School News and Head's Blog

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Posted on: 12/07/2019

Weekly News - Friday 12th July 2019

Romeo and Juliet What amazing performances our Year 6 children gave last week when they presented their grand musical performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at The Compass Theatre, Ickenham. Without exception, the pupils rose to the challenges of acting, dancing, inhabiting characters and delivering lots of dialogue with real sophistication, empathy and humour. We are very proud of them all and know that they will remember these performances for a lifetime. You can see lots more photographs of the production on the Galleries page.   St. Helen's Day 2019 We enjoyed celebrating St. Helen's Day on Wednesday in many ways. Upper School pupils gathered in the Windsor Garden for an afternoon assembly, led by Mr. and Mrs. Crehan. Mrs. Crehan spoke to the children about why we celebrate this special day, and about the history of the school, before Mr. Crehan shared the story of St. Helen herself with the children. We finished by singing the St. Helen song and, finally, the school song, 'St. Helen's College For Evermore!'. Mrs. Crehan taught all of the Upper School children how to sing the harmony in the final chorus too! In the evening, we held a drinks reception for our leaving Year 6 parents and parents who have contributed to the school as members of the PA committee or as class reps this year. We were also joined by staff, ex-staff and some of our alumni to celebrate all that makes our school such a unique and happy place. Miss Dear has made a lovely montage entitled 'A Year In The Life of St. Helen's College', which you can see by following this link: https://animoto.com/play/9kg8hg59p9ycuaxX3m0SJQ   Year 6 Projects What an incredible array of independent projects by our Year 6 children were on display on Thursday morning. You can see photographs of some of the projects on our Galleries page.  Music Personality of the Term Congratulations to Aarna A, who has been recognised for her outstanding effort, commitment, dedication and achievement within the music department by being awarded Music Personality of the Term. Aarna has always worked conscientiously and demonstrated enormous enthusiasm over several years, in all aspects of music at St Helen’s College. She has excellent music skills and applies and shares creative ideas successfully in class work, as well as being an excellent role model within the music department.  She has been a regular member of the Junior and Senior Choirs and has recently become a member of the Chamber Choir. Aarna plays the recorder fluently and with an enriched tone, and plays with the Recorder Club. She has also been a loyal member of the school orchestra over the last two years. Aarna has exceptional musical talent. She has recently achieved her Grade 5 theory exam and plays the flute to Grade 6 level. Her most recent achievement has been to play with a band of musicians from the Hillingdon Hub at London’s Cadogan Hall. Very well done, Aarna! Sports Personality of the Term Many congratulations to Hebe E, who has been named the Sports Personality of the summer term. Hebe has represented the school in many sports and always works hard to contribute to team success. She was a part of the athletics team who won bronze medals at District Sports and the tennis team who represented Hillingdon at the London Youth Games School Games finals this term. She regularly competes in regional competitions in the South of England and has achieved personal best times in four sprint events this season. Hebe has also shown great resilience in dealing with injury this term and should be commended for her perseverance and determination. Well done, Hebe!   Minimus Mythology Competition 2019 Well done to all who took part in the Mythology Competition recently and in particular to Ridhima M, who won second prize nationally for her beautiful pop-up book representation of the story of King Midas! Ridhima was commended by the judges for her excellent use of colour and detail and for the sophisticated vocabulary used in her narrative. Congratulations also go to Uma D who, although not awarded a major prize, was commended for her use of music and lyrics in the original song she wrote and recorded for the competition.   Year 1 Trip to Mad Bess Woods (Mrs. Hunt's house!) The weather was very kind to Year 1 on Thursday as they visited Mrs. Hunt's house and the surrounding woodland and carried out some scientific exploration in beautiful surroundings. This is always a highlight of the Year 1 programme and this year's trip did not disappoint!       Nursery End of Year Summer Party Our Nursery children enjoyed an end of year summer party this week to celebrate the end of a very successful Nursery year! We look forward to welcoming them back in their blazers as they join Reception in September.       Sports News The Championships Wimbledon  On Monday the Year 5 and 6 tennis team who won the Borough tennis competition and reached the London Youth Games finals earlier this term had a wonderful day at The Championships, Wimbledon. They toured the grounds, visited centre court and court No 1, sat on Henman Hill, watched some great tennis on Court No 2 and even sampled some strawberries and cream. Our keen tennis players thoroughly enjoyed themselves and developed their understanding and appreciation of tennis greatly, becoming experts who even got interviewed by Radio Wimbledon!   The Championships St. Helen's College! On Tuesday the finals of the school tennis championships took place with pupils from Year 3 to Y6 taking part. The tennis was of a good standard and all the matches were close and very exciting to watch. Well done to everyone who reached the finals having played many matches to get their against their peers and many congratulations to our 2019 champions. There are photographs on the Galleries page. The winners were: Year 3 Winner: Luka K,  Runner Up Rivan K  Winner Layla  O, Runner Up Amber P Year 4 Winner Samir H, Runner Up Arsal S Winner Fredericka,  Runner Up Amar C Year 5 Winner Patrick E, Runner Up Daniel G-J Winner Catherine L, Runner Up Krisha S Year 6 Winner Rishi S-P, Runner Up Alex S Winner Aaria K, Runner Up Tamara A  Cricket  Following the bad weather in June and the cancellation of the borough cricket competition this year, a friendly match was organised against Oak Farm School on Wednesday. The children have been inspired by the World Cup currently being played and showed some great play. Well done to all those involved: Adi S, Rishi S-P, Anish A, Keaton P, Daniel G-J, Sulaiman M, Arsal S, Aditya S, Vidhit N and Krishav P. Staff v Pupils Annual Rounders Challenge This year's Staff v. Pupils rounders event was keenly contested, with our Year 5 and 6 teams buoyant from their recent success in the district tournament. The staff team limbered up without injuring themselves and were then ready to take on the pupils. The staff team played the B team first and won 8.5 rounders to 4.5 rounders. However, with some impressive fielding and magnificent striking of the ball, the A team were able to turn the tables to beat the staff team 9.5 rounders to 4. This was the first time the pupils had won in several years, much to the delight of all the pupils watching and cheering on! The games were all played in a very good spirit and it was a fantastic way to finish the sporting year at school.   Pupil Leadership Team Many thanks to our retiring Pupil Leadership Team, who have done an outstanding job over the year. We are delighted to announce the new Pupil Leadership Team who will be in post from September: Head Girl - Catherine L Head Boy - Anish A Deputy Head Girl - Ridhima M Deputy Head Boy - Ciaran R STEAM Day 2019 We are delighted to announce that our annual STEAM Day, which focuses on being creative and collaborative learners, is to be held on Friday 20th September this year.  It really was a wonderful day last year, and one that which was made even better by the high levels of parental involvement. Therefore, we are asking once again for any volunteers who may wish to assist with an activity on the day, or, better still, run their own workshop for the day. Part of what makes St. Helen's College so special is the high levels of parental involvement, so please do offer to help if you can by emailing Mr. Tovell directly at dtovell@sthelenscollege.com (for Upper School) or Mrs. Hunt at lhunt@sthelenscollege.com (for Lower School). Relay for Life We would like to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already donated to our fundraising efforts for Cancer Research Relay for Life, and to all those who have contributed to all the fundraising events in school. The children particularly enjoyed soaking their teachers at both Upper and Lower School! If anyone would still like to join our team or make a donation, you can do so by following this link. Our team name is St. Helen's College. The St. Helen's College team will also be running a raffle at the Cancer Research Relay for Life and would appreciate any raffle prizes you or your company may be able to donate. Any prizes would be most welcome indeed and we are particularly hoping that we may be able to offer experiences, restaurant vouchers etc. as grand prizes! If you are able to donate something please email Mrs. McLaughlin directly at pmclaughlin@sthelenscollege.com.   Funtasia Lower School Party The children attending Funtasia at Lower School on Tuesday had a party to say goodbye to the Year 1 children who will be moving across to Upper School to join Year 2 in September. Chef Soula kindly provided pizza and the children brought their own clothes and had LOTS of fun!         Staff Achievements Congratulations to Mr. Bustard for completing his first year as a newly qualified teacher - It has been wonderful to have a homegrown teacher here at St. Helen's College.  Congratulations also to Mr. Dyson who has been working incredibly hard this year to achieve the Level 5 Certificate in Primary PE Leadership.  Message from the PA The PA would like to wish the Year 6 leavers the best of luck in their transition to senior school. We are certain that they will thrive following the strong foundations set at St. Helen's. As a farewell, the PA provided bespoke hoodies for all the leavers and a cake to be enjoyed by all! We wish you all the best in your new adventures.       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. MultiSports Summer Camps Wayfarers Tennis Club are hosting Multisports camps over the summer. If you are interested, you can find full details on their flyer here. Basketball Summer Camp Thames Valley Cavaliers are running a summer basketball camp at Uxbridge College from 29th July to 1st August. If you are interested in your child attending, you can find full details on their flyer here. Uniform/Equipment List, Menu and Co-Curricular Bookings - Autumn Term 2019 Please note that the updated uniform/equipment list and lunch menu for next term have now been published to the School Documents page of the website. Please do take the opportunity over the summer to ensure that your child has all of the required uniform and equipment for the forthcoming academic year, and to look at the lunch menu with them. Bookings for Co-Curricular clubs for the Autumn term will open when we return to school in September and clubs will be bookable, as usual, via your SchoolsBuddy account. 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, Funtasia 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.
Posted on: 5/07/2019

Celebrating Success - Head's Blog

Celebrating success is something which I do think we can be quite modest about  here at St. Helen’s College. I often pick up educational publications and read about what is happening in other Prep Schools and think to myself - well we have been doing that for years...it’s just part of what we are known for! Perhaps the reason that we are  not ‘blowing our trumpets’ in publications is that our teachers are just so busy with the most important thing of all and that is working with your children to support them in their learning. I would like to offer you this list below to take your pick from - what interests you? History of Cricket Powerpoint Music Website, songs Showcasing My Art Book Fermat's Last Theorem Website, quiz, timeline and video William Shakespeare Website,model, quiz and playscript 5 mass extinctions Website, papier mache Gymnastics Website,quiz and photo album Architecture around the World Website, photos, Lego The Cold War Model, quiz and website The History and Techniques of Basketball Website and video The History Of Walt Disney Powerpoint Turtles Short edit and Powerpoint Women in Science Models, information and books Art Tutorials (human faces and features) Website, video Inspirational Women Powerpoint, quiz, books Coral Reefs Powerpoint and model The History/Present day of the BAPS London Mandir Book, video a quiz Dreams and Phobias Website  Planes   The Evolution of technology Website, model and video (stop motion), also pictures Sharks A lot of writing and a few videos The History of Video Games  the history of popular video games through the past and present History of Code History of code, code now and I will make a game using Fuze LEGO Website with Lego movie, quiz and model Python Bootcamp On-screen recording software and website The History of Consoles Website, video, quiz History of Fifa Powerpoint Glaciers Powerpoint/model WW2 Website and art The Universe and Discoveries Inside It Website with video The Life of Alexander Hamilton Video, Powerpoint Tsunamis Website and model Pokemon Papier mache model Rugby Website containing video Star Wars Website and model The History of Disney Website The History of Mcdonalds Website History of clothing Board The History of Animation Website, video (an animation) PCs and how they are made Website The History of Marvel Website The Gulf War:1990-1991 Website, poster with pictures and quiz Running Clothes Website, model of human in running clothes You may well be wondering why I have shared this list with you!  Well now I AM blowing our trumpet...this is the vast array of projects which our current Year 6 pupils have been working on this half term and how they will present them. They are topics chosen entirely by the pupils themselves because they have a passion for or interest in the subject. They will be presenting their projects to their parents and the pupils and staff next week as the culmination of their learning at St. Helen’s College, after they have delivered their Year 6 production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Compass Theatre.   I cannot express how proud I am as the Head Teacher to be able to learn from our pupils about subjects I may not be familiar with. I am so enthused by the dedication and commitment of our pupils as they utilise all the skills which they have learnt over the years to present to an audience on a subject they have a genuine interest in.  As we enter our last week of this academic year I truly am in awe of all of your children - their achievements and success in so many areas of learning are outstanding. Parents from Year 1 to 6 will receive your children’s reports next week; our EYFS parents have already received theirs.  Enjoy reading them - use them to celebrate your children’s successes but also to empower them to keep striving to be their very best - to keep developing their ‘Habits of Learning’. These ‘habits’ when truly established and secure will give them such a great platform to achieve their dreams! Mrs. Drummond  
Posted on: 5/07/2019

Weekly 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:​ 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/  

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