Weekly News - Friday 9th November 2018

3B led the school today at this most poignant time of year as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War 1. Not only did they take the lead in our two minute silence, along with School Council members who presented the wreaths made in their art lessons, but they performed magnificently in both their assemblies. All pupils and parents stopped to remember all those who have been involved in our armed forces over the past 100 years and those still serving.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the British Legion Poppy Appeal. Many children and families will be attending various services over the weekend as we commemorate this historic day. Please see below the link from CBeebies discussed in assemblies today which looks at war from the animals' perspective.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04p4zsl/poppies

Children in Need

Next Friday, 16th November, is Children in Need Day and, as usual, the school will be supporting this most deserving cause. Children may come to school on the day in their own clothes, wearing spots or yellow if possible, and every child should bring a pair of named wellies in a plastic bag. Children may like to decorate their wellies with spots too!

There will be grand raffles at all three sites, with prizes of giant Pudsey Bears and smaller Blush Bears and Pudsey Bears, and the whole school will wear their wellies to go on an Autumn Watch themed ramble in Court Park in the morning.

There is a suggested donation for each child of £5, which will include the cost of one raffle ticket, and you may buy extra raffle tickets if you would like to send in more money with your child. We will be delighted if the school can make a significant contribution to the charity; however, the most important aim of the day is to raise awareness amongst our pupils of how lucky they are and of how many disadvantaged children there are who need our help. We understand that families give time and money in other ways and through other channels. All donations will be gratefully received, but there is no mandatory contribution to take part in the day. We are very aware that many of you have already purchased Children in Need merchandise and will be wearing it to school or will be contributing live during the live television show.

U-Talk Award

St. Helen's College has been recognised as the school which has accumulated the most number of points from the children participating in the Eurotalk online challenge. Every child from Year 2 to 6 took part this year, learning new languages and competing against children from other schools around the country. It is a testament to the strength of our language department that the school has been inspiring children to learn such a diverse range of languages. Mrs. Stark attended the ceremony in Olympia today to collect the award on behalf of St. Helen's College.

Chess News

Two St. Helen's College chess players, Michael K and Anish A, were very fortunate recently to have the opportunity to play against Shreyas Royal, an incredibly talented nine year old schoolboy who is already conquering the world of chess. He is already the best player in the under-12 age group in the UK, and the second best under-10 player in the world! Shreyas travelled from his home in Kent to play 17 matches simultaneously against 17 players from Uxbridge Chess Club, including Michael and Anish. Shreyas literally had to walk between 17 chess boards and played each game against the clock. Incredibly, he won all but one of the 17 games, drawing one. There is no doubt that Shreyas is helping to inspire a whole new interest in the game of chess at a junior level. Well done Michael and Anish for trying to beat him!

Sports News

Our Year 6 netball team played against Oak Farm in the local league this week. The match was very close and for much of its duration both teams were drawn on the same number of goals. However, Oak Farm had a final surge in the last quarter and won the match 8 - 6. Well done to all of the St. Helen's College team.

PA Christmas Parties

The PA will be running Christmas parties for the children on Sunday 2nd December at The Breakspear Arms, Breakspear Road South, UB9 6LT. There will be hot food, entertainment, a visit from Santa and each child will receive a Christmas gift! Posters with details are being displayed around the school and a flyer/reply slip will be sent home in your child's book bag. A copy of the flyer/return slip is also available here. Please complete your ticket/food order and return the flyer to the school as soon as possible. Party timings are:

10.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.  Ducklings, Nursery and Reception
1.00 p.m. - 3.00 p.m.  Years 1, 2 and 3
3.30 p.m. - 5.30 p.m.  Years 4, 5 and 6

Please note that a parent must stay with children from Ducklings, Nursery, Reception and Year 1.

We hope that your child/ren will be able to join us for the Christmas parties, which have always been extremely good fun in the past!

Staff/Parent Choir

We are very interested to hear from parents who would like to join our staff/parent choir, which is meeting in the Upper School Hall on Wednesday mornings from 8.00 - 8.25 a.m. during the second half of term to prepare for a performance at the Carol Concert on the final day of term.  We are a friendly group, led by Mrs. Garnes, and enthusiasm is really the only requirement. All are extremely welcome and male voices are particularly in demand! Why not come along and join us - we are sure that your children will be delighted to see you in the choir. If you are able to join us, please email Mrs. Garnes to let her know so that she may prepare the correct number of packs in advance, and then simply turn up on Wednesday morning to the Upper School Hall at 8 a.m. You can reach Mrs. Garnes at mgarnes@sthelenscollege.com.

Photo Consent Opt-In Forms & Data Collection Forms

All parents are being send an opt-in form which, post-GDPR, we must ask you to sign in order to allow us to use photographs of your children. The school likes to keep parents up to date with what your children have been doing and a big part of this is taking and sharing photographs via this website and our newsletters and magazines. Please therefore sign and return the opt-in form promptly.

If you have not yet returned your data collection form, please also do this at your earliest convenience, since these were due back to school before the half term break.

Many thanks indeed for your co-operation with this.