Weekly News - Friday 14th December 2018

It has been a busy term in the classroom and your children have worked very hard indeed. Particular mention must go to our Year 6 pupils, who have been striving for excellence throughout their 11+ preparation with many of our pupils now preparing for independent school examinations in January. We wish them all well and they should remember the advice given to them to be themselves...and keep reading!

As you are aware, no formal homework is set for students over the holidays; however, we would assume that every child will continue their reading journey throughout the holidays.

The festive holidays are a particularly good time to spend quality family time together, playing good old traditional board games such as chess, Ludo, Monopoly, card games, Pictionary etc. You may like to look at the Happy Puzzle Company (for Years 3-6) and Orchard Toys (for Ducklings - Year 3) for appropriate games and puzzles to enrich the pupils' learning while having fun together. 

Enjoy visiting places of interest, talking to your children and remember to have some calm and peace over the festive season.

Christmas Events and Celebrations

It has been a most Christmassy week here at St. Helen's College as we have remembered the true meaning of Christmas and celebrated this special time of year through many events.

The week began with Nursery and Reception children putting on their nativity plays for their peers and parents; these were incredibly accomplished performances. It is astonishing to think, when watching these young performers, that they are only 3, 4 and 5 years old! Their ability to remember lines, move correctly around the stage and perform confidently in front of a large, enthusiastic audience was really very impressive indeed. As I commented at the end of the performances, we are in good hands with our leaders of the future.

The children of Ducklings and Lower School were really amazed on Thursday when they had a very special visitor. Yes, Santa managed to make time  to come and see them! Mrs. Crehan also joined with Santa for some Christmas singing with the Ducklings. Sadly, Mr. Crehan was unable to join us as he was busy looking after reindeer for a friend!

Lower School children enjoyed their Christmas party afternoon and pantomime (performed by West End in Schools) on Thursday afternoon. The day before, all Upper School children had had a fantastic trip to the Theatre Royal, Windsor to see Dick Whittington.

Christmas lunch was served on Thursday for all, and it was a joy to see the children enjoy the festive lunchtime so much, with music, crackers and lots of good cheer! Special thanks must go to Andrew, our Chef, Soula, our Catering Manager and all the wonderful Accent staff who look after us so well in the dining hall all year round. Our Head Girl and Head Boy gave a heartfelt vote of thanks on behalf of the school.

Well done to our Christmas tree decoration competition winners. They were:

Ducklings - Aaria M
Wrens - Leo A
Robins - Armaan​​ V
Kingfishers - Alexia C
Owls - Veer K
1HC - Riya S
1J - Rian M
2B - Milo M
2H - Saanvi S
3B - Deven D and Eshan N
3M - Anokhi B
4T - Maya S
4KT - Georgia S
5A - Ciaran R
5G - Anaiya B and Keaton P
6M - Mia N
6W - Hebe E

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our end of term Carol Service today. As ever, it was a poignant occasion with lovely performances from the choirs, orchestra and staff choir. We thank you all for your generosity in supporting the charities with the leaving collection.

Music and Sports Personality of the Term

An enormous well done to Xaviella F, who has been named Musician of the Term for her outstanding effort, commitment, dedication and achievement within the music department.

Xaviella has always worked conscientiously and demonstrated enormous enthusiasm over several years, in all aspects of music at St. Helen’s College. She has excellent music skills and applies and shares creative ideas successfully in class work. She began singing in the Lower School choir and has continued in the Upper School. Two years ago, she was selected to join the Chamber Choir and has already performed at two prestigious venues in London.

Xaviella is an asset to the music department and now holds the responsible position of Music Prefect. Instrumentally, she is a fluent recorder player, plays the violin in the school orchestra, has recently taken up the double bass and, as her crowning glory so far, has successfully achieved a distinction in her Grade 8 piano exam!

Well done, Xaviella. You are an inspiration to the young musicians of St. Helen's College and you thoroughly deserve this accolade.

Our Sports Personality of the Term trophy was also awarded today. This term, the trophy went to Zoe K, a young lady who represents the school in many sports and always works hard to contribute to team success.

Zoe was a member of the football, tag rugby, sports hall athletics and cross country teams this term and also regularly plays in the netball team as well as representing a netball team outside of school.

Zoe was a double champion this term, winning both District and Borough cross country titles and she went on to represent Hillingdon at the London Youth Games cross country championship.

A fantastic WELL DONE to Zoe.

Cookery Club

Year 4 and 5 children enjoyed the first ever Cookery Club in Upper School this half term. It was such an exciting and fun club for them, as shown by their Cheshire Cat grins and gleeful little leaps as we announced the recipes for the sessions!  

The children started each session by putting on their chef hats and aprons and issuing a warm greeting to Soula, our chef. They were shown good hygiene practices and all the necessary health and safety rules in the kitchen as they were shown around how the school kitchen works. At each session, the children prepared and cooked/baked different recipes which included smoothies, apple crumble, savoury mince pasty, vanilla sponge cupcakes and even a  festive Christmas Tree chocolate sponge cake. The children learned  food preparation and cooking techniques but, equally importantly, they experienced the joy and love of cooking and food, which is essential as a life skill. Many thanks to Ms Gilham and to Soula for running the club.

Spring Term 2019

The lunch menu for the spring term has been published to the School Documents page of the website and is available here.

Co-curricular clubs will begin the week commencing Monday 14th January. Thank you for submitting your selections; final allocations will be sent to you in due course. Please make your payment via SchoolsBuddy to confirm your child's place at your allocated clubs.

Breakfast Club bookings for next term should be made via your SchoolsBuddy account. Please note that you must book your Breakfast Club places through SchoolsBuddy or your child will not be able to attend; places are limited and are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Subject to availability of places, you may book a place at Breakfast Club up until 7.30 a.m. on the day of attendance. You can do this using a computer or mobile device, including smart phone. If you are unsure of how to do so, please see a member of the office team at your earliest convenience.