Weekly News - Friday 31st January 2025

1C Class Assembly

1C took us on a whistle stop tour of Brazil in their class assembly on Thursday. The children shared their knowledge of this vibrant country, including the carnival culture and famous landmarks such as Sugarloaf Mountain, and the diverse plant and animal life in the Amazon Rainforest. They retold the story The Great Kapok Tree, sharing an important message about preserving the rainforest and they sang beautifully on this theme. Well done to all of the children for each reading their lines clearly and confidently in a very accomplished and enjoyable performance. 

 

 

UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge

On Wednesday, nineteen children from Years 5 and 6 completed the online UK Maths Trust Intermediate Mathematical Challenge. This demanding sixty minute test aims to stretch the children's knowledge and application of mathematical reasoning and provides a great opportunity to demonstrate their problem solving abilities. Well done to all of the children who took part; we were very impressed by their positive approach. Certificates will be awarded in due course once the results have been processed. 

 

Junior Travel Ambassadors Meet The Mayor of Hillingdon

On Wednesday four of our Year 5 Junior Travel Ambassadors attended a special STARS (School Travel and Road Safety) workshop at Hillingdon Civic Centre in preparation for their Dragon's Den funding pitch in March. Alongside children from a small number of other local schools, our St. Helen's College pupils were trained in valuable sales and pitching skills. They participated in activities to analyse postcode data and the results of a recent parent survey which highlighted the travel issues facing local families. The children also had the opportunity to visit the council chamber where important meetings take place and to meet the Mayor, Cllr. Colleen Sullivan, in her parlour!  We wish the children all the best for their Dragon's Den pitch to councillors in March to secure funding to put their travel solution ideas into practice.

Police Visit Reception

Our Reception classes were lucky to have a visit from the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday. The children sat attentively and listened to the police officers speak about safety and stranger danger. They also very much enjoyed exploring the police van with its sirens and flashing lights! 

 

 

 

 

Pets As Therapy Sessions

This week, Buddy the dog and his owners (Harpal and Harpreet, former SHC parents and local residents) completed their first Pets as Therapy sessions with St. Helen's College children. The sessions involve reading to and playing with Buddy. Year 3 were chosen as the pilot year group, and other year groups will also be able to take part in sessions in the coming weeks.The Pets As Therapy sessions aim to build confidence around dogs, enhance self-confidence and also provide reading practice in a different way.

 

Month End Music Recital

We were delighted to welcome some visitors from Ryefield Court Care Home to our Month End Music Recital today. As usual we were treated to a wonderful variety of musical talent from children in Year 1 right through to Year 6 including performances on the piano, violin, cello and a selection of accomplished vocal pieces.  This event is a fantastic opportunity for the children to gain performance experience in an informal and nurturing space. Well done to all the musicians for working so hard on their pieces, it was a privilege to share such a high quality performance with our special guests. 

 

 

House Quiz

Last week the children at Upper School took part in the eagerly anticipated first round of the House General Knowledge Quiz. Each child completed twenty questions and the winner from each year group in each House will now go through to the hotly contested final. Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to the finalists, who are as follows:

Caledonia

Y2 Mulenga M
Y3 Ali A-R
Y4 Eleanor G
Y5 Armaan V
Y6 Avar D

Cambria

Y2 Amelia A K
Y3 Shriyan P
Y4 Zora B
Y5 Yuvraj R
Y6 Amelia L

Hibernia

Y2 Shivansh P
Y3 Sophie B
Y4 Abir G
Y5 Reyan C
Y6 Ayush A

Windsor

Y2 Hadi Q
Y3 Advik A
Y4 Ivaan M
Y5 Rayhan R
Y6 Mustafa F

Speed Awareness Poster Winner

Towards the end of last term, St. Helen’s College ran a 'Design a Sign' competition in collaboration with Hillingdon Council to create a speed awareness poster for Parkway. We received lots of excellent entries and our Junior Travel Ambassadors took their judging responsibilities seriously, scrutinising all of the entries very carefully. The team picked their top ten finalists which were then submitted to the School Travel and Road Safety team at the London Borough of Hillingdon who decided on a final winner. Huge congratulations to Ivaan in 4C for his fantastic and informative poster design which you can see here. Well done to the top ten entrants who all received a special certificate. The Borough's designers are now working on Ivaan's design to produce an actual sign which will be installed along Parkway in the near future. We look forward to seeing the sign in situ very soon!

Sports News

The Year 6 netball team played a tough and intense match on Thursday against St. Catherine's School. Our opponents had a very fast paced attack and sharp shooting however, despite the pressure, our defenders remained composed and resilient throughout the game. In the end St. Helen's College conceded the game but there were plenty of positives to take away and areas to focus on to improve our game going forward. Well done to all involved!

On Tuesday the Year 5 and 6 boys football team played against Ryefield Primary School and achieved a 3-1 win. It was an very good performance in challenging conditions with a goal from Mark DS and two goals from Daynan C. Congratulations to the team. 

Well done to 2C who have completed a week of swimming lessons at Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex and are making great progress. 

Parents' Evenings 

Thank you to all of the parents from Ducklings, Nursery and Reception who attended parents' evening appointments this week. We hope that you found your conversations helpful.

Holiday Club - February Half Term

Holiday Club bookings will open today at 4 p.m. and close on Wednesday 12th February at 4 p.m. Please ensure that you make your bookings promptly by logging into your SchoolsBuddy account.

Next Week

6H and 6L swimming all week
Tuesday 4th February - General Knowledge Quiz
Wednesday 5th February - Ducklings/Nursery/Reception parents' evening (4 p.m. to 7 p.m)
Thursday 6th February - 1O Coffee morning/class assembly (from 8.15 a.m.)
Thursday 6th February - Year 5 Pedestrian training
Friday 7th February - Year 6 Road Safety Workshop - Riot Act
Friday 7th February - 5G Coffee morning/class assembly (from 8.15 a.m.)