

Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas Lunch And Father Christmas!

On Thursday it was Christmas party day for Ducklings and the children at Lower School. The children wore Christmas jumpers and enjoyed an exciting day of Christmas games and activities, a delicious festive lunch and even had a special visit from Father Christmas! He paid a visit to Ducklings first and then dropped into the Lower School library which was transformed into a sparkly grotto. The children had the opportunity to share their wishes with Father Christmas and sing a Christmas song, and each child received a gift to take home.  

Meanwhile at Upper School, the children were also dressed in Christmas jumpers on Thursday and tucking into the special festive lunch prepared by Soula and her team for everyone from Nursery to Year 6. It was a very joyous lunchtime service, accompanied by seasonal music and plenty of good cheer! For more photographs of the children please visit the Galleries page of the school website.

JTA Festive Footsteps

On Thursday it was Festive Footsteps, a popular annual event organised by the JTA (Junior Travel Ambassador) team to promote the fitness and eco benefits of walking, scooting or cycling to school. It was marvellous to see so many festive hats and decorated scooters and bikes! Well done to the JTAs who were out and about rewarding pupils with special stickers for taking part. 

 

 

 

Christmas Tree Decorations

Well done to all of the children who put their creativity into practice by designing beautiful Christmas tree decorations for our Upper School competition. The theme took as eco twist this year and the children rose to the challenge using a variety of recycled and upcycled materials. Congratulations to all the winners who each won a special Christmas prize:

Year 2 - Tanavya B (2C) and  Anika K (2S)

Year 3 - Ari P (3B) and Nihal B (3M)

Year 4 - Amber L (4C)

Year 5 - Yuvraj R (5G) and Jana A (5R)

Year 6 - Shanaiya K (6H) and Sofia S (6L)

 

IAPS iArt 2025 Competition

St. Helen's College has a strong record of achievement in the national IAPS iArt Competition, and we are hoping to build upon this in 2025 as we invite children to prepare their entries. The theme for the 2025 iArt competition is “Reflect” or “Reflection”.

Children are encouraged to consider this theme broadly; examples include, but are not limited to:  

• A reflection in a mirror or shiny surface. 

• A reflection on water. 

• Reflecting on the past year or a significant event. 

• Reflecting on a current global issue. 

• Categories are: 

• 1. Years 1 & 2

• 2. Years 3 & 4 

• 3. Years 5 & 6

The deadline for submissions is 12 noon on Friday 21st February 2025 and submissions must be sent to Mrs. Pruce via email only, at npruce@sthelenscollege.com. Each entry must include the pupil's name and surname initial, age and year group, what the piece is called and what the pupil used.

A Budding Author Among Us!

Aaria M (Year 4) has a passion for reading and writing, and this summer she crafted a short story which has now been made into a proper book! With some help, Aaria transformed hand-drawn illustrations into digital artwork to bring her story to life and A Tale Of Two Kingdoms is now published and available for purchase! Aaria has kindly donated a few copies to the Upper School and Lower School libraries at St. Helen's College. If you would like to buy a copy as a stocking filler you can find it on Amazon here.

Charity Team Achievements

Many thanks to everyone who donated a new toy for the Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal this year. We received a huge number of donations which were very gratefully collected from our charity representatives on Wednesday. The gifts will be distributed to local families and children in the Hillingdon area who may not otherwise receive a Christmas present. 

The Charity Team have been working very hard this term leading a programme of charitable events to raise funds for important organisations. These have included collections of clothing and essential items for the Red Cross, Harvest donations for local food banks, selling poppies for the Royal British Legion, and raising £935 at a non-uniform day for BBC Children in Need. Our dedicated team rounded off a busy term with a collection for Great Ormond Street Hospital at the Carol Service on Friday. Fantastic work, well done to the whole team!

Spring Term Reminders

The spring term will begin on Wednesday 8th January and co-curricular clubs will begin from Monday 13th January.

Please take the opportunity to check and refresh your child's uniform and equipment over the holidays, to ensure that they have everything that they need and that it is all in good order.

The spring term lunch menu has now been published to the school website and is available here.