School News and Head's Blog
Posted on: 5/07/2019Weekly News - Friday 5th July 2019
Amazing Summer Fete!
Huge thanks to the PA Committee, parent helpers, family, friends, pupils and staff who were involved in making Saturday's Summer Fete such a special occasion.
With the glorious sunshine and super community feel, it is an event which will live long in the memory! You can see photographs of the Fete on our Galleries page.
The PA have asked us to add these words:
The PA would like to say a huge thank you to the St. Helen's College community for the amazing support that you gave to this year’s Summer Fete - we hope that you had a great afternoon. The donations, the support with preparation and the help given on the day have been absolutely incredible this year. Your support makes these events the successes that they are and we cannot thank you enough! What a superb way to start the summer!
The PA would also like to thank all of those parents who donated items for the Sports Day refreshments stall - the donations were truly amazing and we are very grateful! Thank you also to those parents who came and bought items from the stall - we hope that you all enjoyed the events as much as the children did!
Prep Sports Day
Once again, we enjoyed an absolutely fantastic Prep Sports Day last Friday at the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex. We are so lucky to use this amazing facility for our Sports Day, with the children able to compete in the widest range of events on a real cinder running track and using specialist equipment for the throwing and jumping events. There are photographs of the Prep Sports Day and of the recent Pre-Prep Sports Day and Ducklings Sports Day on the Galleries page.
District Sports Results
On Monday evening a group of children from Years 3 to 6 attended the District Sports event. The team did very well indeed and the full set of results follows which, as you can see, meant many silver and bronze medals for the St. Helen's College team! Congratulations to all who took part. You can see photographs of the event on our Galleries page.
Individual Track events:
Y3 50m Adam K 2nd
Y4 60m Fredericka T 3rd
Y5 70m Daniel G-J 3rd
Y6 80m Hebe E 3rd
Y5/6 400m Zoe K 2nd
Individual Jumping events:
Y3 Speed bounce Oliver T 2nd
Y5 Standing Triple Jump Alex S 3rd
Individual Throwing events:
Y5 Vortex Howler (boys) Eli V-B 3rd
Y5 Vortex Howler (girls) Chloe W 2nd
Relays
Y3 Adam K, Oliver T, Charlotte M, Kylah O-A 3rd
Y5 Daniel G-J, Jack H, Harry J, Rhea A-V, Chloe W, Grace B 3rd
Rounders District Tournament
On Wednesday the rounders team had a re-arranged rounders tournament at Oak Farm School. Teams were divided into two groups of four, all playing each other, with the top two going through to the semi finals. St. Helen's College won all three group games, playing extremely well with the bat and in the field. In the semi final we were drawn against Oak Farm B and were comfortable winners, 6 rounders to 3. In the final, we faced our old rivals Oak Farm A in an extremely tight match. Unfortunately we lost 6.5 - 5.5 rounders. The team played very well, scoring many rounders, taking some great catches and running a lot of people out. This was a fantastic achievement by all the team, who should feel very proud of themselves.
Team members were: Rishi S-P, William P, Thomas W, Daniel G-J, Alex C, Vir R, Aaria K, Ionie M, Mia N, Georgia M.
Wrens Assembly
The Wrens Nursery children performed with outstanding confidence in their minibeast assembly as they entertained us all and taught us many interesting facts about the array of minibeasts in our gardens. Superb singing, dancing and voice projection from all!
4T Memories Assembly
We all enjoyed a very poignant walk down memory lane this morning, as 4T reflected on their outstanding year of learning. Wonderful presentations from every member of the class highlighting many stand out moments of their time in Year 4 - well done everybody!
Last Week Of Term
We have a very busy last week of term still to come. Our Year 6 pupils will have the opportunity to raise funds for our CRUK charity by being 'Teacher for the Day' on Tuesday. Year 6 parents are also invited to attend the Project Day on Thursday and all the children from Y2 - 6 will have the opportunity to cheer on the teachers as the Year 6 pupils challenge us all to a game of rounders in Court Park!
Co-Curricular Clubs
All co-curricular clubs have now finished for the term, with the exception of the following, which will run sessions this week on these dates to make up for missed sessions earlier in the term:â
Reception Multisports - Thursday 11th July
Y1 Spanish - Thursday 11th July
Y1 Multisports - Thursday 11th July
Y2/3 Athletics - Tuesday 9th July
Y2/3 Art Club - Tuesday 9th July
Y2/3 Craft Club - Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th July
Y2/3 British Sign Language Club - Wednesday 10th July
Y2 Tennis Club - Thursday 11th July
Y5/6 Tri Golf - Tuesday 9th July
Y5/6 Tennis Club - Thursday 11th July
Going for Gold
Our Junior Road Safety Officers have been working really hard this year to promote active walking and safer travel to school. They are are aiming to achieve the TfL STARS Gold accreditation for St. Helen's College this year. In order for them to achieve this, we will be conducting a one day travel survey this coming Monday and the school must demonstrate a modal shift since the last survey in 2017 towards safer and more active travel to school. So we would ask everyone to make a really big effort this coming Monday to walk, scoot, bike or 'park and stride' on their journey to school to support the JRSOs going for gold. Many thanks, in advance, for your support.
Summer Holiday Club
Bookings are still open for Holiday Club here at St. Helen's College over the summer holiday. You can book places using your SchoolsBuddy account. Further details are available here.
Breakfast Club and After School Club Bookings - Autumn Term 2019
SchoolsBuddy has proved to be a very useful, efficient and user-friendly system for the booking of Breakfast Club and Holiday Club this year and so, from September, After School Club bookings will also be made via your SchoolsBuddy account.
Please note that the pricing structure has been rationalised slightly for After School Club. For both Lower and Upper School, a half session (until 4.45 p.m.) will be charged at £7.50 and a full session (until 6 p.m.) will be charged at £11.00. There is also the option, at Upper School, to book your child in for a half session after they have attended a co-curricular club.
Please note that all sessions must be paid for at the point of booking and no refunds will be issued - so please think carefully before making bookings! You will be able to book your sessions via SchoolsBuddy right up until the time that the session begins. Please do NOT telephone the school office to ask office staff to book your children in as we will not have the facility to do this at school. We hope that parents will continue to find SchoolsBuddy easy to use but if you do experience any problems with using the system, please let us know.
Summer Reading Challenge
Staff from Oak Farm Library will be attending assembly next week to encourage your children to sign up for the annual 'Summer Reading Challenge'. Please do take your children along to the local library to sign up for this exciting reading opportunity for the children. We look forward to the children bringing in their certificates at the beginning of next term and hearing about all the wonderful books they read over the holidays.
https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/
Posted on: 28/06/2019Weekly News - Friday 28th June 2019
Sports News
Ducklings Sports Day
The Ducklings parents and staff were delighted with the performances of our young Ducklings at their very first St. Helen's College Sports Day. There were wonderful performances and team work from all the children! You can see photographs on our Galleries page.
Prep Sports Day
A full report of today's Prep Sports Day will be published in due course. In the meantime, we have recently been sent these photographs from a 1950s St. Helen's College Sports Day and thought that current parents and pupils might enjoy spotting the differences between then and now!
Smashing Tennis
Our Y5/6 tennis team travelled to Redbridge this week to represent Hillingdon at the London Youth Games School Games finals. The event brings together all the Borough winners from the 32 London Boroughs to compete against each other to become regional winners. Our team played matches against schools from the Boroughs of Southwark, Hammersmith and Fulham, Brent, Merton, Lewisham and Wandsworth throughout the day, showing some very good play to remain undefeated all day, winning five matches and drawing two. The team finished in a very credible 9th place overall. Well done to our Y6s Rishi, Aaria and Hebe and to Catherine and Daniel from Y5.
Summer Basketball Camp
If your child is interested in basketball, they might enjoy a summer camp. There are details here.
Year 1 and 2 Summer Plays
Many congratulations to our Year 1 and 2 pupils for their outstanding performances at the Winston Churchill Hall this week as they performed 'The Goblin Next Door' and 'Porridge'. It really is truly remarkable that our young Helenians are able to take to the stage with such confidence to delight their audience with choreography, comic timing, beautiful singing and crisp, audible delivery of lines.
PA Summer Fete
The Summer Fete has arrived and will be taking place in the Upper School playground from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday 29 June 2019). Although there is no entrance fee, there will be donation buckets at the Parkway gate entrance, with any money raised being donated to Cancer Research. In addition, a group of Year 5 entrepreneurial children will be selling products from their stall with all proceeds being donated to World Animal Protection. Please do visit their stall (Dream Team) and give them some support.
The fete is a wonderful event so feel free to bring along your friends and family. There will be a range of world food stalls where you can buy anything from Indian food to mouth-watering hot dogs and burgers from our BBQ. We will also have lots of games for you to have a go at so, if you can, make sure you bring lots of change with you. Any money raised on the stalls is reinvested into the school and this year the PA will be working with the school to bring improvements to the Upper School playground.
Finally, one last plea for helpers. If anyone else is available to help with set up tomorrow (from 7.30 a.m.) or to help on any of the stalls, please do contact us at pa@sthelenscollege.com. Thank you to everyone who has offered their support - this event would not be possible without your help and we really do appreciate it!
Cancer Research Relay for Life
As we have done for many years, St. Helen's College will be taking part in the Cancer Research Relay for Life this year. Full details of our fundraising activities have been sent out separately to parents but we would like to remind everyone that there will be a whole school Tog Day on Thursday 11th July, for which we ask that your son or daughter bring in a donation (minimum £1 but all donations gratefully accepted). We would be delighted to welcome team members to join us for the Relay itself, which takes place on July 20th. You can sign up as a team member, or make a donation to our team cause, here.
This week, the children at Upper School have begun their fundraising efforts with 'Soak The Teacher' and selling raffle tickets and bookmarks. On Monday there is a cake sale at Upper School so please do allow your children to bring in some spare change!
Park Run
Mrs. Rooney was delighted to see so many St. Helen's College children taking part in the new Junior Park Run at Northala Fields this Sunday. It is a free 2km event for 4-14 year olds that takes place every Sunday at 9 a.m. If your child is interested in taking part, please refer to https://www.parkrun.org.uk/northalafields-juniors/ for further details.
Posted on: 21/06/2019Weekly News - Friday 21st June 2019
Arrangements for Year 1 and Year 2 Summer Plays
On Wednesday 26th June, Year 1 and Year 2 children will be performing their summer plays to Nursery and Reception children. On this day, children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 should be dropped by parents directly to the Winston Churchill Hall in Ruislip between 8.00 and 8.30 a.m. They will be brought back to school and will have lunch at school as normal.
On Thursday 27th June, Year 1 and Year 2 will perform plays to parents, family and friends. Year 1 will perform at 1.30 p.m. and Year 2 at 2.30 p.m. On this day, all children should be dropped off at school as normal; they will eat school lunch and Year 1 and 2 children will then be taken by coach to the Winston Churchill Hall for their performances. Children will be dismissed directly to parents from the Winston Churchill Hall following their performance.
Tickets are now available to purchase for these Year 1 and Year 2 productions. Please use this link to book your tickets, and you will then be sent a charge to your SchoolsBuddy account to make a payment. Parents will be permitted to take older siblings out of school on the Thursday afternoon to watch the performance if they would like to; please notify your class teacher in writing if you would like to do this.
We look forward to seeing many of you at the plays, which are always very special events.
Super Pre-Prep Sports Days
Well done to all of our Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children who took part in their wonderful Sports Days at Court Park on Thursday. Without exception, the children joined in enthusiastically and competed with determination and pride. We are sure that parents were as proud of them as we all were! You can see lots of photographs of the children taking part on our Galleries page.
St. Helen's College Are Chess Champions!
Very well done to the St. Helen's College chess teams who performed extremely well in their tournament against St. Bernadette's School this week. There were some very strong individual performances which contributed to the St. Helen's College A team winning the tournament and the trophy! Our B team struggled a little on the day, but gained valuable experience and were delighted to see their friends lift the trophy too.
It is worth noting that, while the St. Bernadette's players were mainly from Year 6, our A team were all from Year 5 and our B team was made up of one Year 5 player and three players from Year 4! They should feel very proud of themselves to have taken on the challenge of competing against older children and performing so well. A badge was awarded to Ibraheem for sportsmanship and another badge to Marcus for best checkmate, and all of the children deserve a special mention for their efforts.
St. Helen's College A team: Michael K, Jai D, Alex S, Marcus S
St. Helen's College B team: Ibraheem F, Sulaiman M, Aaron S, Vidhit N
Aarna Plays at Cadogan Hall!
Congratulations to Aarna A, who will be playing two pieces with the Hillingdon Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall in Chelsea. Aarna plays the flute and it is an honour to be chosen to play in this wonderful venue. You can see details of the performance here:
Encore : A Celebration of Music
https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/encore-a-celebration-2019/
If your child plays an instrument and would like to get involved with the Hillingdon Music Hub, you can find out more information by following the link below.
https://archive.hillingdon.gov.uk/music
3M Assembly - Fair Trade
Well done to the children of 3M who presented a truly inspirational assembly this morning all about the benefits of Fair Trade. They took us all on a journey to St. Lucia to see how bananas are grown and who profits the most from the banana trade, before explaining why buying Fair Trade will help to make sure that workers are paid fairly and able to feed and educate themselves and their families. Fair trade coffees, teas, bananas and banana milkshakes were served to parents before the assembly too!
PA Summer Fete
The Summer Fete is only a week away and preparations are almost complete. To help make this the best event possible, we are looking for donations of:
Cakes
Drinks
Soft toys - for the toy tombola
Nearly new toys (no books please)
Old school uniform – for the uniform stall
Brand new toys - for the raffle and toy tombola stalls
New items or unwanted gifts - for the raffle, nearly new stall or hoopla
If you are able to donate any of the above or can volunteer your time for all or part of the day, please do get in touch with us at pa@sthelenscollege.com. We’d love to hear from you!
Dads raise over £5000 for the British Heart Foundation!
Some of our St. Helen's College fathers had a very special Father's Day this year, spending the day taking part in the London 2 Brighton bike race to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
The Dads have, so far, raised £5,433.98 for the British Heart Foundation, which really got them noticed by the event organisers on the day. They did 1:1 interviews and put out special congratulatory wishes when they reached the finishing line. Even the sun made an appearance!
The families of these men were so proud of the Dads' achievement. Well done to all involved!
Young Geographer of the Year
Information about the Royal Geographical Society's Young Geographer of the Year competition can be found here. We would like to give the current Year 4 and Year 5 children the opportunity to take part in this poster competition. Year 4 and Year 5 children could start to think about ideas over the holiday and do research on holidays such as taking photos or collecting items. If your child would like to take part, please register your interest by emailing Miss Walker at swalker@sthelenscollege.com. Miss Walker will run some workshops (after school) in September for those who wish to enter the competition to work on their posters, ready to submit entries by 18th October.
Music Tuition
There are still a few spaces available for instrumental tuition at Upper School from September: we have one space for trumpet, one space for flute and two spaces for clarinet. If your son or daughter would like lessons, please email Mrs. Allery directly at rallery@sthelenscollege.com. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. All places for other instruments have now been allocated.
Passport Forms
We would like to remind parents that teachers are happy to sign passport forms, but these forms must be brought to school unsigned and signed by parents in front of teachers in order to comply with regulations.
Summer Hair Cuts
Please can parents be very mindful to follow the guidance given in the Parents' Handbook regarding short haircuts for boys. The relevant text is copied below.
Boys’ hair must be cut above the collar and ears in a conventional manner. Crew cuts, shaved patterning, obvious layering and gelling are not allowed.
Posted on: 14/06/2019Weekly News - Friday 14th June 2019
Singers' Concert
Our annual Singers' Concert on Tuesday evening yet again left the audience with a sense of pride and awe at the calibre of our pupils' musicality as they entertained us with a range of songs and choral numbers. Congratulations to all of the children who took part, whether they were Singing Competition winners or sang as part of one of the school choirs.
Maths Challenge
Six of our Year 3 pupils attended a maths challenge day at Edge Grove Prep School this week. They participated in a variety of problem solving challenges and earned shells for correct answers. They collaborated really well and worked with both speed and precision, finishing second overall. The team consisted of Zach F, Luka K, Anjika G, Shruthi T, Aryan B and Devan S.
4T Read to Reception
On Wednesday, 4T visited Reception. As a class, they first performed the basic version of the tale 'The Blind Man and the Hunter', using actions, before sharing their superb versions of the story, which they had worked hard to write, reflect upon and improve. The Reception children behaved impeccably and were engaged throughout the session.
Mindfulness Course for Parents
Please see below the link for the next Mindfulness course for parents which is being offered by the Mindfulness in Schools Project. This online course begins in September and runs online for 8 weeks.
https://mindfulnessinschools.org/course/begin-for-parents-and-carers-17th-sept-19/
Kingfishers Assembly
Kingfishers class took us on a journey to the continent of Africa to retell the story of Handa's Surprise with their colourful costumes, animals, African instruments and tremendous singing in Swahili. Well done to all of the children!
4KT Assembly
The children of 4KT used their class assembly to share their experiences on their recent residential trip to the beautiful Flatford Mill in the heart of Constable Country.
JRSOs - Roadwatch
Our JRSOs had a wonderful opportunity this week to work with the Hillingdon STARS Team and the Metropolitan Police piloting the Junior Roadwatch scheme. The girls worked alongside the Met Police on Long Lane and drivers who were pulled in for speeding were offered the opportunity to have a conversation with our JRSOs as an alternative to receiving a fine and penalty points.
We are very fortunate to have been involved with the Junior Roadwatch pilot and hope that in the future this will be rolled out across the London Borough of Hillingdon to increase safety on our roads and to raise public awareness of the dangers of speeding. It has also been a great opportunity for our children to raise awareness to their own parents who drive the children to school each day!
May we take this opportunity to ask parents who drive along Parkway to be very aware of their speed as they approach school.
Parent Parking Pledge
Thank you to those of you who have now signed up to the Parent Parking Pledge - please can we ask that you display your badges with pride!
Bikespiration 2019
The London Borough of Hillingdon are running a few 'Bikespiration' events soon to help to encourage local residents to use bicycles. Further information can be found here.
Harefield Colts Cricket
If you have a budding cricketer you might be interested in Colts Cricket at Harefield Cricket Club. The club offers professional, safe, fun coaching with ECB qualified coaches, a superb club house and cricket facilities for all ages from U9 to U17. Training for U9 to U15 age children is on Friday evenings from 6.00 - 7.30 p.m. If you would like further information, pop into the club or email harefieldcoltscricket@aol.com.
Sports Days
The PA provides a refreshments stall for parents to enjoy at the Sports Days and we really need your help please with donations of cakes, biscuits, snacks, soft drinks and bottled water. Please contact us at pa@sthelenscollege.com to let us know if you will be able to make a donation - any contribution would be very gratefully received. You can drop your donations to the Upper or Lower School office. Thank you.
Music News
We will have some vacancies for September for individual tuition in trumpet, clarinet and flute at Upper School. If you are interested in lessons for your son or daughter on one of these instruments, please email Mrs. Allery directly at rallery@sthelenscollege.com. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
All places for the other instruments have now been allocated.
Posted on: 7/06/2019Weekly News - Friday 7th June 2019
PA Summer Fete
The date for the PA Summer Fete is approaching quickly and PA class reps will be busy over the next couple of weeks arranging rotas for stalls and collecting in donations. We urge all parents to give your support to this special event - please sign up for a slot on your class stall or one of the general stalls and please do be generous with your donations so that this year's Fete may be the biggest and best yet! Most importantly, please do come along on Saturday 29th June and enjoy the day with your family and friends. All are welcome and there will be a wide variety of stalls, entertainment and food and drink to enjoy.
World Environmental Day
Wednesday this week was World Environmental Day, which this year had a focus on air pollution. Classes were spoken to about air pollution, its effects and how we can help to limit this particular type of environmental hazard. Eco Reps were also involved in making posters to highlight this important issue.
If you would like to follow up on this with your children at home, you might find the following links useful.
https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/
https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/how-to-beat-pollution/
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t3-dd-68-air-pollution-is-it-really-a-big-deal-discuss-lesson-pack https://www.sparklebox.co.uk/previews/11876-11900/sb11889-pollution-solution-posters.html
Singing Competition
Today saw children in Middle and Upper School compete in our ever-popular annual Singing Competition. Very well done to all those who took part! It was clear that the pupils had been practising very hard and the standard was, as always, very high. Many congratulations to the winners, who will perform at our Singers' Concert at All Saints Church next Tuesday evening. All parents are warmly invited to attend the Singers' Concert. There was not enough time to complete the Upper School competition this afternoon so this will be completed, and the winners will be announced, early next week.
Sports News
Tennis Borough Champions!
Many congratulations to our Y5 and 6 tennis players who took part in the Borough tennis tournament this week held at Tripletts Community Tennis Centre. Our three teams displayed some great play during the course of the competition, resulting in both our A and B team reaching the final to play each other! The matches in the final were highly competitive but it was the A team that came through to take the title and retain the cup for St. Helen's College this year. Our team will now progress to the London School Games Finals to represent Hillingdon against schools from across London.
Well done to everyone who took part: Rishi, Daniel, Aaria, Catherine, Eli, Alex, Hebe, Tamara, Patrick, Ciaran, Mia and Kyra.
Opening Training Sessions - London Girls Development Academy of Football
Watford FC Girls are rebranding as LGDA (London Girls Development Academy) and will be holding open training sessions on the following dates/times. If your daughter is interested in football why not encourage her to go along.
Saturday 8th/Sunday 15th June
U8/9/10 10.00 a.m. - 11.00 a.m.
U11/12 11.30 a.m. - 1.00 p.m.
Walking Loyalty Scheme
Our Year 5 Junior Road Safety Officers will be launching their walking loyalty scheme for Upper School pupils from next week. The scheme, which has been designed by the pupils and has been supported with funding from the London Borough of Hillingdon's School Travel and Road Safety team, is an exciting way to reward our pupils for walking to school this term. Pupils will be able to collect a loyalty card from our JRSOs and, for each day they include a significant element of walking to school as part of their journey, they will be able to collect a stamp for their card. For pupils who are unable to walk all or part of the way to school, a walking circuit will be available in the playground and they may complete ten laps before school starts to gain a stamp. As pupils collect enough stamps they will be rewarded with bronze, silver and gold certificates and at the end of the term medals will be awarded to pupils who have impressed our JRSOs with their commitment to walking to school. We do hope that lots of our Upper School pupils will get involved and, if successful, the scheme may be extended to Lower School next term.
Year 6 Summer Production - Romeo and Juliet - Tickets Now Available
Tickets may now be purchased for our grand Year 6 musical production at The Compass Theatre, Ickenham. This year, our Year 6 pupils will be presenting Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Performances will take place on:
Thursday 4th July at 7.30 p.m.
Friday 5th July at 2.00 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.
Parents will be permitted to take pupils out from school on the Friday in order to watch the matinee performance.
You may book tickets by following this link:
https://mpv.tickets.com/schedule/?agency=HIMS_MPV&orgid=54332#event=romeo&view=list
Sports Days - Message from the PA
The PA is organising a refreshments stall in Court Park for the Lower School Sports Day on 20th June and another at Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex for the Upper School Sports Day on 28th June and we really need your help.
We would be really grateful for any donations of cakes, crisps, drinks and other snacks which we will then be able to sell to parents in order to raise money for the school. If you are able to donate anything, please let us know by emailing pa@sthelenscollege.com so that we can gauge quantities. If your donation is not perishable, you can drop it off at the Upper or Lower School office at any time before the day and we will pick it up from there. If your donation is perishable, please bring it to the relevant venue on either 20th or 28th June 2019. Any support that you can offer would be very welcome.
Thank you!
Posted on: 24/05/2019Weekly News - Friday 24th May 2019
Vive La France!
Our Year 6 pupils have enjoyed a wonderful week at the Chateau de la Baudonniere in Normandy, and the children all had plenty of joie de vivre every day! This has been a tremendous week of culture, language immersion and lots of fun. As always the children were such a credit to the school. You can see some photographs of their trip on our Galleries page.
Constable Country
On Wednesday our Year 4 pupils set off for their three day residential trip at Flatford Mill in the heart of Constable Country, where they have been undertaking art and geography-linked studies as well as enjoying the wonderful weather and the beautiful nature all around them. They return today tired, happy and with an increased level of maturity and independence. We are sure you will enjoy hearing all about their experiences from the pupils themselves. There are some photographs of their trip on our Galleries page.
Nursery Get A Surprise At Bekonscot!
Our Nursery children and staff had a real surprise during their day trip to Bekonscot Model Village and Railway this week, when they bumped into Mrs. Crehan, who was also enjoying a day out in the sunshine with her daughter-in-law and grandson, Teddy!
Bekonscot is celebrating its 90th year this year and, during their visit, the Nursery children had the opportunity to be involved in a workshop about what life at home was like 90 years ago, which was very interesting. They also enjoyed exploring the models, and got very excited when the little trains ran past and under the bridges!
This was a super day, packed with outdoor learning in Understanding the World, Maths, PSE and many other areas.
The teachers were very proud to hear members of the public comment on how well behaved the children were.
Year 5 Pupils Qualify for Giga Finals of National Chess Challenge
Three children in Year 5 have qualified for the Giga Finals in the National Delancey Chess Challenge 2019
https://www.delanceyukschoolschesschallenge.com/
The Giga Finals are the last round before the prestigious Tera Finals which are shown online and have Grand Master commentary! There are thousands of pounds in prize money available in this national competition.
Jai D, Alex S and Michael K all managed to get through the Mega Final stage (regional) and will now move on to the Giga Finals (national level). This is no mean feat as you need to qualify in the first place to take part in the Mega Finals, so the standard is high.
Mega Finals take place over one day and consist of six rounds (50 minute matches). A score of 3.5 or higher out of 6 is required to qualify. Jai qualified at the Maidenhead Mega Final, while Alex and Michael qualified at the Caterham Mega Final. Michael came 3rd overall, out of 35 boys in his category (U10), with a score of 5 out of 6.
Well done indeed, boys, and we wish you the very best of luck at the Giga Finals!
3B Class Assembly - Shortenills
Well done to the children of 3B, who presented a confident, interesting and entertaining assembly today, recounting their experiences on their recent residential trip to Shortenills. It was fascinating to hear about how they had developed their learning at this wonderful environmental centre, by using their senses in a woodland setting, taking part in orienteering and 'journey stick' activities and gathering around the campfire to sing traditional songs and share jokes and riddles. In addition to experiencing the great outdoors, the children told us how they had learnt many essential indoor skills, such as preparing and tidying away at meal times, keeping their dormitories tidy (for inspection!) and making their own beds. One highlight of this assembly was definitely the Countdown clock ticking as two children demonstrated how quickly they are now able to put on their own duvet cover and pillowcase - essential life skills indeed. This was the first school residential trip for this group of children and it is clear that even just one night away has helped them to develop much greater independence. As they said at the end, they are now looking forward to a longer residential trip next year - roll on Flatford Mill!
You can see some photographs of the Shortenills trip on our Galleries page and you can see the photo montage from this morning's assembly here.
Rocketman
Miss Collier, one of our peripatetic music teachers, is part of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, the choir which was chosen to provide backing singing for the new Elton John 'Rocketman' film, which is out this week. Miss Collier's choir were featured on the ITV news earlier this week - eagle eyed pupils might enjoy spotting her by watching the choir rehearse on the news clip!
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2019-05-20/crouch-end-festival-chorus-helps-fuel-soundtrack-to-elton-johns-rocketman/
Sports News
Quad Kids Athletics
On Wednesday ten of our Year 5 children took part in the annual Hillingdon Quad Kids athletics competition. This involves a 60m sprint, vortex throw, standing long jump and a 600m run. All of our team showed some tremendous character and effort, competing against mainly Year 6 pupils from other schools. We came a creditable 13th overall out of 20 and all of our children showed that they had a great time. Team members were: Jack H, Grace B, Chloe W, Catherine L, Harry J, Eli V-B, Rhea A-V, Shaina A, Alex S and Daniel G-J.
Battle of Britain Bunker - 75th Anniversary
The 75th anniversary of the Normandy Landings will be commemorated through events and activities at the Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge from Thursday 6th to Sunday 9th June. Each day will feature special D-Day 75 tours, which explain how the Bunker was used during Operation Overlord. The tours can be booked on the day and are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Tour times will be at 10.15, 11.30, 12.45, 14.00, and 15.15. There will also be an additional 16.30 tour for Saturday 8 June and Sunday 9 June. Full details are available by following this link:
https://battleofbritainbunker.co.uk/whats-on/
We hope that many of you will choose to take your children to visit this special place. In particular, our Year 6 pupils visited the bunker with school recently and it would be very valuable for them to go again with their families to focus on this particular part of history. Other year groups are also encouraged to attend.
Important Reminders
Snacks
We would like to remind you that children must not bring nuts, or any items containing nuts, to school. Suitable snacks for break time are fruit, raw vegetables or plain biscuits.
Upper School Library
As the summer term is now underway, may we remind all Upper School parents - and in particular Year 6 - of our school library lending arrangements. Each student may borrow up to three books on their library account for up to two weeks, after which period they may be renewed. Pupils are expected to respect and care for their books and to be organised about returning them to the library in good time. Please support your children in caring for library books as part of their day to day school equipment. Discuss what books they have borrowed, how they are enjoying them - and perhaps, suggest books they might like to try!
Individual Music Tuition
Parents are reminded that a full half term's notice is required if you would like your child to stop having individual instrumental or vocal tuition. Notice should be sent to Mrs. Allery at rallery@sthelenscollege.com.
Photographs - Wednesday 5th June
Class photographs for all classes from Ducklings to Year 5 will be taken on Wednesday 5th June, and the Year 6 leavers' photograph will be taken on Monday 10th June. Please ensure that your children are at their smartest and in full uniform on these days (and every day!). If your child would normally wear PE kit on the day of their photograph, they should instead wear their uniform and bring their PE kit to school to change into later in the day.
Please don't forget to check the School Calendar to see all that is in store for your children in the next half term. In the meantime, we wish you all a pleasant and relaxing half term break!
Posted on: 17/05/2019Weekly News - Friday 17th May 2019
Outstanding Musicians' Concert
Last night the audience at All Saints Church was treated to a fantastic array of performances given by our extremely talented children, ranging from the impressionistic piano music of Debussy to the more traditional tunes of Amazing Grace. The concert opened with the orchestra playing and this was followed by our many soloists and instrumental groups, all ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 8. There was also an opportunity to hear staff perform as Mrs. Stubbs (flute), Mrs. Nash (violin) and Mrs. Maclean (cello), accompanied by Mr. Stubbs (piano), performed 'Allegro from Trio Sonata in G Minor by JC Pepusch. This really was a spectacular event and all the instrumentalists played with admirable confidence and panache! Well done to all involved.
National Numeracy Day
National Numeracy Day on Tuesday provided an exciting impetus for teachers to enrich and extend the pupils' learning and it was wonderful to see so many children engaged in activities in and outside of the classroom.
Robins Class Assembly
Wow! Our Robins Nursery children showed how far they have come during their Nursery year as they performed a fantastic assembly all about the seasons of the year on Thursday. It is clear that their programme of rehearsals and performances during the Nursery year (including Harvest Festival, their Nativity Play and class assemblies, as well as the Speech Competition last term) has helped them to find their feet when standing up and speaking in front of an audience. Their confidence, their memories, their relaxed and engaging style and their superb voice projection really were astonishing. We all learnt much about the seasons too. Well done, Robins!
Noah's Ark Hospice Charity Walk
Well done to all of the pupils, parents and staff who came together last Sunday to take part in a charity walk to raise funds for the Noah's Ark Children's Hospice. The walk alone raised £725 for the hospice, which is a wonderful achievement. The sense of community on the day was inspiring and we would like to pass on sincere thanks to all who gave up their time and energy to raise funds for this very worthwhile cause.
Borough Sports Success
Our Year 3 and Year 4 teams were in the spotlight this week and showed their competitive spirit, taking part in Borough Tri Golf and Mini Tennis competitions.
Tri Golf Success
Well done to our Year 3/4 Tri Golf team, who on Tuesday afternoon took part in the annual Hillingdon Tri Golf Festival at Hewens Academy. The team had a wonderful time competing against a time limit, improving their chipping and putting to score points. With ten teams in the festival, St. Helen's College Year 3/4 team came an impressive 3rd place. Congratulations to all of the team on such a great perfomance!
Team members were: Anjika G, Maisie H, Maya T, Jena J, Krishav P, Joban K, Sahib N, Reece G.
Mini Tennis Excitement
On Wednesday, three St. Helen's College teams took part in the annual schools tournament held at Tripletts Community Tennis Centre. The competition attracted 20 teams from across the Borough and each team consisted of two boys and two girls, who played singles matches against players from other schools. The event was played in a very supportive atmosphere, with parents spectating applauding the great play. Our pupils in particular showed a high degree of technical skill and tactical awareness when playing their matches - so much so that all three of our teams made it through to the quarter finals, where our C team faced Glebe and our B team faced our A team! The matches could not have been closer and semi finalists had to be decided on points countback as matches were drawn, but in the end it was only our A team that progressed. Incredibly, the semi final against Whiteheath had to be decided on countback too and unfortunately the St. Helen's College A team missed out by just a few points to Whiteheath, who went on to be the tournament's eventual winners. Well done to all of our team members who were a credit to their school with their sportsmanship and resilience.
A Team: Amar C, Anaiya L, Samir H, Hamdan U
B Team: Fredericka T, Jena J, Zail T, Luka K
C Team: Anaya K, Amber P, Reece G, Eshan N
Co-Curricular Club Reminders
We would like to remind parents that the following clubs will not be taking place next week, since Miss Walker will be in France with the Year 6 residential trip:
Tuesday Y2/3 Athletics - lunchtime
Thursday Y5/6 Rounders - after school
May Half Term Tennis Camp
Miss Walker will be running a May half term tennis camp at Tripletts Community Centre in Hayes. If your child would like to attend, you can find full details including booking details here.
Residential Trips
We wish our Year 4 and Year 6 children enjoyable and enriching times as they embark on their exciting residential trips to Flatford Mill (Year 4) and France (Year 6) in the coming week.
Posted on: 10/05/2019Weekly News - Friday 10th May 2019
Staffing News
Congratulations to Ms Matthews, our Head of EYFS, who has successfully completed and passed the Chartered College of Teaching CTeach programme. Ms Matthews is now recognised nationally as one of 180 teachers to be accredited with Chartered Teacher status. The programme of study and research which she engaged in was rigorous and demanding and will continue to benefit the outcomes for our children. It is wonderful to have this level of expertise on our staff.
Year 3 Residential Trip To Shortenills
Our Year 3 pupils have had the most wonderful residential trip and taken part in a super programme of activities including orienteering, journey sticks and camp fire singing, to name but a few. They also carried out numerous chores as they developed their maturity and independence, including making beds, clearing tables, setting up for breakfast! Great teamwork and camaraderie from all. You can see some photos of their trip here.
SATIPS Art Exhibition - Bromsgrove School
We are delighted that some of our pupils' work has been exhibited at the national SATIPS Art Exhibition at Bromsgrove School near Birmingham. Well done to Aleyna (1J), Aaryan (1HC), Avneet (2H), Chloe (5A), Jack (5G), Georgia (6W) and Zoe (6W). You can see their artwork here.
Next year the exhibition will move closer to home (to the Royal Masonic School, Rickmansworth) and we hope that many of you will be able to visit.
Musicians' Concert
We look forward to seeing many of you at our annual Musicians' Concert next Thursday at 7 p.m. in All Saints Church. This event is always the most wonderful evening of musicality with a wide range of repertoires from the children and staff.
Bikeability
Well done to all our Year 6 pupils who have been attending the Saturday morning sessions which finish next week on Saturday 18th May. It is good to know that our children are safe on their bikes and confident bike users.
Holiday Club - May Half Term
Holiday Club bookings for May half term are now open. Please log in to your SchoolsBuddy account to make your bookings.
PA Summer Fete
It’s that time of year when the PA are busy with “all hands on deck” preparations for our flagship event, the PA Summer Fete. We would like to ask you to save the date:
Date: Saturday 29th June 2019
Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Upper School playground
One of the aims of the PA is to encourage community, friendship and fun for our children, parents and guardians and the wider St. Helen's family. Over the years, the school fete has been a great event where the school community has come together by bringing their ideas, giving their time and providing much enthusiasm.
The fete is organised by the PA committee which, at present, comprises eight full-time working mums, with amazing support from the PA Class Reps. If you are interested in joining the Committee, we always welcome new interest!
We rely on your help for the fete and we will be putting out requests for help out via the newsletter in the next few weeks. However, there’s no time like the present so we are looking for immediate responses for the following:
We Need You!
At least 10 helpers from each year group to commit to helping on the day of the fete - we will start at 8 a.m. and finish clearing up at about 6 p.m. but you don’t need to do the whole stretch. If you can pledge help for all or part of the day, please do let us know. We need help on many levels such as running stalls, serving food, making tea and coffee, face painting, henna art, glitter tattoos, moving chairs and tables, putting marquees up, clearing litter, PA audio technicians and barbecuing. If you feel worried about taking on tasks yourself, why not get a team from your class together? Each class has a class rep, who will also be communicating with you.
Donations
We would be really grateful for donations of the following (NO BOOKS PLEASE):
Nearly new, good condition soft toys - for the toy tombola
Good condition used/new school uniform – for the uniform stall
Brand new toys - for the raffle and toy tombola stalls
New items or unwanted gifts - for the raffle
If you work for a company who might like to donate anything to the fete please let us know.
Fete collection bins will be put out at the entrances and exits on all three school premises after half term (Ducklings, Lower School and Upper School) for you to bring your donations, so please have a good sort out over half term. We will empty the collection bins on a daily basis.
Tuck Shop
We run a tuck shop where we sell drinks, sweets, ice creams and crisps. If you own a shop or can get reduced/discounted rates, we’d love to hear from you!
Food Stalls
As in previous years, we will be having a range of stalls at the fete to cater for a variety of tastes. To help us make this happen, we are looking for volunteers to provide the cuisine - this could be anything from African to Mexican, Italian to Thai. We will also be looking for volunteers to man these stalls. If you are able to provide food for a stall or would like to volunteer to serve on a food stall (even if it’s only for an hour), please do get in touch.
If you have any ideas or suggestion for the fete, we’d love to hear from you and embrace these. We can only put this event on with your help so please do get in touch. It's an event that’s really enjoyed by the children and the whole St. Helen's College community.
Contact us: pa@sthelenscollege.com
Thank you in advance for all of your help and support to make this year's fete a really special event for everyone!
Posted on: 3/05/2019Weekly News - Friday 3rd May 2019
Year 5 Residential Trip - Isle of Wight
Our Year 5 children return tired but happy today after an exhiliarating week spent on the Isle of Wight. They have taken part in all sorts of exciting and adventurous outdoor activities and carried out investigations to help them understand coastal erosion and other geographical concepts. You can see a few photographs of their week on our Galleries page here.
Year 6 Trip to Battle of Britain Bunker
Our Year 6 pupils had an outstanding day today as they visited the Battle of Britain Bunker, where they took part in interactive, hands-on workshops. Many members of the public, and the Bunker staff, commented on what a credit the pupils were to the school as they showed such excellent behaviour and courtesy.
Project Day
We were delighted to have the IDEAS Bus visiting us at Upper School this week for our Project Day, during which Year 4 and Year 6 children took part in a wide range of creative activities, including coding, virtual reality art, robot racing, dance, music technology and photography. To read more about the importance and impact of the day, do read Mr. Tovell's blog about Creativity in Education which you can access here.
Parent Presentation
Thank you to all of the parents from Ducklings to Reception who attended last night's presentation on supporting reading and mathematics in the early years. The session was very well attended and the discussion and questions were a testament to the supportive environment we have here from both staff and parents to ensure that your children achieve their very best.
Gymnastics Success
We celebrated our Year 6 pupil Chiara L's further gymnastics success in assembly this week at Upper School. In Spain over the Easter holidays she received a gold medal with her partner as they were crowned DIAC 11-16 WP champions! We wish Chiara well as she competes in the English Championships this weekend in Durham.
Singing Competition
Our very exciting Singing Competition for Years 2-6 will take place on Friday 7th June this year. Children should decide which category they would like to enter and choose a song. Next, fill in a slip and put into the box - these can both be found at the front of the hall and entries must be submitted no later than Thursday 9th May.
Once again, there is no set theme this year as we would like to hear songs from all different genres and perhaps a range of songs throughout musical history. Singing in other languages is permitted, but please provide a translation of lyrics for the judge. The only restrictions are that we would like you to avoid singing pop songs and we would like to see only simple gestures and appropriate movements relevant to the performance. No dance moves please.
The categories are:
Best solo singer from each year group.
Best duet
Middle School
Upper School
Best group - trios (3) or quartets (4) only.
Middle School
Upper School
There should be just one solo entry per child but they may also participate in either a duet or a group. No choir songs please!
A backing track is required (without words) for performance on the day; CD or ipod only. No piano accompaniments will be used this year, unless a child is playing the piano as part of their performance.
All winners will be invited to sing at the Singers’ Concert on 11th June.
Should the number of entrants be high, preliminary rounds will take place before half term.
Staff News
Ducklings
It is with sadness that we will be bidding Mrs. Haar and her family a farewell at the end of the summer term as they make the move to Devon. Mrs. Haar has had a long association with St. Helen's College and was instrumental in setting up our Kindergarten two years ago. We wish her well, and know that the new manager, when appointed, will be taking over a very happy and thriving setting.
Nursery
Miss Fleming and Mrs. Meeran will be leaving us this term to spend time travelling and with grandchildren respectively. Both have made such a difference to the children they have cared for at St. Helen's College and will be very much missed by us all.
Reception
Miss Malik will be leaving us at the end of the summer term after four years of service to work in a new environment. We are sure you will join us in wishing her well and in thanking her for all that she has done for your children and the school.
Mrs. Duberley will also be leaving us at the end of this term after a very long career with the school. We wish her well in her retirement and thank her sincerely for her service over so many years!
Staffing for September
We will let parents know the staffing for classes in September in due course.
Important Reminders
We would like to remind you that children must not bring nuts, or any items containing nuts, to school. Suitable snacks for break time are fruit, raw vegetables or plain biscuits.
Please note that the safety of your children is paramount to us, thus we request that when collecting children from the Upper School site, you keep younger siblings under close supervision and do not allow them to play on the grass opposite the school entrance on Parkway.
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