Weekly News - Friday 16th November 2018

This week we were delighted that two of our pupils shared their experiences of projects they have been involved with outside of school.

Uma in Year 5 shared with us a video which she made in collaboration with her mother's law firm to educate youngsters on the importance of 'Equal Pay'. The pupils were not only intrigued to find out more about how the video was made but asked some very pertinent questions on equal pay.

Vidhit from Year 4 has also been busy filming for today's 'The One Show' for Children in Need.  Although he was unable to give too much away, we can all tune in on BBC1 at 7 p.m. to see Vidhit in action!  

It has been inspiring also to see so many of our pupils take the initiative and run clubs for their peers. We currently have groups of children running a maths club and a nature club, organised and promoted by themselves by their interests and passions. 

Children in Need

The school has been a lively, colourful place today as we have undertaken our annual fundraising for Children in Need. Everyone came to school dressed in yellow and/or spots and there were raffles at all three sites, through which lucky winners won giant Pudsey bears and smaller Pudsey and Blush bears. Many thanks to Mrs. Crehan for drawing the winners! The whole school took part in an Autumn Watch themed ramble in Court Park this morning; this was a really wonderful way to spend our morning break time in the 'great outdoors' and gave children space and time to reflect on how very lucky they are. You can see a short video of the ramble here:
https://youtu.be/Se0hAApblYw

The pupils of 2H presented a thought-provoking assembly themed around 'Greed or Need'. They re-told the story of King Midas in a very modern way and, through their excellent acting and delivery of words and song, reminded us that it is what is in our hearts that counts, not what is in our pockets. This is such an important message, which we hope we live long in the hearts of all who heard it. Very well done to the staff and pupils of 2H.

St. Helen's College raises over £2100 for OneBillion Charity Through Eurotalk Language Challenge

St. Helen's College has, for several years, taken part in the Eurotalk Junior Language Challenge (now re-named as the UTalk Challenge). In previous years, this has been offered as an optional challenge for Upper School pupils but this year, to enrich the Languages curriculum for children, the school paid the entry fee to enter all children from Years 2-5 into the challenge. Each year, pupils learn a European language in the first round, an Asian language in the second round and an African language in the third round. They build up their knowledge of the language and then compete online against pupils from other schools across the nation. Our record in the competition is very strong - a few years ago, one of our pupils won the whole national competition and his family won a trip to Malawi, where they distributed iPads to children for the charity.

Each child's entry fee is donated to OneBillion. This charity promotes literacy and numeracy in developing countries through OneCourse, their app designed for communities where children have little or no access to formal schooling, for example in very remote villages and refugee camps. OneCourse encourages collaborative learning for out-of-school children and their families. This year the school's entry fees raised a donation of £1095, which was match-funded by a benevolent supporter of the charity so that our total contribution doubled to almost £2200. 

Thank you to all parents who have supported St. Helen's College pupils in learning new languages outside of curriculum hours. We are sure you are delighted to know that, in doing so, you have also been part of supporting such a fantastic charity.

Relay for Life Total

We are also absolutely delighted to announce that the grand total raised by the St. Helen's College Relay for Life team, including from on the day fundraising, was £5791.45. Thank you so much to everyone who got involved in any way.

Star Gazing This Weekend

The West of London Astronomical Society is hold a free public observation session at Ruislip Lido this weekend and would like to invite families to come along to experience the wonder of the sky at night. Observation sessions will be running Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 6 - 8 p.m. For further information please click here.

Sports News

Last Saturday our school football team took part in the annual Packham Cup tournament, where over the years we have enjoyed good success, including reaching the final last year. This year's tournament didn't go quite as planned, with us going out in the group stages. An improved performance in our third game gave the Year 5 pupils who took part some valuable experience for next year. 

Our Year 5/6 netball team took on St. Bernadette's School in the local league this week. After a slow start, the girls came back in the second half with some good attacking play. In the dying minutes St. Bernadette's pulled away to win the match 9 - 7.  

St. Helen's College took part in the District girls' football tournament this week held at Denham United Ladies Football Club. Our team of girls played with great determination and teamwork in all three games they played. Against Laurel Lane they drew 0 - 0, against Cherry Lane they won 2 - 0 and in a very competitive match against Heathrow they lost 1 - 0. Well done to all the girls who played. 

Christmas Tree Decoration Competition 2018

As usual, we will be running our annual Christmas tree decoration competition for all children. The trees will be put up in school on 25th November and the children should bring in their beautifully hand decorated, creative decorations from Monday 3rd December. There will be a winner in each year group. Please can the children remember to label with their name and class somewhere on their decoration.

Switch Off Fortnight

Our Eco Team will be promoting Switch Off Fortnight over the next two weeks, reminding everyone to save energy by turning off lights and electrical devices whenever possible, both at home and in school.

Data Collection Form and Photo Consent Form

Many thanks to the parents who have already returned these two forms. If you have not returned them already, please note that these must be returned to the school office by Monday.