Weekly News - Friday 26th May 2023

Year 6 Residential Trip to Chateau De La Baudonniere, France

Our Year 6 classes have had a wonderful week in Normandy staying at the Chateau De La Baudonniere. After a good ferry crossing and coach transfer, they soon settled into their immersive week of French. They have enjoyed meeting their pen pals, visiting a local market and creperie, taking a trip to Mont St Michel and undertaking all sorts of fun activities at the Chateau itself. They return tired and happy today!

With the Year 6 children away, our Year 5 pupils have had a taste of what it will be like next year to be the oldest classes in the school. They rose to the challenge admirably, setting a great example for the younger children.

Year 4 Residential Trip To Flatford Mill, Suffolk

Our Year 4 children spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on their residential trip to the beautiful Flatford Mill in Constable Country. They undertook geographical and artistic studies, spent plenty of time with nature and certainly developed their independence and cemented their friendships.

JTA Trip To The Oval, Kennington

On Monday, our eager Junior Travel Ambassadors travelled by tube to Oval in Kennington to attend the TfL STARS Top School Awards.

The day included two interactive sessions that aimed to celebrate and inspire students. In the first session, "Ambassadors for Change", the children were asked to create a poem that would influence parents and students to choose active travel and to campaign for changes to our local streets. They explored the language and techniques of poetry and how to use their voices and words to communicate with their community on sustainability.

The second session focused on "Planning your World" and the children were challenged to become urban designers. They designed a street that met the needs of different people and vehicles, that was safe, improved air quality and encouraged and supported local wildlife. The St. Helen's College JTAs got really involved in these sessions and produced some great ideas.

The most exciting part of the day was the awards ceremony and St. Helen's College won the TfL Top Influencers Award for the West London region which is a huge achievement.  Many congratulations to the JTAs for their hard work and commitment.

Wrens Class Assembly

Thursday saw the Wrens Nursery class perform their final class assembly of the year to a group of excited parents and staff. The children told us the story of 'Billy No Buzz', a bee who was rejected by the other mini-beasts because he was different. In the end, the animals learned to accept Billy for who he was and understood the importance of respecting each other's differences and of offering friendship. Watching the children it was hard to believe that they are just three and four years old. They spoke lines with confidence and from memory, sang loudly and tunefully and even performed many actions along the way. This was a colourful, uplifting assembly and was very much enjoyed by all who watched. Well done Wrens and a special thank you to Rylo S who stepped in at the last minute to take on the role of Billy No Buzz due to a friend's illness. What an amazing thing to be able to do at such a young age!

Bikeability

Before setting off for France, the Year 6 children had their final Bikeability session last Saturday. Bikeability is the government’s national cycle training programme which helps children learn practical skills and understand how to cycle on today’s roads. 

Bikeability cycle training equips children with vital life skills. Pupils not only learn to cycle, they gain independence, social skills and a sense of wellbeing. After Bikeability, children are better at responding to risk and report increased confidence. As a result, more children cycle to school which in turn improves mental health and wellbeing.

Well done to the children who completed their cycle training!

Calendar Reminders

Next week is half term and we wish you all a happy break! Please encourage your children to rest and recharge ahead of what will be a very busy second half of term.

On Tuesday 6th June, all classes from Ducklings to Year 6 will be having their class photographs taken. Children should all be in full, smart summer uniform with long hair neatly braided/tied back please.

On Wednesday 7th June at 6.30 p.m. there will be a senior school transfer evening for Year 5 parents in the Evans Hall. 

Pre-Prep Sports Day will take place on Thursday 8th June in Court Park. Year 1 and 2 classes will have their Sports Day in the morning with Nursery and Reception taking part in the afternoon. Full details will be sent by class teachers.

Our Singers' Concert will be on Monday 12th June at 7.00 p.m. at All Saints Church. We hope many of you will be able to join us for the evening.

The Kingfishers coffee morning and class assembly will take place on Thursday 15th June in the Lower School Hall.

Also on Thursday 15th June we have a Year 3 - 6 author visit. Details were circulated last week and are copied below. Don't forget to pre-order your child's book for signing if you would like to buy a copy.

Author Visit

On Thursday 15th June, author Nazneen Ahmed Pathak will be visiting us to speak to the children in Years 3-6 about her book City of Stolen Magic and to answer their questions about being an author and the writing process. We are sure this will be very inspiring for our children.

There will also be an opportunity for the children to buy a signed copy of City of Stolen Magic. If you would like to pre-order a copy of the book ready to be signed and dedicated at school on the day, please click the link below and place your order through Chiltern Bookshops by 5 p.m. on Wednesday 14th June. Please note that only books purchased through this link will be signed and dedicated on the day. All orders will be delivered free to St. Helen's College.

https://schools.chilternbookshops.co.uk/events/nazneen-ahmed-pathak-15th-june/ 

News From The Library

It has been a busy half term in the library. It was great to see four children in Year 3 being awarded with a variety of reading challenges in assembly today; Aria and Avleen (3M) and Dhani and Reyan (3B) had their impressive reading achievements recognised with 5 points for their houses. Their awards recognise the very positive attitudes to reading they are developing, consistently reading from a range of styles and authors. Well done Year 3!

Hillingdon boasts excellent libraries in convenient locations, all with comfortable children's areas, welcoming all ages. Complete with cafes and magazines available for the grown ups it's an excellent choice for half term!  Enjoying time in a library helps children learn the independent skills of browsing and exploring, as well as provide an opportunity to choose and discuss books with each other. 

For more info on finding your library and to discover the online services too click here.

At this time of year our School Library is starting to plan for the next injection of fresh books. Please would all parents - especially in Year 6 - assist by being aware of books that may have been overlooked at home or even in the depths of school bags! A growing number are mislaid or damaged each term which need to be replaced. We would obviously prefer to add additional books to the library rather than replacements, and so a charge may need to be made in some circumstances. 

Message From The 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 24 June 2023
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 College 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.

You will have received information from your class rep about the stall that your class will be running this year and the donation that we would really be grateful for from your class. You will also have a link to the rota so that you can sign up to help run your class stall - we cannot run the stalls without the help of parents. We rely on parents' help for the fete, so please let us know if you can lend a hand with other things like the set up in the morning (we'll be starting at about 8 a.m.). Even half an hour to help with set up would be greatly appreciated.  We would love to have you on board.    

We would also be really grateful for donations of the following (NO BOOKS PLEASE)

• New, nearly new or good condition toys including teddies - for the teddy / toy tombola
• Good condition used / new school uniform – for the uniform stall
• New items or unwanted gifts - for the tombola
• Cakes, pastries and biscuits - for the cake stall
• 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.  

We run a tuck shop where we sell drinks, popcorn, sweets, ice pops and crisps. If you own a shop or can get reduced/discounted rates, we’d love to hear from you!

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 is really enjoyed by the children and the whole St. Helen's College community. Contact us at 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!

Half Term Chess Club

Uxbridge Junior Chess Club are running a three day half term camp for children which may be of interest to some pupils. Mr. Foale, who runs the St. Helen's College Chess Clubs, will be amongst the staff leading the camp. You can find full details including timings, daily programmes and booking information here.