School News and Head's Blog
Posted on: 2/10/2020Weekly News - Friday 2nd October 2020
Harvest Assembly
Thank you to our Year 5 pupils who today reminded us of the significance of Harvest Festival, performing a remote assembly with an important message. Sadly we are not accepting physical donations for Harvest this year, but we know that many parents, pupils and staff would like to make a donation as usual. Hillingdon has a website for Food Banks which highlights where to donate food and when:
https://hillingdon.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
Chamber Choir
It was wonderful to have the re-launch of Chamber Choir today, with our Year 6 pupils singing in their separate bubble groups.
Prizegiving
Covid-19 restrictions mean that we will not be able to hold our normal Prizegiving this year but our Year 6 leavers, now Year 7, will be joining us remotely next Thursday for a celebration of their St. Helen's College achievements. Next week in assembly there will be additional commendations presented to our Year 4 - Year 6 pupils for their achievements during the last academic year.
Staffing Changes
After 18 committed years at St. Helen's College, Mrs. Harker, one of our Lower School Teaching and Learning Assistants, will be leaving us at the end of this half term. Mrs. Harker has worked with so many children over the years and will be greatly missed. We wish her well as she relocates to Chipping, near Preston.
Miss Eaver will also be leaving at Christmas as she relocates to Dorset to be with her family. Miss Eaver has worked in Nursery and Funtasia for the past 5 years.
Mr. Barnard, who has worked with us for the past 2 years as part of the maintenance team, is also relocating to Devon to be with his family and his last day with us will be Friday 16th October.
We are delighted to welcome some new staff to the team.
Mrs. Chesworth has joined us working in Reception (Kingfishers) in the absence of Mrs. Neri.
Miss Freegard will replace Mrs. Harker in 1C from 2nd November.
We were absolutely delighted to hear of the wonderful news of a new arrival, baby Thomas, who is the first grandson for Soula and her family. Congratulations Soula!
Co-Curricular Clubs
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation we have taken the decision not to run any co-curricular clubs this term, as our priority must be the safety and wellbeing of the children. There are, however, still many opportunities to try new activities and learn new skills outside of school. We would encourage our parents to look at some of the suggested activities and links below, many of which are from our existing club leaders, for online or socially distanced activities outside of school hours.
Computer Xplorers Middlesex, who provide our Minecraft Club, are offering St. Helen's College pupils the opportunity to join a remote online Game Design Club in October. Information can be found here.
Mr. Foale, our chess coach, has forwarded information about the online Delancey Chess Challenge and online Weekly Chess Activities.
Mr. Stidder, our school tennis coach, has provided information about tennis activities happening locally in Hayes and Ickenham. You can find Tripletts Community Tennis Centre term time information and half term information here.
Wayfarers Tennis Club term time information is here and half term information is here.
Other clubs which might be of interest include Mother Nature online science clubs.
Club Hub provides many links to a variety of online clubs and activities currently being offered in the London region too.
We would really encourage our children to keep trying new things and to develop their skills as much as they can, even during these challenging times.
Reminders
Watches
We encourage children to wear watches to school, to support them in learning to tell the time correctly. However, please note that Fitbits or similar devices are not permitted. Children seen wearing these devices will be asked to remove them.
ISC Survey
If you have not yet completed the ISC (Independent Schools Council) Coronavirus survey, we would encourage you to do so. Please simply follow the link below and answer the questions - this information is being collected from all ISC member schools.
âhttps://dataportal.isc.co.uk/ParentSurvey/Welcome.aspx?SurveyID=358265
Posted on: 25/09/2020Weekly News - Friday 25th September
Mindful Sit
The Mindfulness in Schools Project will have their national Schools Sitting Together very soon and we will be participating as a school on Friday 9th October by having all the children from Year 2 - Year 6 sitting together in a mindful practice.
Harvesting The Crops
Mr. Rizzo is very proud of the crops which have been harvested from our Upper School and Lower School gardens, including tomatoes, potatoes, beans, courgettes, marrows and pumpkins (which Soula intends use to make some soup for us). We are most fortunate to have such enthusiastic staff who are keen to share their passion for the outdoors with the children and other staff.
Staff News
Mrs. Couto has sadly broken her leg and will be away from school until she has recovered. We wish her a good recovery and will miss her presence in Lower School as one of the lunchtime supervisors and as patrol at 227 Long Lane. In her absence Miss Hunter (Mrs. Hunter's daughter) has joined our staff and will be covering for Mrs. Couto.
NHS Test and Trace Covid App
The government has just launched the new test and trace app. We would encourage parents to download the app from the app store - more information can be found here.
Face Coverings at Drop Off and Pick Up
Given the current situation, it is more vital than ever to ensure the safety of our children, family and friends. We would like to encourage parents to wear face coverings during drop off and pick up. It is a sensible precaution for parents and should help to lower the risk where social distancing can sometimes be difficult. Whilst this is not part of the official government guidelines, we should try and play our part in preventing the spread of infection at a time when cases are rising.
COVID Symptoms - Latest NHS Advice
It is really important that you follow the latest NHS advice regarding COVID symptoms and whether/when to get your child tested. You can read this advice here.
Holiday Club
Unfortunately we have now taken the decision not to offer Holiday Club over the October half term period, due to COVID restrictions and uncertainty. We feel it will be beneficial for the school staff and pupils to have a 14 day quarantine from the school environment. This will also give us an extra opportunity to arrange further cleaning across the school sites, ready for the next half term.
Parking
Parents are reminded not to park over neighbours' driveways on the streets around school. Many of the neighbours also need to leave home to do the school run or to get to work and we have had several neighbours being blocked this week.
Posted on: 18/09/2020Weekly News - Friday 18th September 2020
Chamber Choir Re-Starts!
We are delighted that we will be able to re-start Chamber Choir rehearsals shortly, with an adapted timetable to allow children to practise in their year group bubbles.
Remote Chamber Choir will start from next week, with lyrics and backing tracks put onto Google Classroom each week for the children to learn.
Mrs. Fawbert, our new Director of Music, will then begin to lead in-person rehearsals on Friday mornings from 8 - 8:30 a.m. in the Upper School Hall, as follows:
Friday 2nd October for Year 6 pupils
Friday 9th October for Year 5 pupils
Friday 16th October for Year 4 pupils.
Rehearsals will then continue after half term.
Harvest Festivals
COVID restrictions do not allow us to put on Harvest Festival assemblies at Lower School or our Upper School Harvest Festival church service in the way that we usually would. We know that parents, pupils and staff will still wish to make donations of food items at Harvest time to support those in the local community who do not have enough to eat. Hillingdon has a website for Food Banks which highlights where to donate food and when, which you can see here: https://hillingdon.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
Year 5 will be leading our Harvest assembly and we will be sharing further information about this in due course.
Ducklings Kindergarten
Our youngest children have been very busy this week building their relationships with each other and exploring their world through play and more focussed sessions, all carefully planned and linked to the seven areas of learning and development. You can see photographs of them enjoying themselves on our Galleries page here.
Individual Pupil Photographs
Individual pupil photographs will be taken by Tempest on:
Monday 21st September (Ducklings)
Tuesday 22nd September (Nursery, Reception and Year 1)
Friday 25th September (Years 2-6)
Please ensure that your child attends school looking smart in their full school uniform, including blazers for Upper School children, on the day of their photograph.
We are sorry that, due to COVID restrictions, it will not be possible for sibling photographs to be taken at school this year.
Welfare, Child Safety and Uniform Reminders
Please note that, if you feel the need to give your child Calpol or any similar paracetamol based product in the morning, you should not send him/her into school. These products mask symptoms, including but not limited to high temperatures, which is why it is not appropriate to send a child to school after taking such medicines.
If your child cycles or scoots to school, please ensure that they wear a suitable protective helmet.
Girls who are currently wearing summer uniform should ensure that what they are wearing complies with the uniform list. Summer dresses should be worn with white socks only and never with tights. Modesty shorts may be worn under the summer dress for lunchtime physical activity (e.g. for girls who are likely to cartwheel!). These must not be visible when worn under the dress. Leggings and other long-leg coverings are not permitted.
Drop and Go
Year 2 children may now use drop and go/pick up and go on Parkway, and morning drop and go on Long Lane. If you are dropping off at 227, you must not leave your child until there is a member of staff available to see them safely into school.
Message from the Parents' Association
On behalf of the PA Committee I would like to convey a huge warm welcome to the St. Helen's College new parents. We hope that you have all settled well into school life and that the children are enjoying their time at St. Helen’s College so far.
This Saturday the PA team would have hosted the annual welcome event we hold for new parents, serving delicious fresh homemade cakes, sandwiches, tea and coffee. For the last few years we have had great weather so we are able to sit outside in the garden, mingle and chat. Unfortunately this year we have had to cancel this event due to the current situation we face. Many other events have also been cancelled this year but we hope next year we may be able once again to hold the PA Summer Fete, children’s Christmas parties and co-ordinate other activities for parents and students.
The main purpose of such events is to bring the St. Helen’s College community together; however, some events that we host do generate funds and these funds are used to buy things that can enhance our children’s experience at school. This has included things like Camelot at Lower School and the tree house and games tables at Upper School.
Those parents who are part of the PA Committee and wider PA Class Rep team really enjoy the role and are proud to make such an impact in our children’s experience here at St. Helen’s. However, time is a precious resource that we are sadly lacking, so we are always really grateful for any support that you can give. Please do look out for future updates on any events we plan to hold, what support is required and how you can get involved. If you have any suggestions then please do get in touch, we are always looking for fresh ideas to help our children get the best out of this fantastic school. If you would like to get involved please contact us at pa@sthelenscollege.com.
Mrs. Jamani, PA Chair
Posted on: 11/09/2020Weekly News - Friday 11th September 2020
Our first full school week has been a resounding success! Well done to all our new Ducklings and Nursery children, parents and staff. All of the children seem so happy and settled, learning new routines and making new friends. Mrs. Drummond was welcomed into the Ducklings garden this afternoon (socially distanced of course!) and enjoyed meeting the newest, youngest members of the school community. It is a credit to the staff and parents that the children are already so comfortable in their new surroundings.
Sadly, the PA will be unable to run their usual 'Welcome Event' for new joiners and their families this year. However, we hope that all new families have now made contact with their PA class rep and feel welcomed by the parent body. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions at all.
Art
This week we have launched our official St. Helen's College Art Instagram account. Please follow us to see examples of the lovely artwork being produced around the school! Just go to Instagram and follow St. Helen's College Art.
Mrs. Pruce has also introduced 'Artist of the Week' at Upper School. The 'Artist of the Week' will be announced every Friday in assembly.
If you do have a budding young artist, you might be interested to know that Mini Monets Art Club are soon re-opening their doors to run children's art classes once more. You can find full details here.
Language Teaching
We have reviewed some areas of our curriculum for this academic year and have made some adjustments to our languages teaching programme. Pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 will now focus on French as the main language, with Latin being introduced at Year 5 and continued into Year 6.
We hope to be able to offer a Spanish Club to those pupils who would like to continue with Spanish beyond Year 3 and further details of co-curricular clubs will be shared in due course.
Pupils lower down the school will continue to be taught Spanish up to the end of Year 3.
Mr. Aguiar, our Spanish teacher, is absent from school but we are delighted that Mrs. Rance will be teaching Spanish to the children in his absence.
Year 6 Senior Team
We are delighted to announce our new Year 6 pupil leadership team for this academic year.
Head Girl - Jena J
Head Boy - Zail T
Deputy Head Girl - Maya T
Deputy Head Boy - Samir H
Congratulations to all of the other Year 6 pupils who stood for the positions - it was an incredibly difficult decision as they all were strong candidates and superb ambassadors of the school. Hustings and voting will take place next week for the positions of House Captains and Sports Captains.
Autumn Term Welfare Newsletter
Please take the time to read the Autumn Term newsletter from Mrs. Wilcock, the school Welfare Officer. This contains important information about medication, asthma, flu vaccinations and more.
Raising Emotionally Strong Children - Parental EQ App
We would like to draw your attention to this new app which has been recently developed and launched by a group of experts, drawing from the fields of child development, behaviour psychology and clinical psychology. As parents, we all need as much help as possible and ultimately we all want to be the best parents possible to enable our children to flourish. This app has been designed to help parents be more self-aware, confident and connected with their children. Do take a look at the app and if you decide to download it we would love to hear your feedback. Please follow this link for further information: https://parentaleq.com/
Upper School Arrivals and Pick Ups
Thank you to all parents for adhering to the dedicated arrival time. We would like to remind all Upper School parents that children in Years 4-6 must not be dropped off prior to 8.15 a.m., unless they are with a younger sibling.
Weather
Next week we are due to have unusually hot weather. Please ensure that your child/ren come to school with sun cream applied prior to arrival and that they have their sun hats.
School Photos
Individual pupil photographs will be taken by Tempest on:
Monday 21st September (Ducklings)
Tuesday 22nd September (Nursery, Reception and Year 1)
Friday 25th September (Years 2-6)
Please ensure that your child attends school looking smart in their full school uniform on the day of their photograph.
We are sorry that, due to COVID restrictions, it will not be possible for sibling photographs to be taken at school this year.
Posted on: 4/09/2020Weekly News - Friday 4th September 2020
It has been so wonderful to hear the laughter of the children, see their smiling faces and feel the love within our community over the past two days. From our youngest Ducklings to our Year 6 pupils, there has been a calm and happy return to school. Thank you to all parents for supporting us with the new drop off and pick up routines and social distancing as we opened our doors this week. Please note that, if you have a child in Year 3 - Year 6, or have a child in Year 2 and a child at Lower School, and you would like to collect your child from the Long Lane entrance, you must email your form teacher to let them know. This will ensure that your child is sent to the correct exit at the end of the day. Year 2 parents who do not also have a child at Lower School must use the Parkway pick up point.
Year 6
Our Year 6 pupils are already demonstrating their leadership qualities around the school and setting a great example for the younger pupils. Next week we will be hearing from those pupils who wish to stand for the positions of Head Boy and Head Girl as they will be presenting speeches in our remote assemblies. In Upper School assembly today, last year's Head Boy (Anish) and Head Girl (Catherine) shared some words of wisdom and encouragement with the children.
Speed Reading Success
We are delighted to report on the success of one of the pupils who left us at the end of Year 6 in July.
Michael K came 7th overall (adults and juniors) in the Mind Sports Olympiad Speed Reading competition in August! Competitors from around the world were given a brand new adult novel (372 pages) to read and then given a comprehension test. Michael read the 372 page book in 110 minutes and then did the test. There were some high level competitors in the competition. They calculated his raw reading speed at 909 words per min. Now that all of the results have been officially ratified, Michael will receive the Bronze Junior Medal. https://msoworld.com/2020-medal-table/
Michael's parents kindly shared with us that they have no doubt that the access Michael had to all kinds of books at St. Helen's College, and the emphasis we place here on reading regularly, must have helped him in this super achievement!
Road Safety Competition Presentation
Out of 470 entries, Arjun C (3M) was awarded second place for the Hillingdon Road Safety Dream Bike competition, which we shared on the school news last term. Arjun's design, the 'Weird and Wacky Bike', really impressed local councillors and over the summer break he was invited to the awards ceremony at the Uxbridge Civic Centre where the Mayor and councillor Keith Burrows presented him with a digital copy of his dream bike art work. Many congratulations, Arjun!
Asthma
The Hillingdon Asthma Team have asked us to remind parents that, if your child has asthma and uses a preventative inhaler, you must make sure it is being taken regularly EVERY DAY as we are heading towards the most challenging season for asthmatics.
Flu Jabs
The school has a booking for flu jabs for all children from Reception to Year 6 for 2nd December. However, in the current situation we are unable to confirm the arrangements for this and we would therefore encourage any parents who are being offered flu jabs by their GPs to have children vaccinated independently from school if you would like to do this.
11+ Transfer: Senior School Open Evenings
We would like to remind Year 5 and Year 6 parents that many schools have virtual open evenings coming up and now is the time for parents to be be pro-active about looking into and booking these for any school for which you might wish to apply.
2+ and 3+ Entry To St. Helen's College Next Year
If you have a child born between 01.09.17 - 31.08.19 and you have not yet registered him/her with us, now is the time to do so! As always, we will begin the entry process for next September's new Ducklings and Nursery classes later this term, so please make sure that your child is registered if you have not already done this. The online registration form is available here. Please do remind any other friends and family who may be eligible for entry next year to register early too.
We now have a 'virtual tour' available on our website, hosted by last year's Head Boy and Head Girl, which prospective parents may watch to get a flavour of the school. Although we are unable to run Open Mornings for now, we will be able to accommodate individual (and slightly restricted) tours of the school for prospective parents as the term progresses so please do encourage friends and family to telephone Mrs. Smith if they would like to visit the school.
Parent Practice
Many of our parents attended a superb workshop last year run by Elaine Halligan from the Parent Practice. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, they are sadly unable to visit us this year but all their training and courses are now available online at https://www.theparentpractice.com/programmes/about-our-courses. They also have a free pack for any parents who sign up to their newsletters 'How to get the best out of your children'. You can sign up at https://www.theparentpractice.com/signup.
We would be very interested to hear from any parents who do attend any of the workshops.
Posted on: 10/07/2020End of Term News - 10th July 2020
We're All Going On A Summer Holiday!
Our final 'feel good' staff video of the lockdown can be found here. Enjoy and have a wonderful summer holiday!
2019-2020 School Magazine
We have, as always, been working very hard to produce a school magazine which showcases some of the excellent work the children have done this year, as well as some of the many activities in which they have taken part. This year we are not printing/distributing the magazine due to COVID-19 restrictions, but you can see the electronic version here and it will remain available on the school website. We hope that you enjoy looking through this lovely keepsake...the children might like to look at what the year group above theirs has been doing too, so that they get an idea of what life will be like for them when they enter their new year group in September.
Musician of the Summer Term
The Musician of the Term trophy is awarded for outstanding effort, commitment, dedication and achievement within the music department. The winner this term is someone who has always worked conscientiously and demonstrated enormous enthusiasm over several years, in all aspects of music at St. Helen’s College. She has excellent music skills and applies and shares creative ideas successfully in class work. She has been a regular member of the Junior, Senior and Chamber Choirs. She is an excellent role model within the music department and is a music prefect, regularly performing at assemblies, recitals and outside of school. As well as playing the recorder fluently, she has singing lessons and is preparing to take Grade 7 on the piano.
An enormous well done to Anaiya B!
Lockdown Summer Term Sports Personality
A huge well done to Samir H, who has been named the Sports Personality of the Summer Term! Samir engaged with all of the Virtual Sports Day events, uploading lots of videos of himself taking part, and also completed a 26 mile charity challenge. Samir is a talented tennis player and has skills which would have made him a member of several sports teams this term, had school been 'normal'. He always encourages others to get involved and has been particularly encouraging to his younger sister during the period of lockdown. Congratulations, Samir!
Lockdown Sports Champions
Our Year Group Winners were:
Y3 - Oliver K
Y4 - Charlotte M
Y5- Vidhit N
Y6 - Eli V-B
The overall champion was Samir H.
Very well done to all those who took part in the virtual sports events!
Spring Term Sports Personality of the Term
Well done to Rhea A-V, who was named the Sports Personality of the Spring Term (which could not be announced at the end of the spring term due to lockdown). Rhea is a real all-rounder and has been a stalwart of many school teams. She has shown great leadership both on and off the sports pitch and has excelled in the football and netball teams and in her role as a Sports Captain, organising the table tennis trials. Congratulations, Rhea!
Sports This Year
The full sports round up for this year is here.
Mythology Competition Success!
Jasmine B and Uma D (Year 6) have been awarded joint 1st prize in the Arts section of the 2020 Annual Mythology Competition organised by The Primary Latin Project. They each wrote and performed their own individual song as a response to the story of Daedalus and Icarus.
There were some other excellent entries from children in Years 2-6, such as the lovely mythology-inspired piece of artwork by Riya C which you can see here.
The judges made the following comments.
'This year’s entries have been fantastic with such a wide range of materials and ideas used to help to convey the elements of the myths. It has made my job as judge of the art competition very tough because there were so many brilliant entries! Top prizes this year include songs, paintings on canvas, digital art and 3D models. Judging was done taking age of entrants into account to ensure ability was judged fairly. Higher marks were given to the originality of the entry, the attempt to convey all elements of the myth as fully as possible and overall presentation.'
Very well done to all those children who submitted entries and particular congratulations to Jasmine and Uma!
Junior Language Challenge
The uTalk competition played out very differently this year due to Covid so there were no national finals. Certificates have been allocated on different criteria as below.
https://mailchi.mp/aa4df991944e/the-utalk-junior-language-challenge-has-come-to-an-end
Leo J (4KT) is one of only 13 children out of over 2300 to get full marks in both rounds and he has won a gold medal and £200 worth of uTalk language software! Tanishka M has won a silver medal and £50 of uTalk software. Other pupils were awarded bronze certificates. Very well done to everyone who took part, and special congratulations to Leo and Tanishka!
House Art Competition
Many congratulations to all of the children who entered our House Art Competition, who will each receive certificates. Winners' trophies were awarded to:
Windsor winner - Anjika G (4T)
Cambria winner - Ruby L (2H)
Ducklings Summer Picnic
Our Ducklings children had so much fun this week when they visited Father Desmond's garden for their summer picnic. You can see more photographs of the children enjoying this special event on our Galleries page here.
Mrs. McGee and the Ducklings staff are very proud of the resilience and joy our youngest children have shown throughout their disrupted first year with us, and we know that they are well equipped to move on for a very happy year in Nursery from September.
Lower School Beach Party
The children attending Lower School had a super day today, celebrating all that summer might bring with their very own beach party day! You can see more photographs of the fun and colourful time they had on our Galleries page here.
Spaghetti and Marshmallow Challenge
Our Year 1 children took part in a marshmallow and spaghetti challenge this week. The winners from Blue Whale pod (1HC) were Roshni and Ashvika, who managed to build a tower that measured 65 cm high. They were also the team that showed the most perseverance and determination. Well done, girls!
The Year 1 children would usually have been visiting Mad Bess Woods, where Mrs. Hunt lives, during their final week of term, where they would have had a wonderful time exploring and having ice creams. We couldn't quite bring the woods to school, but we could certainly bring the ice creams and the children enjoyed them immensely!
Year 6 French Day and Play In A Day
The Year 6 pupils enjoyed a 'fantastique' day of French themed activities on Wednesday, including bread making, disco dancing, French quizzes, traditional games and of course the annual talent show! Tasty crepes were served at lunchtime from a wonderful crepe van too. Well done to everyone for embracing the day. You can see more photographs from the day on our Galleries page here.
On Thursday, they put on a 'Play In A Day' version of 'Singing In The Rain', which would have been their grand Year 6 musical. The children entered into the challenge with enthusiasm and demonstrated their well-developed performance skills. The weather wasn't fantastic on Thursday and once or twice they were actually singing in the rain! You can see the video of their efforts here.
Leavers
We wish all pupils and families who are leaving us all the very best for the future. We will miss you...please, please keep in touch. Old Helenian news should be sent to susmith@sthelenscollege.com - we would love to hear all that your children get up to and to celebrate their future successes with you.
We also wish the staff who are leaving us every success for the future and thank them for their commitment to the school. We know that they will keep in touch with us and look forward to hearing from them. All the very best to class teachers Miss Dear, Mrs. Rance and Mr. Tovell and to Mrs. Stubbs (Music) and Miss Williams (Funtasia).
Mrs Califano (1HC) will be leaving us to start her maternity leave and we look forward to hearing happy news later in the summer from her and from Mrs. Rance too.
Mrs. Hunt, who has been a class teacher at St. Helen's College for 20 years, is stepping away from her class teacher role in September to concentrate on her leadership duties as Head of Lower School and one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads. We thank her for her excellent work as a class teacher over so many years.
Summer Reading Challenge
We know that many families have enjoyed visiting their libraries during the summer holidays and participating in the summer reading challenge. However, with the disruption to library services due to COVID-19 the challenge will this year take place digitally. Please do sign your children up to enjoy some super reading challenges, quizzes and other activities by following this link:
https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/parents-carers
We look forward to hearing about the children's summer of reading for pleasure!
Summer Holiday Activities
Parents might be interested in these ideas for some activities to keep your children busy and entertained over the summer holidays.
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/competitions/win-an-original-drawing-by-ed-vere-plus-a-set-of-signed-books/
http://www.eparenting.co.uk/celebrations/summer.php
Posted on: 3/07/2020Weekly News - Friday 3rd July 2020
Feel Good Friday - All About Me
We hope that the children enjoyed expressing themselves today by wearing something on the theme of 'All About Me'. What was very obvious, from the outfits worn by the children (and staff) both in school and at home, was what a diverse and vibrant community we are! Many among us chose to wear dress reflecting our culture or background and an enormous number of activities, sports and interests were represented too. Well done everyone for the effort put into outfits today, and I hope that you will continue to reflect on all that makes you an individual, including your heritage, your interests and talents and your dreams for the future.
You can see photographs of the children on our Galleries page here.
Virtual Sports Day Awards
Over the summer term, Upper School pupils have been preparing at home and participating in our Virtual Sports Day. The leadership board has been changing weekly in what turned out to be a hot contest! Congratulations to all who took part; the list of event winners is available here. Overall year group winners will be announced at the final assembly next Friday.
Chamber Choir 2020-2021
Thank you to everyone who submitted a video entry for our online Chamber Choir auditions. We are pleased to announce that the following children have been selected:
Advik 3M
Annabelle 3B
Arshia 3B
Arshvir 3B
Inaya 3B
Minaya 3B
Anaiya 3M
Leila 3M
Eshanvi 3M
Anjika 4T
Diyan 4T
Ria M 4T
Layla 4KT
Zach 4KT
Anokhi 4KT
Chrissy 4KT
Eshan 4KT
Riya C 5G
Samir 5G
Vidhit 5G
Manisher 5G
Zara 5G
Mrs. Fawbert and Mrs. Garnés very much look forward to working on beautiful choral music with you. Thanks to Mrs. Allery also, who was as usual part of the selection process. Many congratulations to our newest members!
Old Helenian News
We are delighted to share the news that Old Helenian (and school neighbour) Rex Baldwin has just been made Deputy Head Boy of The John Lyon School for the academic year 2020-2021.
Last Day of Term
Next Friday, 10th July, is the end of term and is a half day. Collection times for each year group are shown below. Please do adhere closely to these in order to help us to maintain social distancing outside the school gates.
Ducklings - 12 p.m.
Lower School Site
Nursery - 12 p.m.
Reception - 12.15 p.m.
Upper School Site
1HC - 12 p.m.
1C - 12.10 p.m.
Key Workers Year 2-5 - 12.20 p.m.
Year 6 - 12.30 p.m.
To end our term with the Nursery and Reception children, we will be having a Bubble Beach Party at school on Friday 10th July.
We will use our last morning together to share in some fun activities around a 'Hawaiian summer beach party' theme in each of our bubbles here at Lower School. We would very much like to encourage the children to dress accordingly, so please do have a look at home for shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses or even a grass skirt for the children to wear on the day!
Children from Year 1 to 6 who are in school will have a socially distant final assembly at 11 a.m. in the playground at school (weather permitting), which we intend to live stream out to the children at home.
We look forward to sharing a fun-filled and no doubt emotional final day together.
Flute Vacancies
All instrumental tuition for September has now been allocated and our timetables are full on all instruments except (unusually!) the flute. We have some outstanding Year 6 flautists who are leaving us this summer to transfer to their senior schools, creating a few more vacancies than usual. The flute is a beautiful instrument to learn and play, not too noisy to practise (!) and much prized by senior schools, since woodwind groups and orchestras need talented and experienced flautists. If you have a son or daughter in Year 2-6 who would like to learn the flute from September onwards, please contact Mrs. Allery directly at rallery@sthelenscollege.com. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Field Studies Council Summer Breaks
Families might be interested in booking a summer break at one of the lovely Field Studies Council locations across the United Kingdom. The locations are safe, remote and provide a lovely opportunity for your children to connect with nature. They can let their imaginations run free: get muddy, ford streams, build dens and create their own adventure. There is wildlife to spot, woods to explore and amazing creatures to wonder at. The beautiful FSC sites have peaceful nooks and crannies aplenty so you can finish reading that book, enjoy a real face-to-face chat and find the perfect spot for a picnic. Why not get out there and make the most of all that nature has to offer in our beautiful country?
https://www.field-studies-council.org/stay-with-us/?ref=email&dm_i=65YE,1THW,10DVOT,6TN0,1
Posted on: 26/06/2020Weekly News - Friday 26th June
Ready to Rumble
Here is our next 'feel good' video, made in recognition of the fact that today would have been the Prep Sports Day. We hope it will remind you all that the St. Helen's College staff are keeping in good spirits and thinking of all members of our community, even while it is not possible for us all to be together in person. We hope you enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=kQbDi_jhnZQ&feature=youtu.be
Fun Friday
It has been super to see the children back in their uniforms today for this week's Fun Friday theme. For some of them, it will be the last chance they have to wear their St. Helen's College uniform before they move on to their next schools, and it was lovely to see them so smart and so proud of their school colours.
We were also thrilled today to have a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Crehan, who were able to walk around the school and 'visit' the children by waving hello from the doorways of the pods.
Here they are in the Zen Garden - it was very hot, but the fountain was bubbling away just in front of them!
We have also been making an alternative marketing video at school today, to give prospective parents (who are currently unable to visit) a natural flavour of the school. The video has been directed by Mrs. Smith, filmed by Mr. Smith (no relation!) and stars Catherine and Anish, our Head Girl and Head Boy. It will be edited and the final version will be posted to the website in due course, but for now, here is a sneak preview of the likely ending.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBAiyO_4l18&feature=youtu.be
PA Virtual Family Quiz
The Parents' Association will be running a virtual family quiz on Saturday 4th July at 3.00 p.m. Full details are available here. We hope that many of you will take part!
House Art Competition
Thank you to all of the children who have entered the House Art competition. You can see entries on the Galleries page. The winning house will be announced in the final assembly of term.
Instrumental Tuition
Music places for individual tuition from September have now been allocated. However, we do have a few vacancies for flute, trumpet and violin tuition. These will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so please contact Mrs. Allery as soon as possible if you would like your child to begin lessons on one of these instruments. You can reach Mrs. Allery at rallery@sthelenscollege.com.
Holiday Club
We have communicated with parents directly today to confirm that, sadly, we will be unable to run our Holiday Club this summer due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place which require strict consistency of staffing.
Here are some alternative clubs that might be of interest to parents this summer.
https://www.fun-fest.co.uk/ruiview/funfest/availability/
https://all4kidsuk.com/holiday-clubs-and-courses-childrens/greater-london/hillingdon
Registration Reminder
If you have a son or daughter who will be eligible for entry into St. Helen's College Nursery in September 2021 (children born between 01.09.17 - 31.08.18), and you have not already registered him/her, please ensure that you do so soon. We give priority to siblings when we are allocating the Nursery places, but they do need to be registered with the school in order for us to do so!
You should register your child by completing the online registration form at:
https://www.sthelenscollege.com/257/registration-form
Attain
Some parents might be interested to read the latest articles from Attain Magazine, which can be found by following this link.
https://attain.education/magazine/sthelenscollege
Posted on: 19/06/2020Weekly News - Friday 19th June 2020
Funny Face Friday!
It has certainly been a fun day today both in school and at home, as the children have donned their 'funny faces'. Here you can see some of our Nursery children making their funny faces! There are lots more photographs from around the school and home on our Galleries page here.
Art Competition
Thank you so much to the children who entered our House Art Competition, depicting the school values. We have thoroughly enjoyed all of the entries and the winners will be announced in assembly on Monday.
Next Week - Uniform Friday/Alternative Mufti Day!
Next Friday will be a flipped 'mufti day', when we invite children to wear their school uniform throughout the school day, whether they will be on the school site or learning at home. It might feel very strange to some of them to put it on for one last time this year! Of course we understand that some children might have grown out of all or part of their uniform, so please feel free to be a little creative if you need to, or to use PE kit, but please do encourage the children to wear their full school uniform if they have it.
Chamber Choir Auditions
If you have a child in Year 2 to Year 5 and they would like to audition to join the Chamber Choir, please check your Google Classroom for further details which have been sent out today.
Rising Up Together
A lot of information follows below about how things currently stand at school, and what the immediate and longer term future might hold. One thing is sure...as a school community, we have remained strong throughout lockdown so far and we will rise up, ready to come back together fully with joy and gratitude when we are finally allowed to do so! We hope that you will share this sentiment as you enjoy our latest SHC lockdown video, Rise Up:
https://youtu.be/qyrbdDEqGdo
The Remainder of This Term
We have, over the past week, surveyed parents of those children who are currently eligible to attend school but have not yet been back to the school site. Many have indicated that their children will return next week or the following week and we have made plans to accommodate them safely. Unfortunately we will therefore not be in a position to invite pupils from any other year groups back into school before the end of this term. We understand that this will be disappointing news for many families, as it is for us, but we are sure that you understand that, with the restrictions which are currently in place for school, all our school space and staffing is being fully utilised.
Travel To School
As the number of pupils on site has continued to increase gradually, the London Borough of Hillingdon's Road Safety Team have produced a poster to remind parents about best practice when travelling to/from school. You can read this here.
Online Safety
We have sent a direct email to parents today about Online Safety. If you have not already done so, you can register for our National Online Safety platform by clicking on this link and proceeding as a parent/carer. You will then be able to access many useful resources and a comprehensive course.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require additional guidance or if you have any concerns about your child's online safety. Our Designated Safeguarding Leads are:
Upper School: Mr. McLaughlin
amclaughlin@sthelenscollege.com
Lower School/Ducklings: Mrs. Hunt
lhunt@sthelenscollege.com
2nd Uxbridge Beavers - Places Available Now
Before Coronavirus prohibited face-to-face Scouting, the 2nd Uxbridge Beavers Group met weekly at the Scout HQ on Gatting Way (the same road as Hillingdon Leisure Centre). They are currently running weekly online meetings for their Beavers children. These meetings allow the children to burn off a little energy and also to safely connect online with other children their own age, which is more important now than ever.
The group currently has places and would be delighted to have girls and boys aged between 5¾ and 8 years old join them. You can find full details here.
Summer Holiday Club
Current government guidance, staffing restrictions and the protocols in place within school regarding grouping children mean that it will most likely not be possible for us to offer Holiday Club provision over the summer holidays. We will of course update you if the situation changes.
Staff Changes
As parents already know, we will be saying goodbye to some members of staff at the end of this academic year. Mrs. Rance will be leaving us as she and her husband await the birth of their second child; they have decided to move further away from the school. Mr. Tovell is leaving us to move to a position much closer to his home, to enable him to spend more time with his family; he is also expecting his second child. Miss Dear has decided to step back from teaching altogether to devote more time to her family at home, and Mrs. Stubbs will also be relinquishing her peripatetic music commitments with us.
After 20 years as a class teacher at St. Helen's College, Mrs. Hunt will not be a form teacher next year. She will remain in her role as Head of Lower School but will now have the opportunity to teach some lessons in Year 1 and also to follow the progress of the children as they transition to Year 2. Mrs. Hunt also oversees Ducklings and is our Designated Safeguarding Lead for Ducklings and Lower School. Mrs. Hunt will miss the role of form teacher but she will now have the opportunity to visit all the classes and to assist across the EYFS to Year 2. Mrs. Allery, while remaining with us as a Year 5 form teacher, will no longer be Director of Music as she would like more time to focus on supporting her family, and Miss Phoebe Williams will no longer be working with us as a Funtasia Assistant. Mrs. Blackstone will, after some years of semi-retirement, be taking the plunge and retiring fully. We wish them all the very best as they move onto their next phases.
As previously announced, Mrs. Claire Fawbert will be joining us as our new Director of Music from September. Mr. Steve Roche will be joining us as Head of English and Year 6 form teacher. Miss Kyra Linton will be joining us as Head of Maths and Year 4 form teacher. Mrs. Victoria Briggs will be covering for Mrs. McLaughlin in 3M while Mrs. McLaughlin completes her maternity leave. Mrs. Nadine Pruce will be joining us as Head of Art, Miss Emma Rackham will be joining us as Year 1 class teacher and Mrs. Jane Smith will be joining us as a peripatetic flute teacher. We are also in the process of appointing an Early Years Assistant to work in our Ducklings class while Miss Hill completes her maternity leave.
Class Allocations 2020/21
Please find below the list of class/teacher allocations for the next academic year.
Our new intake of Ducklings will be led by Mrs. McGee
The new Robins Nursery class will be led by Mrs. Mann
The new Wrens Nursery class will be led by Miss Carmichael
Robins Nursery will become Kingfishers with Ms Matthews
Wrens Nursery will become Owls with Miss Joiner
Kingfishers will become 1R with Miss Rackham
Owls will become 1C with Miss Cooper
1C will become 2H with Mrs. Hussein
1HC will become 2B with Mr. Bustard
2B will become 3M with Mrs. Briggs (Mrs. McLaughlin following maternity leave)
2H will become 3B with Mrs. Belvoir
3B will become 4L with Miss Linton
3M will become 4T with Mrs. Thompson
4KT will become 5A with Mrs. Allery
4T will become 5G with Ms Gilham
5A will become 6R with Mr. Roche
5G will become 6M with Mr. McLaughlin
New parent meetings and transition meetings for parents whose children will be joining year groups from Ducklings to Year 2 have been arranged over the coming weeks. These meetings will take place online and parents have been sent the dates and will be sent further information before each meeting takes place.
Meet the Teacher evenings will take place, as usual, in September for parents of children in Years 3 to 6. The provisional dates are below - please add these to your diaries now.
Thursday 3rd September at 7 p.m. - Year 3 and Year 6
Tuesday 14th September at 7 p.m. - Year 4 and Year 5
We hope that these Meet the Teacher evenings will take place in person, on the school premises, as usual. If this is not possible, they will take place online. Again, further information will be sent to parents before each meeting takes place.
While we will not be able to hold our 'moving up mornings' this term as we usually would, there will be an opportunity towards the end of term for the children to 'meet' their new teacher online, and to welcome new pupils who may be joining into their class from September. Further details about this will be provided by class teachers.
Planning for September
Some parents have contacted us to ask about plans for our return to school in September. The truth is that, like schools across the country, we just don't know what September will hold for us all yet.
We are, of course, hoping and planning for a full return to school and for normal life to resume for everyone. Although we are also considering possible alternative scenarios, we will not be able to make any definite plans until nearer the time when the government makes further decisions and announcements based on the course of the pandemic at that point.
Staff will have a well-deserved and much-needed break over the summer, but we will certainly also spend time over the summer planning carefully and communicating with staff and parents. While it is hard for us all to sit with uncertainty for now, we just don't have any other option. We ask you to refrain from speculating or from contacting staff over the holidays; we will communicate with parents by 14th August over planning for the September return, and at least weekly from then on.
Uniform
Parents are reminded that the uniform and equipment list is available in the Parents section of the website here. Please do take a look at what your child will need for September onwards as they move into their new year group.
Our uniform suppliers, Pullens, re-opened their shops on Monday 15th June and visits are currently by appointment only. Pullens have asked us to let parents know that they have the following measures in place to prepare for social distancing and to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of customers and staff:
Installed hand sanitising stations at the entrance to stores, placed physical markings throughout to ensure social distancing and positioned PPE equipment.
Stores are open by appointment only to limit the number of customers in store at any one time.
Late night opening on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, by appointment.
Request one adult per family with only the child/children who require uniform.
Card payments only.
Exchange/Refund policy – extended to 120 days.
10% discount, in June and July, on all orders placed online with a minimum value of £100, using code U4K10.
No-contact returns processes in place for online orders.
Live Chat available online, during working hours.
Click & Collect service from outside stores.
Specifying a deadline for families to order uniform online by 10th August to ensure uniform is delivered by the start of term.
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