School News and Head's Blog
Posted on: 19/03/2021Weekly News - Friday 19th March 2021
Red Nose Day
The school has been painted red today as we have all worn our own clothes, mainly red, to celebrate Comic Relief Day. We have kept each other laughing by telling jokes and finding the joy in everything, and we are very proud that the school community is raising money to support Comic Relief's work. You can see photographs of the fun we have had today on our Galleries page here.
Thanks to donations, Comic Relief continues to make a difference to the lives of millions of people across the UK and around the world, working for a just world, free from poverty. Comic Relief partners with local projects and organisations that are working to tackle four of the biggest challenges society faces today:
Improving Mental Health
A Safe Home for Everyone
A World Where Children Can Survive and Thrive
Freedom from Fear, Violence and Discrimination.
In each of these areas, the Covid-19 pandemic has made people’s lives even harder, so your support is as important as ever. If you have not already made a donation to our St. Helen's College Comic Relief fundraising, we suggest a minimum donation of £2 per family, but of course all donations are most welcome. You can donate, and see the latest total raised by the school, by following this link.
Thank you.
Hillingdon STARS Competition Success!
The STARS team at London Borough of Hillingdon have asked us to thank all of the parents and pupils who got involved with the KS1 Captain Safety drawing competition and the KS2 Road Safety Invention competition.
We are thrilled to announce that St. Helen's College children did very well indeed in the competition and the following children were winners in their categories:
KS1 Captain Safety Competition
Page 3 - Alyssa P (Year 1)
KS2 Road Safety Invention Competition
1st Place - Joe T (Year 3)
Joint 2nd Place - Riya S (Year 3)
Special congratulations to Alyssa, Joe and Riya!
The STARS team were very impressed with the drawings and incredible designs and concepts that the children came up with. All of the children who entered will receive a certificate which will be presented in a school assembly in due course.
Prep School Quiz Club Heats
Our Year 5 and Year 6 Quiz Club teams took part this week in the national heats for the annual Prep School Quiz Club Competition. The heats took place online and included questions on Geography, Science, History, the Natural World, Maths, English, Religion and much more. Some of the questions were very challenging indeed!
Our teams acquitted themselves very well. Our Year 6 team (Zail T, Arjan D, Ben L and Vandan V) moved quickly up through the leader board during the first few rounds, and finished the competition in joint 7th place out of 50 teams, beating many excellent prep schools from the local area and across the country. They should feel very proud of themselves. The top six teams qualified automatically for the national finals, and our Year 6 team must now wait until all heats are complete to find out if they have qualified as one of the next highest scoring teams.
The Year 5 team (Anjika G, Shruthi T, Zacahariah F and Aryan B) also performed well, moving up through the leader board to finish in joint 8th place out of 48 teams. Very well done to the children and staff involved.
Please do keep encouraging your children to expand their general knowledge by reading newspapers, watching news-based programmes or reading non-fiction books.
iArt Competition
Many congratulations to all of the children who created entries for the IAPS (Independent Association of Prep Schools) iArt competition. Mrs. Pruce and Mrs. Drummond were so impressed by the high standard of art work, which made the judging incredibly difficult. They have, however, made a final decision on the three artists whose work will be put forward to represent St. Helen's College for this prestigious national competition. Very well done to Riya C (Year 6), Tiya T (Year 3) and Arya A (Year 2). You can see their beautiful entries below.
Riya C
Pencils and pens
"Break Out"
Surrealism
30cm X 21cm
"I found this lockdown really hard and frustrating, I was desperate to escape and this is me, breaking through the tape keeping me in my room to get outside and be free."
Tiya T
Acrylic paint
"Rousseau Storm"
Magical Realism
30cm X 21cm
"I took inspiration from our Henri Rousseau art project in school to express the weather outside on the day and the storm we are in at the moment. I love his oversized flowers."
Arya A
Age 7
"Rainbow Tree"
Watercolours and soft pencils
Pointillism and fine art
59cm X 42cm
"I decided to draw and paint a rainbow tree because in my garden we have huge trees and during lockdown saw two rainbows over the trees which always made me smile and happy."
Easter Holiday Club
We are looking forward to relaunching our Holiday Club provision this Easter
and we are delighted that so many families have booked in already. The booking system has now closed but we do have a very limited number of places still available on some days for pupils in Years 2 - 6. If you would like to check availability and book a place please contact Mrs. Rooney at lrooney@sthelenscollege.com.
Guess the Place
Well done to the following Year 3 - 6 pupils who correctly guessed that this week's place was the iconic Library of Birmingham building:
Tiya, Grace, Joseph, Sean and Hana (Year 3).
Shruthi, Riddhi, Charlotte, Shakira, Siyana, Chrissy, Natalia, Kylah, Anjika, David and Luka (Year 5).
Zail and Samir (Year 6).
Our London landmark this week was a little bit tricky for our pupils in Nursery - Year 2, but many congratulations to Millie and Riyan in Year 1 and Evie in Year 2, who correctly named the place as Regent's Park.
PA Forum Meeting
The next PA Forum meeting will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday 24th March. Parents are encouraged to send points for discussion onto class representatives. Class reps should send points for discussion to Mrs. Smith by Monday 22nd March at the very latest please: susmith@sthelenscollege.com.
Home Self-Testing Service Launches in Hillingdon for Households with School Children
Households and families with school-aged children can now access COVID-19 home testing kits. The 'community collect' service launched this month to households with primary and secondary school and college age children, as well as those providing childcare and in support bubbles. Testing kits are to be used twice weekly, meaning people can self-isolate faster if they test positive.
Home-testing kits can currently be ordered online for home delivery at www.gov.uk/coronavirus or can be collected from Topping Lane PCR test site near Brunel University. Kits will also be available for collection shortly from the borough's seven asymptomatic testing sites. Find out more at www.hillingdon.gov.uk/community-testing.
Textile Bank
Thank you to those of you who have already made donations into our new textile recycling bank, which is located alongside the path outside 227 Long Lane. Please do not forget that we can accept all clothing, paired shoes, belts, bags, curtains, bed linen and towels. Items that cannot be put into the bank are branded school uniform items, duvets/pillows/cushions and rugs/carpet off cuts.
The Lynne Chilver School of Dance
The Lynne Chilver School of Dance run sessions at the North Hillingdon Methodist Church, Long Lane (at the front of Lower School), as follows:
Ballet and Tap: Saturday mornings from 9.00 a.m.
Tap: Mondays from 4.00 p.m.
Modern and Freestyle: Wednesdays from 4.00 p.m.
Acro and National returning soon.
Children are prepared for recognised exams (IDTA RAD ISTD) and entered when they have reached the required level. Every two years they take part in a show held at the Beck Theatre during February half term. All lessons have been made Covid secure.
The dance school runs other events, such as an annual Summer School and Christmas workshops. They also hold adult classes in Zumba, Ballet and Tap.
Fees for children's classes start from £60 per term (12 weeks). All classes should be booked directly through the dancing school.
More information and contact details are available on their website: www.lynnechilver.co.uk
Hillingdon Libraries
Uxbridge Library are running weekly Once Upon a Bump sessions via Zoom. These sessions are for expectant and new parents to get together online for singing, stories and a chat. You can see details here.
Hillingdon Libraries also have several weekly online Tiny Tales story time sessions for families with pre-school children. These are run by different libraries within the Borough and information about the dates and times of these are uploaded weekly to the library Twitter feeds (@Hill_Libraries) and Facebook feeds (@HillingdonLibraries).
Posted on: 19/03/2021Laughter Is The Best Medicine
Today we celebrated Red Nose Day for Comic Relief and the school was an abundance of red as we all joined together to raise money for this super charity which supports people who are living incredibly tough lives. Celebrities all over the UK have joined together to encourage us all to turn laughs into lasting change. We thank you for all your donations and hope that the children enjoyed their day.
It is certainly not just on Red Nose Day once a year that we embrace the power of fun and laughter at St. Helen’s College! The adults at school have the privilege of having the best medication available on tap every day and that is the power of your children’s laughter.
Through this incredibly difficult past year, your children have brought us all joy, whether that has been in school as part of our critical worker groups or face to face when we have been together as a community.
Laughter is on the curriculum, the co-curriculum, on the lunch menu, in the playground - it leaves a trail of happiness and a sense of wellbeing and can even lead to sore stomachs for those of us who have had a really hearty serving of it! I am even contemplating a new business model: bottling up the laughter of your children and selling it at a prime price - SHC & tonic! The most refreshing and invigorating way to boost your immune system!
During the last lockdown period, on duty at Lower School in the mornings, I was treated to a daily joke from one of the children. Her ability in telling jokes is truly remarkable, but it reminded me of why I never try to tell jokes - I always forget the punchline! Please do not let me think that I am alone in this? But it is not just telling jokes which brings so much laughter to our school - it is the authenticity of the pleasure and fun that your children have in being part of our unique community. I certainly do not remember laughing so much with my teachers when I was a child, but as I visit the classrooms around the school there truly is a sense of fun, pride and incredible humility in the relationships between the children with each other, the children with the adults and the adults with each other. Don’t get me wrong - we do take learning very seriously - but we make learning enjoyable and that even leads to children laughing when they are learning! We have the recipe and ingredients just right to create happy, successful, confident and inquisitive children.
Some of the children have been writing recipes for ‘happiness’ and they used phrases such as a sprinkling of laughter, a dollop of laughter, a chuckle of laughter…..Your children are very astute and know that laughter is important to their wellbeing.
But now to you as parents - I hope that each day in your work and personal life that you are as privileged as the adults at St. Helen’s College are with your daily dose of laughter. How is your laughter gauge looking?
Even in the most difficult times in our lives, we must not lose sight of the power of laughter and the therapeutic value it brings. I will share with you a very personal moment - my father sadly passed away back in 2002 when he was only 62 after a long battle with cancer. He was incredibly proud and organised and had put everything in place for when he finally had to leave us. The day after he died we had to access certain documents and he had put everything together in a new filing cabinet which he had been meticulous in organising. However...he omitted to tell us where the key was! I shall say no more...but the laughter between my sister, mum and I that day was the tonic we all needed - he certainly had the last laugh! Some twenty years on I still smile and chuckle when I recall the scenario!
We must not lose the ability to laugh nor feel guilty about laughing when life has been really difficult, for it is a physical human reaction to an internal or external stimuli and can often be what is needed.
Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
I will leave you with this simple poem:
Laughter is infectious.
It is a joyful sound that,
Once it starts ringing,
Passes all around.
Laughter is infectious.
Some folks have no clue
As to what another’s laughter
Could do unto you.
Laughter is infectious.
You can get it on a whim,
But chances of it harming
Are very, very slim.
Walterrean Salley
Mrs. Drummond
Posted on: 12/03/2021Neurodiversity
I am so delighted that St. Helen’s College will be taking part in our first Neurodiversity Celebration Week which will be celebrated from March 15th to March 21st in the UK. We will be joining over 1,100 other UK based schools (over 700,000 children) to celebrate the neurodiversity of our incredible brains.
For so many years there have been negative stereotypes and misconceptions about children and adults whose brains may just be wired slightly differently, meaning that they learn in a slightly different way. It is our responsibility that we educate the children to accept everyone in our society and for them to understand that we all have skills and talents which make us all amazing!
Neurodiversity is a viewpoint that brain differences are normal, rather than deficits. The idea of neurodiversity can have benefits for children with learning and thinking differences.
18 year old Siena Castellon, who is herself dyslexic, autistic and dyspraxic and has ADHD, has launched this celebration week to further educate pupils and adults to recognise the many strengths of neurodivergent students.
In the presentation we will be sharing with the children from Year 1 - Year 6 next week, we will discuss the brain and how all brains are different. ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), dyslexia and ASC (Autistic Syndrome Condition) will be outlined, along with how they can affect someone, and we will be celebrating the wonderful achievements of prominent people in our society who the children will recognise. For example, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, Chris Packham, the presenter of Spring Watch and Anne Hegarty, quiz master from the Chase, are autisitic. Richard Branson and Will Smith both are dyslexic. Emma Watson (actress - Hermoine Granger in Harry Potter) and Robbie Williams both have ADHD. Considering these high profile people will help us to understand that having a neurodiverse brain does not limit people’s opportunities or achievements.
I urge you to read the fascinating Harvard Business Review article here, which outlines how neurodiversity has been seen as a competitive advantage in many workforces and still remains a talent to be tapped into. Companies who have adapted their HR and recruitment processes and taken time to get to know individuals and how they best work are reaping the benefits of their strengths.
I am certainly not an expert on neurodiversity and would never claim to be. However, I am sure that you agree that the more we can educate the pupils at St. Helen’s College about neurodiversity, the more accepting and understanding of each other they will be - not only here at school, but also in developing relationships with people in the future who may have previously had to battle with the stigma which historically was associated with people who are differently abled.
If you would like to find out more about the Neurodiversity Celebration Week then please do watch some of the superb videos in the link here. It really is our duty to our children and to ourselves that we are more knowledgeable and that we understand more about our amazing minds!
Mrs. Drummond
Posted on: 12/03/2021Weekly News - Friday 12th March 2021
Eco School
We are delighted that our eco school flags have arrived, which recognise our commitment to sustainability and improving the environment. We will be finding somewhere suitable to display them...do look out for them in due course!
To further promote sustainability, a new textile bank has been installed alongside the path outside 227 Long Lane (Windsor).
Please feel free to donate your unwanted clothes, shoes, accessories, belts, bags, bed linen and soft toys by posting them into the bank. These textiles are either sent to poorer communities across Europe, or recycled into industrial cleaning wipes so that nothing ends up in landfill and the school will be paid a small amount per kilo for items donated. Please note that items that CANNOT be accepted are duvets, pillows, cushions, carpets, rugs, workwear and textile off-cuts.
We hope that this will be a useful service for families, especially as charity shops are not currently open, as well as encouraging us all to be more eco-friendly by recycling more and sending less to landfill. Please feel free to pull into the car park outside 227 Long Lane at weekends if you have items to donate.
St. Helen's College Instagram
Many parents already follow our St. Helen's College Art Instagram account. We would like to encourage you also to follow our main St. Helen's College Instagram account here. Please do sign up to follow us!
Red Nose Day - Friday 19th March
We will be supporting Comic Relief on Red Nose Day next Friday and have set up a 'Just Giving' page on behalf of the school.
Children should come to school on this day wearing red and/or with any of the Comic Relief merchandise such as red noses, boppers, t-shirts etc. We ask that each family makes a donation in order for their child to come in their own clothes. We suggest a minimum donation of £2 per family, but of course all donations will be most welcome for this very worthy cause. You can donate by following this link.
There will be a slightly altered special menu for Red Nose Day. You can see this here.
Online Safety
National Online Safety have published useful guides about social media apps including Whatsapp, Snapchat and Tiktok. We encourage all parents to read these and, in particular, to note the ages at which these accounts are permitted for children. For example, the age at which Whatsapp is permitted in the UK is 16.
NoS have many other useful resources. If you have not already done so, please register here as a St. Helen's College parent to see similar weekly guides and other useful information on online safety.
Music - Assembly Performances
If your Upper School child would like to perform their instrument or sing during a Friday assembly slot this term, please contact Mrs. Fawbert at cfawbert@sthelenscollege.com or let your class teacher know. Performing in this way is a great opportunity for your child to gain confidence, whethr or not they are currently preparing for a grade exam. While assemblies are taking place remotely, the children perform in the Evans Hall with Mrs. Fawbert, with their performances broadcast live to the rest of the Upper School. Their peers are always generous with their applause and kind comments!
Guess The Place
Congratulations to our pupils in Upper School who correctly guessed last week's place was the White Cliffs of Dover. Well done to Penelope, Samara, Avantika, Grace, Kal-El and Hana in Year 3, Poppy and Advik in Year 4, Shakira, Diyan, Charlotte, Natalia, Oliver, Amber and Anjika in Year 5 and Sophia, Pavitar, Zail, Samir and Vidhit in Year 6.
Congratulations too to our pupils in Year 2 and Lower School who correctly guessed that the place in London last week was the Cenotaph. Well done to Phoebe in Nursery, Millie and Riyan in Year 1 and Simar, Evie, Alexia and Avar in Year 2.
Continuing Professional Development
At St. Helen's College, we pride ourselves on developing not only the children but the staff too. We are delighted that Mrs. Reid (formerly Miss Heath), one of our Upper School Teaching and Learning Assistants, will commence teacher training from September 2021. Mrs. Reid will remain with us while she is training and we know that she will be an asset to the teaching team.
We are very proud to announce that Mrs. Smith has just been awarded a distinction in her AMCIS (Association of Marketing & Communications in Independent Schools) diploma. We are very fortunate to have her expertise and high level of professionalism at the school.
We are also thrilled that Mrs. Cargill has successfully completed her Diploma in School Business Management and is enjoying putting her learning into practice each day at St. Helen's College.
All of this continuous professional development is a testament to the commitment of our staff to self-improvement, which will no doubt have an impact on the future of St. Helen's College and your children.
Pick Up And Go - Parkway
As is often the case when children first return to school after time away, Parkway has been very busy at drop off and pick up times this week. This has prompted a complaint from a neighbour about cars queueing along the length of Parkway.
We have reminded teachers that pupils must be brought out for collection promptly at their end of day time. We would like also to remind parents not to arrive early to pick up your child. If you arrive and there is already a queue of more than two or three cars for pick up and go, please drive past them to the car park, park your car and walk down to collect your child. If you are using pick up and go, please remind your child to enter the car promptly and fasten their seat belt immediately so that you may safely pull away without delay. The same applies at 'drop and go' in the mornings - please encourage your child to have all that they need ready so that they can exit the car promptly when you pull alongside the kerb, and please then pull your car away as soon as it is safe to do so.
The systems do generally work very well and we are sure they will continue to do so, if we all work together to make drop off and pick up as smooth as possible! Many thanks for your support in this.
Asymptomatic Covid Testing for Parents
Please note that voluntary asymptomatic testing is available for adults in households with school aged children (as well as in childcare and support bubbles). As a school we are not able to provide tests to families but please see below the information from the DfE about this scheme and how to access tests.
There are different ways for a household, childcare or support bubble to collect their test to take at home, twice-weekly:
through your employer, if they offer testing to employees
by collecting a home test kit from a local test site - anyone aged 18 or over can collect two packs of seven tests
by ordering a home test kit online; please do not order online if you can access testing through other routes - this frees up home delivery for those who need it most.
Posted on: 5/03/2021Patience by Mrs. Smith
I would have loved to have written a blog about our value of Patience this week, but I have been rather caught up in the crucial work of updating the school's comprehensive Covid risk assessment. I therefore invited Mrs. Smith to write on the theme of Patience for us this week. Enjoy!
Mrs. Drummond
Patience
Our value of the week this week is ‘Patience’, and we discussed this in our assemblies today. At Lower School and Ducklings, Mrs. Hunt showed the children this very short video as a prompt to discuss what patience is and how to practise it. At Upper School, we watched a video of some children telling us, in their own words, what they thought patience meant. They came up with some very good ideas, like ‘waiting for something’ and ‘holding back your anger or frustration’.
The dictionary definition of patience is actually this: ‘the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious’.
I find these words beautiful, because they neatly encapsulate what we all probably instinctively know: that being patient is a capacity, not a genetic quality. While it is true that some people naturally have more patience, for others (myself included) this quality does not come easily. The good news is that, like our capacity for love, for empathy, or for resilience, our capacity for patience can be increased through self-awareness, determination and practice. So, how do we cultivate patience and why is this quality – or value – so very important in our lives?
The simple answer is that we cultivate our capacity for patience through practising being patient. To do this, we need to exercise our self-control and push away feelings of annoyance or anxiety that arise when we are experiencing a prolonged delay in waiting for something. We need to remind ourselves that the thing we are waiting for will eventually come – and sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that, even if it doesn’t eventually come, we will nevertheless be ok. We all practise patience on a daily basis: the parent who feels frustrated waiting for a child to get dressed; the child who longs for break time when they can get out into the playground with their friends; the adult who is thirsty during a meeting and has to wait until they can have a drink; the teacher who is ready for lunch at 11.00 o’clock and must wait until lunch time! These are small, manageable, daily examples. Exercising patience can be done in these situations partly because it has to be done, and partly because it has been done before.
However, there are also times - this year in particular – when we can practise patience on a larger level. Since last March, we have lived with more uncertainty than ever before, and we have had to manage our anxiety and learn to accept and tolerate delay, problems and suffering in a whole new way. We have waited to find out what the latest government advice will be, waited to hear the latest data on the spread of the virus, waited to give our loved ones a hug, to go to the gym again, to go shopping, to get our hair cut and to go back to school. Many, many people across the world have waited anxiously and unhappily to find out whether a sick friend or relative will make a recovery. There has been a lot of talk about the resilience we have all developed during this pandemic, and patience is at the root of that resilience. I think that we all understand now, more than ever, that there are things outside of our control, and things inside of our control. If we can keep our focus on those things we can control – our capacity to keep ourselves positive and to be patient in the face of uncertainty and adversity – we can better support ourselves and those around us.
At St. Helen’s College, children of every age have practised patience in waiting for school to re-open, waiting to be re-connected with friends and teachers and waiting for clubs and sports to resume. For such young pupils, this cannot have been easy. No doubt, as parents, you have found yourselves providing a lot of support and perspective for the younger generation during this time. You, and your children, should feel very proud of your newly expanded capacity for patience and controlling your anxieties and frustrations. Mrs. Drummond has asked me to mention, in particular, our Year 6 children who, this year, have had to cope with uncertainties over whether and when 11+ exams and entry procedures would go ahead. They (and their parents) have then also had to exercise great patience while waiting for results that, in many cases, decided their future paths. We are enormously proud, of course, of their amazing academic achievements and of their success in securing places at the senior schools of their choice. However, we are all equally proud of the patience they have shown, both in persisting in their endeavours in the face of uncertainties, and in managing the inevitable anxieties while waiting for their results. These are truly brave, resilient and patient young men and women, whose personal qualities, as well as their excellent knowledge and skills, make them very well placed for future success at their senior schools and beyond.
We have always lived in an uncertain world, and we always will. Other illnesses, natural disasters, economic problems and accidents will no doubt beset us during our lifetimes. It is our inner qualities that are our biggest defence and protection against these unforeseen difficulties. The main one is no doubt our human capacity for love and kindness, and for building families and communities that support us in troubling times. But second, I think, even above resilience, is our astonishing and ever-developing capacity for patience.
Parents do often know best, so I will give my wonderful mum the last word here. One of her favourite sayings as I was growing up was, ‘Patience is a virtue’. Another was, ‘Virtue is its own reward’. Added together, these proverbs are saying that, if we can cultivate patience, we will be better people and that, in becoming better people, we will improve our own lives as we reap the benefits of our own goodness. That seems to me to be a very good thing.
Mrs. Smith
Posted on: 5/03/2021Weekly News - Friday 5th March
World Book Day
What an amazing day we had yesterday, celebrating World Book Day 2021.
Children from Ducklings to Year 6 dressed up in special clothes to represent our theme of 'magical worlds', and enjoyed thinking about their favourite books and characters.
The children from Ducklings to Year 2 were treated to a wonderful virtual visit from author Emily Gravett. She showed us all around her studio, which included her cute dog Dilys! It was amazing to see how she creates her illustrations, beginning with pencils and paints and then using computers and scanners. We were fascinated to listen to her funny stories and discover how she became such a successful author and illustrator. We also had fun taking part in many book related activities such as a book scavenger hunt and filming our book reviews!
At Upper School, a special assembly led by Mr. Roche told us all about the benefits and joys of reading. We were lucky to have a virtual author visit from Ross Welford. Speaking to the children in Years 3-6, he demonstrated his love of magic and walked the children through writing the first chapter of their very own novel. We hope that they feel inspired to carry on and complete their books!
As part of this special day, children in all year groups were challenged to create their own 'reading den' - a special place, decorated however they like, that they can use anytime for reading. Research shows that reading helps to reduce stress levels, so even a few minutes a day spent in these special places will be a great benefit! The children adopted this task enthusiastically (assisted at home by their parents, we are sure!). You can see some photographs of their wonderful reading dens on the Galleries page.
Don't forget that our virtual book fair is still running until the end of today. You and your children can enjoy browsing a wonderful selection of children’s books in the comfort of your own home and raise money for the school at the same time if you make purchases! 20% of sales will be donated to the school so that we can buy more books for our library and classrooms. The books have been carefully selected to ensure that you can choose from the most recent and most popular titles of the highest quality, as well as some much-loved classics. All you need to do is click this link and get shopping!
https://chilternbookshops.co.uk/primary-school-book-fair/
All orders will be delivered direct to the school (unless you select to collect them from Chorleywood or Gerrards Cross Bookshops).
Happy browsing, happy shopping and many thanks indeed for your support in encouraging your child with their reading and supporting the school's library resources!
A SAFE Return to School
We are all looking forward so much to coming together fully, in person, as a community again from Monday. Ahead of the return to school, we would like to set the children a little challenge, to design an A4 poster relating to our SAFE acronym:
S - stay a sensible/good/2m distance from each other
A- always wash our hands correctly and when we need to
F - free to talk with the adults about how we are feeling
E - enjoy each day together
Pupils should bring their designs to school on Monday and the best designs will be laminated and displayed around the school. Happy creating!
Our school Risk Assessment for Full School Re-Opening has been updated for the return to school on 8th March, and is available for all parents to read on the School Documents page of this website here. It will be updated weekly, with the first review taking place on Monday 8th March.
Wellerman Video
Thank you so much to the children who, inspired by our assembly with the fabulous Radio 1 DJ Chris Stark, have contributed to our school Wellerman video. Mrs. Fawbert had quite a task to put the video together, with so many different instruments being played and people singing and doing actions! She was extremely proud of everyone who contributed. You can see the finished video here.
Miss Joiner
We know that parents will wish to join us in wishing our Owls Reception teacher Miss Joiner well as she embarks on her maternity leave, a little earlier than planned due to the Covid situation. We would like to thank Miss Joiner for all her work with Owls this year in such challenging circumstances, and we wish her well with the rest of her pregnancy. Take care, Miss Joiner, and we will look forward to seeing you back in school with your new addition in due course!
Road Safety Assembly - Petition Success!
Well done to our amazing Junior Road Safety Officers, who gave a confident, informative presentation in assembly on Monday to report back on the action already taken by the local council following the petition that they organised to improved safety around the crossing on Long Lane.
Our school petition asked the council to consider replacing the existing zebra crossing with a pelican crossing. This option is being investigated but, in order to improve safety at the crossing immediately, the council have already installed very, very bright 'zebrites' at the crossing to deter vehicles from travelling too fast towards the crossing.
Representatives from the London Borough of Hillingdon STARS team joined us for this special assembly and were so impressed with the presentation and with the ongoing St. Helen's College commitment to road safety.
Free Asthma Workshops for Parents
Hillingdon Health are running a free asthma workshop for parents on Friday 26th March, from 2 - 3 p.m. This workshop, run by a qualified asthma nurse, will cover inhaler techniques, common triggers, asthma myths and what to do if your child is having an asthma attack. Full details, including how to sign up, can be found by following this link.
Guess The Place
Congratulations to all those who correctly guessed this week's places.
The Lower School place was the Globe Theatre, famous for William Shakespeare's plays, and the following people guessed correctly:
Nursery: Phoebe, Sikhya.
Reception: Dev, Arup.
Year 1: Amara, Millie, Alyssa, Aakash, Shayla, Yuvraj, Armaan, Rania, Riyan, Rohaym.
Year 2: Simar, Evie, Alexia, Aaran, Diya.
The Upper School place was the Albert Docks in Liverpool and the following people guessed correctly:
Year 3: Raiden, Joseph, Aleyna, Grace, Sean, Verity, Tiya, Sarab, Penelope, Hana.
Year 4: Oliver, Myla, Yousra, Karan, Marvin, Dylan, Inaya, Dominic, Xavier, Eshvani, Annie.
Year 5: Riddhi, Natalia, Anokhi, Deven, Diyan, Charlotte, Anjika, Oliver.
Year 6: Zail, Samir.
EasyFundraising for St. Helen's College
If you are not already raising funds for St. Helen's College Development Fund when you shop online, please do consider signing up! It is completely free to you and the school's development fund will receive donations whenever you shop online at many, many retailers.
To sign up, just click the link below to create your account and then download the EasyFundraising app to your mobile phone and/or tablet, and/or allow EasyFundraising to add the donation reminder to any desktop computers you use. Then simply use the app or the online reminder to raise money when you shop online. Many parents and staff are already doing this and, although each donation seems small, if we all remember to use EasyFundraising we will be able to raise a meaningful amount for the Development Fund. We are hoping, gradually, to build a meaningful enough fund that we can then use both to support our school and to support charitable educational projects in less developed countries.
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/sthelencoldevfund/?invite=NX24VZ&referral-campaign=c2s
Many, many thanks to those parents are already signed up and to those who will sign up now! Please don't forget, in particular, to use EasyFundraising for those big ticket items, like hotel/holiday/flight bookings or when you are switching insurance suppliers.
Posted on: 26/02/2021The Power of Empathy by Miss Walker
As we come to the end of National Empathy Week, I thought it would be timely to reflect on the power of empathy and how practising empathy will be so important in supporting our children and each other as we navigate our way through and beyond the pandemic.
Empathy is at the root of compassion, respect, kindness, friendship, consideration and acceptance. It’s different from having sympathy for someone, which means to look at their suffering from the outside and feel sorry or sad for them. Empathy is feeling someone else’s pain or seeing through their eyes. From infancy, human brains are hard-wired for relationships and connection. We crave interactions and authentic connections that give us a sense of belonging. The science of empathy is at the core of emotional intelligence and relationship mastery and it lies within the limbic brain (emotional brain) and prefrontal cortex (rational mind).
By recognising feelings, thinking how and why someone is feeling this way and acting to be there for someone, we can have a huge impact for those who might be finding life challenging at this time. If we can develop our own empathy practice, it will help us connect with people we love and care about—and even handle those challenging situations or difficult people in our lives more gracefully. Children who experience and receive empathy will feel connected, safer and more secure, easing the pain of life's hardships and struggles for them and they will be far more likely to be empathetic themselves. Therefore it is vitally important that we develop our own empathetic practice so that we can model what empathy looks and feels like to our children and support them as they navigate the challenges and feelings they may be encountering.
In assembly this week I shared with the children how stories can be ‘empathy engines’, helping them to see the world through the eyes of others and to walk in their shoes for a time. Connecting to other perspectives can bring greater empathetic understanding. I challenged the children to train their ‘empathy superpower’ by putting on imaginary empathy glasses when they read to really think about how characters might be feeling and why. Reading stories together with your children will help them to build this understanding, equipping them to recognise feelings in themselves and others.
I often see our pupils practising giving and receiving empathy in the playground, whether that be supporting an upset peer on the friendship bench or comforting a friend who has fallen over. They often show empathy too after a sports match when the result has not gone their way and in lessons when someone shares something that has made them sad. We too need to take time to practise developing our empathy superpowers if we are to help support our children and each other. How often as parents, partners or colleagues have we found ourselves responding to those around us by trying to convince them that their situation isn't so bad, telling them you have bigger problems of your own, telling them to ‘buck up’, trying to fix their problem, changing the subject or just not knowing what to say. This is not showing empathy: these responses won’t make someone feel heard or listened to and may result in emotional difficulties remaining unresolved.
So, where to begin? Here are some tips for developing your own empathy practice:
Actively listen. Making eye contact and ensuring distractions such as mobile phones, laptops and TVs don’t prevent you from being present and the other person feeling unseen and unheard by you.
Empty your mind when listening to another person. Avoid letting your mind wander to what is for dinner or responding to a work email.
Don’t be a solution giver, solving someone's problem may seem helpful, but it is not empathetic. Simply accept and understand the feelings the person is experiencing without judging them.
Use supportive phrases such ‘That must have been really hard for you’, ‘You must be feeling very sad right now’, ‘I know what it’s like to feel this way’, ‘My goodness that must have been difficult’, ‘Boy that sounds tough’ or simply ‘I understand’. Empathetic phrases like these will help show that you recognise and understand their feelings and will help them to feel understood and supported.
Empathy for others won’t necessarily lead them to change their behaviour or fix their problem, but it does help you to be present for them and can help both parties, the giver and receiver, better navigate difficult emotions. You will start to recognise signs your empathy is having an impact with others as you start to feel more in sync with one another and an increased connection unfolds, emotions dissipate or recede, your interactions lead to a deeper closeness or understanding of each other, a real and honest conversation develops and people feel more capable because they know they're not alone. Cultivating empathy for others has certainly helped me manage challenges and support those I love and care for better.
I have no doubt we have all faced difficult times this past year, it has taken a huge mental and emotional toll on us all, but I know, instinctively, that we all thrive when we are well in every sense. So I encourage us all to take the time to really listen to each other, take a moment to think about what it would be like to be in another person's shoes and show you appreciate and understand the emotions they feel. By adopting more empathetic approaches in our daily lives, I believe we have the best chance of coming through these most challenging times together and of keeping the genuine well-being and happiness of every member of our school community at our foundation, upon which everything else will be built in the future.
I’ll leave you with this link to a great video from Professor Brene Brown which amusingly explains the difference between sympathy and empathy. https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw.
Enjoy the weekend everyone and may we all keep opening our hearts to let empathy in.
Miss Walker
Posted on: 26/02/2021Weekly News - Friday 26th February 2021
Re-opening: March 8th
We are all delighted that we will be able to re-open to all pupils from Monday 8th March. We will be sending a comprehensive communication to parents next week outlining plans for the return, and with an updated risk assessment, but school operations are likely to be very similar to those we adopted during the autumn term.
All children from Ducklings to Year 6 will be required to attend in school uniform from 8th March onwards. If you need to buy uniform, Pullen's are open for Click & Collect on a Tuesday and Friday from 9.00 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. or you can order online at Uniform4Kids for delivery to your home address. If you experience delays in securing new uniform, and your child does not have suitable, properly fitting uniform to wear, then until their new uniform arrives they should wear their PE kits if they fit, or other plain clothing with trainers suitable for indoor and outdoor use.
National Empathy Week
In assembly this week we highlighted to the children in Years 1 - 6 the importance of developing their 'empathy superpower' to raise awareness of National Empathy Week. The children were encouraged to read stories to help them 'walk in another's shoes' and recognise and understand the feelings of others and emotions they may experience themselves. We have challenged the children to take action when they see someone having a difficult day, whether that be an older relative, a sibling, a parent or their friends and to use their 'empathy superpower' to be there for that person; to ask how they are doing, to listen, to not be distracted and to use magic phrases to show they understand how the person is feeling. Read Ms Walker's inspirational guest Head's blog this week to discover more about the importance of empathy for us all.
Pets And Our Wellbeing Assembly
On Monday, we welcomed Jason Cortis from The Blue Cross to our Year 1-6 virtual assembly, who gave a presentation about Pets And Our Wellbeing. We were even joined online by a few pets from pupil and staff households! We learnt how to take care of pets, how important it is to give them choices, how to ensure their wellbeing and how we can look after our own wellbeing too. Many thanks indeed to The Blue Cross for visiting virtually and delivering this talk. You can find out more about The Blue Cross and their valuable work here: https://www.bluecross.org.uk/
Nicola Cooper
We are terribly sad to pass on the news that a much-loved member of our school community, Nicola Cooper, recently passed away after living with cancer for many years. Nicola's daughter, Amanda Cooper, is currently the class teacher of 1C.
Nicola was a familiar face at our Lower School for over 20 years, and made a tremendous and very positive impact on countless children and their families. She was also an enormously valued colleague and friend to those with whom she worked. Rarely without a smile on her face, she found the joy in every situation and she had a natural desire to make life happier for all those around her. She was kind, thoughtful, selfless and, true to herself and the St. Helen's College spirit, she put family at the heart of everything she did.
Nicola's family have chosen, in her memory, to support the new Maternity Bereavement Suite at Hillingdon Hospital. Kit's Cause was a charity created after family friend Rachael and her partner Alex lost their son at 30 weeks in September 2019. The charity raised £15,000 for the new maternity bereavement suite at Hillingdon Hospital. This cause was very close to Nicola’s heart. Although very ill herself battling cancer, Nicola most recently still helped their fundraising efforts by knitting Easter chicks. This space is so important because, at the moment, mums who lose their baby have to give birth on the labour wards surrounded by other happy families. This fundraising for a separate private space is so important for families to feel safe and spend time with their babies.
If you would like to make a donation in Nicola Cooper’s memory, you can do so here:
https://www.love2donate.co.uk//inmemory/identify_name.php?currentpage=1&chosen=39540&adstate=Y
Rest in peace, Nicola.
Baby News!
Huge congratulations to Mrs. Neri and her family, who welcomed a son on 11th February at 2.31 a.m., weighing 8lbs. He was 2 weeks overdue and they have named him Harrison Peter James Heggie. As you can see, the latest addition to the St. Helen's College family is beautiful! We are looking forward to meeting him in due course.
World Book Day
On Thursday 4th March we will be celebrating World Book Day. This year's theme is 'Stories Set in Imaginary Worlds'. The children may wish to raid their dressing-up boxes for outfits and/or accessories to match this magical theme, which they should wear during their sessions at home or at school on the day.
Acclaimed children's author Ross Welford will be speaking with the children in Years 3 - 6 and the children in Nursery - Year 2 will be treated to a talk from the fantastic author and illustrator, Emily Gravett.
Details on how to order books for the children, and how to take part in our online book fair, have been sent out via SchoolsBuddy.
We are all looking forward to an exciting and educational day on Thursday and we thank you in advance for your support of the day.
Guess the Place
Well done to everyone who had a go at guessing where our places were this week. The Upper School place was the spectacular Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Many people correctly guessed the Giant's Causeway but only Aiden, Raiden, Penelope, Sean, Joseph, Grace and Tiya in Year 3, Marvin and Eshanvi in Year 4, Anjika, Oliver and Charlotte in Year 5 and Ben in Year 6 correctly placed it in Northern Ireland too.
The Lower School place last week was St. Paul's Cathedral. Congratulations to Simar, Ayush, Alexander, Riya Skye, Simrina, Evie, Alexia, Brendan and Aanya in Year 2, Alyssa, Thomas, Millie, Aakash, Riyan, Shayna, Aran, Armaan, Ella, Amara and Yuvraj in Year 1, Aaria, Aarav and Ivaan from Kingfishers, Grace and Sikhya from Robins, Arup, Arya and Eliana from Owls and Phoebe from Wrens all of whom got it right!
Parent Practice - Free 'The Big Return' Webinar
Many parents have attended talks given by Elaine Halligan of The Parent Practice here at school in the past. Some have also gone on to attend some of her online webinars.
Elaine is running a free webinar on Wednesday 3rd March (next week) from 8-9 p.m., helping to support parents as you prepare your children for the return to in-person education. If you would like to join, please click the link below for further information and to register.
FREE WEBINAR : The Big Return - preparing your children for starting (teachable.com)
Reminder: Hillingdon STARS Road Safety Competitions
The STARS Team at Hillingdon Borough Council are currently running two Road Safety Competitions.
Full details and downloadable entry forms are contained within the links below. All entries should be emailed to the STARS team by Monday 1st March which will also allow some time after the half term to enter.
KS1 Road Safety Story Book Competition (Early Years and Years 1 & 2)
The children should draw pictures to go with the pages of our new road safety book called "Captain Safety!". They can enter drawings for as many pages as they like.
KS1 Road Safety Story Book Competition.pdf
KS2 Road Safety Invention Design Competition (Years 3 - 6)
The children should come up with a new "Road Safety Invention" which could make our roads safer. They should draw the design as well as explain how the road safety invention would work and how it makes our roads safer.
KS2 Road Safety Invention Competition.pdf
All winners will be announced and contacted in March. We hope the children will have fun creating their entries!
PA Forum Meeting
We have moved the date of the next PA Forum meeting from 10th March to 24th March, to give us all time to re-adjust to the return to school before we meet. Parents are encouraged to wait until the children have been back at school for at least one full week before sending points onto class representatives. Class reps should send points for dicussion to Mrs. Smith by Monday 22nd March at the very latest please: susmith@sthelenscollege.com. We will send reminders nearer the time.
Posted on: 12/02/2021Weekly News - Friday 12th February
Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day Celebrations
It was wonderful to see so many of the children and staff dressed in red to celebrate both Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day during our Upper School assembly this morning. Many thanks indeed to Ashvika A, Eshan N and Viren C who provided musical performances on piano and violin and a special thank you to Ruby L and Joleen Z, who gave very informative and confident presentations about Chinese New Year, and to Jacob N and David W, who prepared presentations and videos to be shared with the classes in school too.
Internet Safety Day and Safe Remote Teaching Accreditation!
This week, children have been reminded about the importance of staying safe online. We would like to remind parents that there are some very useful resources available to you at National Online Safety to support you in keeping your children safe on the internet. You can even register here as a St Helen's College parent and complete short training modules, and there is a useful 'top ten tips for keeping children safe' guide available here.
We are also delighted to announce that St. Helen's College has been awarded the National Online Safety Safe Remote Education Accreditation, which recognises that the school has successfully completed a comprehensive remote education training programme, demonstrating our commitment to providing high quality remote education, keeping children and young people safe online and supporting pupil wellbeing.
The accreditation rewards our carefully planned and successful approach towards safeguarding children and supporting pupil wellbeing during remote teaching and learning.
National Online Safety is a multi-award winning digital training provider with extensive resources in online safety, developed in line with the Department of Education’s statutory requirements.
NextGen Enterprise Success
Riya C, Manisher L and Zara B (Year 6) have joined Next Gen Enterprise, and are undertaking a series of online instructor-led courses which aim to inspire and develop next generation talent. The girls have already completed the bronze level award where they successfully investigated, discussed successful businesses and brands, and then pitched their business concept in front of a live virtual panel which included successful entrepreneurs who asked questions and provided feedback. This gave them a very good insight into building a successful business and has also given a boost to their collaboration, discussion, creativity, and presentation skills.
The girls are currently in their last week of the silver award, where they have learnt about key roles within a business, e.g. sales, marketing, HR. This Sunday they are looking forward to presenting their business model via video meeting to a panel of judges and other students.
Well done girls, and many thanks for bringing this company to the school's attention. We are currently exploring ways in which we might work together to offer similar courses through the school's co-curricular programme, so watch this space! In the meantime, if any parent or pupil would like to find out more, you can take a look at the NextGen Enterprise prospectus here.
Crossing Petition Success
Last term, following a couple of 'near misses' on the Long Lane zebra crossing between Lower School and Upper School, our Year 6 Junior Road Safety Officers were determined to take action and try to reduce the speed of cars on Long Lane to make the crossing safer for our pupils, staff and parents as well as for the local community. They decided to petition the local council for a safer 'Pelican' crossing to be installed. They wrote a very persuasive letter to the local councillors and gathered support from fellow pupils by collecting names on a pupil petition. This was then supported by a staff petition and letter from Mrs. Drummond too.
All the information was submitted through the council's Democratic Services for consideration. On Wednesday this week, Mrs. Drummond and Miss Walker attended a virtual council meeting where the petition was considered. The councillors were very impressed by our JRSO submission, which made a compelling case, and the strong partnership the school has developed with the council's Road Safety and STARS team over recent years. We are absolutely delighted to announce there was unanimous support from all of the councillors attending the meeting for the installation of immediate safety improvement measures on and around the crossing on Long Lane and a commitment to pursuing the installation of a pelican crossing with Transport for London over the coming year.
As a measure of the council's support and undertaking to improve safety for the St. Helen's College community, they have acted swiftly, installing brighter, more eye catching 'Zebrite' beacons on the crossing today, within 48 hours! Over the coming weeks we will be working with the Road Safety team on their proposed installation of the 'Vehicular Activated Signs' this summer. These activate when vehicles are approaching a crossing at speed and highlight a school is nearby, so they should certainly help to reduce the speed of traffic around our school sites.
We will be working in partnership with councillors and the Road Safety team over the coming months to secure Transport for London approval for the installation of a pelican crossing and we will keep you updated on the progress of this. It is a credit to our pupils that they led the way on this road safety action project. Their understanding of the British value of democracy and the mechanisms for having a voice in local democracy were the catalysts for this significant achievement, which we know will improve the lives and safety of our whole school community. Many congratulations to our JRSO team: Jena, Fredericka, Jessica, Vidhit, Samir, Manisher and Georgia.
Guess the Place
It has been another exciting week trying to Guess our Places in our photo challenges. Many congratulations to the 32 children from Lower School and Year 2, who correctly guessed their place was the The Penguin Pool at London Zoo. Many of you mentioned you had been there - let's hope we will be able to visit all the animals again soon.
The Year 3 - 6 photo was a little more challenging this week. Some people guessed it was Oxford, 45 people correctly guessed it was Oxford University but well done to our super geography detectives this week who guessed it was All Souls College, Oxford. These were Tiya, Aleyna, Sean and Joseph in Year 3, Poppy in Year 4 and Anjika in Year 5. There will be half term Guess the Place photos posted later today so you can all keep exploring parts of London and the UK.
London Youth Games Virtual Competition
Many of our Year 3 - 6 pupils have continued to take part in the London Youth Games virtual fitness challenges this term. Last week they took part in a Jumping Jacks challenge and this week they have competed in the Shuttle Run challenge. Through their efforts and those of pupils in other Hillingdon schools, the borough team is creeping up the London Youth Games leader board.
We are delighted to award some of our pupils with a special London Youth Games Fitness Challenge certificate for participating in all four challenges this term. Many congratulations to Anika, Riya S and Hana in Year 3, Anjika, Sahib, David and Riddhi in Year 5 and Samir and Pavitar in Year 6. The challenges will continue after half term, when we hope to see even more pupils taking part.
Special Pet Assembly
On Monday 22nd February at 8.30 a.m. we will be joined by a special guest from the Blue Cross organisation in our special assembly for Years 1 - 6. Be sure to join us with your pets if you have any to find out how to look after pets and t consider 'pets and our wellbeing', a reminder of the things humans and animals all need to stay healthy and happy.
Ducklings/Nursery/Reception Parents' Evenings
Video consultations for parents of Ducklings, Nursery and Reception parents will take place on Thursday 4th March and Tuesday 9th March. Bookings will open at 3 p.m. today. Please follow the link below to book your appointment. Appointments are allocated on a first come, first served basis.
https://sthelens.schoolcloud.co.uk/
Ducklings Entry - September 2021
We now have just a few places left for Ducklings entry in September 2021. If you have any friends or family with a child who was born between 01.09.18 and 31.08.19, please let them know that they will need to register their child as soon as possible now in order to be considered for entry.
Online Open Morning - Friday 26th February 2021 at 10.00 a.m.
Under the present restrictions, we are sadly still unable to show prospective parents around at the school. At the end of the first week back after half term, we will be holding our next Online Open Morning for prospective parents. If you have any friends or family who might be interested in St. Helen's College for their child/ren, please do encourage them to register for this virtual open morning and attend on Friday 26th, to find out all about the school. Mrs. Drummond, Mrs. Hunt and Mrs. Smith will be hosting the event. The registration link is here - please do share far and wide - many thanks indeed for your support!
Speech Competition
This week the children have been given their pieces for this year's Speech Competition. It will be an online event again this year and another opportunity for the children to hone their public speaking and performance skills.
The first rounds of the competition will take place in the week after the half-term break with the junior (Year 1-3) and senior (Year 4-6) finals taking place on Monday, March 22nd. Form teachers will give out more information as the competition progresses. The judging criteria are: expression, projection and clarity. The entries will be performed live (with the exception of the final) and should not be accompanied by gestures or choreography.
It is always a fun and exciting event on the St. Helen's College calendar and we are sure that we will be blown away by another raft of impressive performances again this year. Good luck to all the children - have fun learning and reciting your pieces!
Perform Half Term Drama Workshops
Perform, who visit St. Helen's College regularly to deliver workshops for children, are running February half term drama workshops online for Reception to Year 6 aged children.
For one hour each day, Perform's warm and friendly team of theatre professionals will inspire and encourage the children as they combine drama, dance and singing into a magical experience. They'll encourage them to project their voices, learn energetic dance routines, sing catchy songs and develop the Perform 4 Cs: Confidence, Concentration, Communication and Coordination. The course costs £60 for the 5 days.
If you are interested, you can read all about the classes and sign up here: https://www.perform.org.uk/classes-courses/holiday-courses/fe2021.
Hillingdon STARS Road Safety Competitions
The STARS Team at Hillingdon Borough Council will be running two Road Safety Competitions over the February half term.
Full details and downloadable entry forms are contained within the links below. All entries should be emailed to the STARS team by Monday 1st March which will also allow some time after the half term to enter.
KS1 Road Safety Story Book Competition (Early Years and Years 1 & 2)
The children should draw pictures to go with the pages of our new road safety book called "Captain Safety!". They can enter drawings for as many pages as they like.
KS1 Road Safety Story Book Competition.pdf
KS2 Road Safety Invention Design Competition (Years 3 - 6)
The children should come up with a new "Road Safety Invention" which could make our roads safer. They should draw the design as well as explain how the road safety invention would work and how it makes our roads safer.
KS2 Road Safety Invention Competition.pdf
All winners will be announced and contacted in March. We hope the children will have fun creating their entries!
Colne Valley Art Competition
Budding young artists might also like to take part in the Colne Valley Park Art Competition. The theme of the competition is: My visit to the Colne Valley Park. The Colne Valley Park stretches from Rickmansworth in the north to Staines and the Thames in the south, and from Uxbridge and Heathrow in the east to Slough and Chalfont St Peter in the west. Children's artwork can be of anywhere in the Colne Valley Park or something they like doing when they visit the Colne Valley Park. There are two age groups categories:
Ages 7-9 years
Ages 10-12 years
Each participant must live in or near the Colne Valley Regional Park. Only one entry per child can be submitted. Artwork must be between A4 and A3 in size and children may use any type of art, household or natural materials. There are prizes including:
£50 art voucher for first prize from each age group category
£40 art voucher second prize from each age group category
£30 art voucher third prize from each age group category
In addition, all entries will be displayed in the exhibition gallery on the Colne Valley Park website.
How to submit entries:
Take a photo of artwork
Email photo to Artcompetition@groundwork.org.uk with Subject TASGX Children’s Art Competition
Please include details of where you live – town, village, suburb, whether in the Colne Valley Park or near it (this will not be included in Gallery credit)
Provide the following information to be included in the Gallery Exhibition
First name of artist
Age of artist
Location of visit
Why did you choose this visit
Full details can be found here.
Competition winners will be notified at the end of April 2021 via email...happy creating!
Oak Farm Library
Oak Farm Library has recently undergone a refurbishment and is now back open to the public. This is a fantastic local resource and we urge all parents to make use of the library regularly with your children, to support and encourage a love of reading.
The library is open Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and Saturday from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. (closed for lunch from 1.00 - 2.00 p.m.). Due to the current lockdown restrictions, it is operating as a closed door, reserve and collect service. The library's many wider resources/services include:
Reserve and Collect - parents and children are still able to search and reserve books, either online or by telephoning the branch. Staff will then contact readers when their books are available for collection. All returned books are quarantined for 72 hours and collection takes place at the front door to maintain safe distancing. Not yet a member? You can always join up here.
Follow the library on social media - keep up to date with events and service updates on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram. The library is currently running a packed events programme for Heart Month to promote mental and physical wellbeing in the community.
Bookstart - parents and families can still collect Book Start baby packs (babies up to 1 years) and Treasure Packs (3 years +) at the front of the library.
Tiny Tales (online children's Storytime's) - the library continues to deliver several online Storytimes a week. This is a great way for children to stay in touch and have fun during lockdown.
Reading Well - a collection of books specifically designed to support residents into improved wellbeing.
There are also dozens of Online Resources which can be accessed from home by all LBH library members:
Borrowbox - thousands of e-books and audiobook titles for parents and children to enjoy, on your own devices at home. All you need to do is access Borrowbox through the Hillingdon Libraries website and create an account using your library card number. Once you've created an account you can then download the app on your preferred device and start borrowing.
RB Digital - an expansive collection of digital magazines, audio books, and ebooks awaits you! Whether you are on the go or at home, there are plenty to enjoy.
Ziptales - a place for children to enjoy a wealth of interactive stories, lessons, and fun activities, from Nursery age to Key Stage 2.
Brittanica Junior - A fantastic place for young curious minds to explore the world around them, for fun or educational reasons.
Brittanica Student - A curriculum guided encyclopaedia tailored especially for enquiring secondary school age children.
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