Weekly News - Friday 9th May 2025

Year 3 Residential Trip to PACCAR

Year 3 are returning home tired and happy after two thrilling days at PACCAR Scout camp for their first overnight residential. The children enjoyed lovely weather for a busy couple of days spent outdoors taking part in an array of exciting activities. The children participated in crate stacking, zip lines, obstacles courses, campfires and much more. It was wonderful to see the children challenging themselves, building confidence and working together in teams to encourage one another to succeed. Well done Year 3! You can see some photographs on a gallery page here.

 

 

Robins Nursery Class Assembly 

On Thursday our Robins Nursery children presented their class assembly all about mini beasts. What a lot they have learnt! Dressed in colourful costumes, they told us all about the mini animals that live in the sky and on the ground, including their individual characteristics and why it is so important that we take care of them. 

The children spoke their memorised lines with care, and sang the many songs enthusiastically and with plenty of mini beast actions! Very well done indeed, Robins. You brightened up our morning and taught us so many interesting things.

 

VE Day assembly 

On Thursday the Year 6 history prefects led a special assembly to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The children shared their knowledge from history topic work on World War II to provide their younger peers with a valuable overview of events leading up to Victory in Europe Day in 1945 and explained how and why it is celebrated.

Mr. Smith very kindly shared some wonderful original military uniforms and hats, some of which belonged to his wife's grandparents, along with old photographs of them wearing the uniforms. This was a lovely personal touch which really brought this period of history to life for the children. You can see more here. 

Thank you to the history prefects for being brilliant ambassadors for the subject and for reminding us of the huge sacrifice so many made for our freedom, and how important it is for us to commemorate this on VE Day. 

KS2 Maths Quiz Heat

The KS2 Maths Quiz heat took place on Thursday. Twelve children from Years 5 and 6 took part in teams of four to compete in the live online quiz against 112 other prep schools. The questions challenged the children to draw on all their mathematical knowledge and work together as a team. The top 30 scoring teams will go through to the next round so congratulations to Team 1 and 3 who are through to the semi-finals! Well done to all of the participants, the results were as follows:

Team 1 - Mufaddal J (6H), Daynan C (5R), Mustafa F (6R), Alexander A (6H) placed 19th (1340 points)

Team 2 - Evie J (6H), Diya B (6H), Ashvika A (6R), Amelia L (6R) placed 32nd (1240 points)

Team 3 - Saayan S (6H), Maicen M (6R), Ayush A (6R), Avar D (6H) placed 24th scoring (1270 points)

4T Class Assembly

On Friday 4T's class assembly was all about the Windrush, exploring the lives the people who came to live and work in Britain from the Caribbean after the second World War. The children retold the story Granny Came Here On The Empire Windrush by Patrice Lawrence bringing to life the journey and experiences of families as they travelled to a new life in Britain.

The topic has inspired some wonderful creative writing; the children shared their own poems and letters written from the perspective of Windrush families. The assembly was a wonderful reminder of the rich diversity within our school community and beyond. Well done 4T for a very informative and well delivered assembly. 

PA Summer Fete

The St. Helen's College PA Summer Fete will take place on Saturday 28th June from 1.00 - 4.00 p.m. and as usual promises to be enormous fun for all the family with face painting, family games, a raffle, BBQ, entertainment and more!  If you run a small business and would like to take a stall at the fete please email: sthelenscollegepa@gmail.com to reserve a space, pitches cost £25.

Uxbridge Library Relocates

Uxbridge Library has now relocated to the Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge so do pay it a visit to explore it's new home. Parents may also be interested in attending the Hillingdon Libraries Crime Fiction festival on 21st June. There is an impressive line up of internationally acclaimed authors, including Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths (Dr Ruth Galloway and the Brighton Mysteries), the Reverend Richard Coles and CL Taylor (a multiple Sunday Times bestseller author of psychological thrillers). The one day festival is being held at the Winston Churchill Theatre, tickets are £8 for the day and can be booked here. For up-to-date information visit the Hillingdon Libraries Instagram account here. 

Recipes of the Month

The Accent Catering team deliver delicious and creative menus in the school kitchen, inspired by the best of seasonal foods. This month they are celebrating the humble new potato! We look forward to tasting this year's crop at lunch over the forthcoming weeks. If you would like to try some new recipes at home, why not give piccalilli new potato salad a try or sticky orange and new potato cake. The recipes can be found here. 

Holiday Club - Half Term

Holiday Club bookings for half term open today at 4 p.m.

Holiday Club will run from Tuesday 27th - Friday 30th May and you should log into SchoolsBuddy to make your bookings. Places must be booked in advance as we need to arrange staffing rotas with regards to ratios. Please note that bookings will close on Wednesday 21st May at 4 p.m. and that, once booked, sessions cannot be cancelled or refunded for any reason, including illness. 

Reminders - each child should bring with them a packed lunch, water bottle, two snacks and a change of clothes for Nursery and Reception children.

Cressida Cowell Book Signing - Today!

Multi-million-copy selling, award-winning author (and former Children’s Laureate) Cressida Cowell, creator of the book and film sensation How to Train Your Dragon, and other bestselling series Which Way to Anywhere and The Wizards of Once, will be visiting Chorleywood Bookshop to launch her brand new Dragon series, How To Train Your Dragon School.

The event will be between 4.00 and 5.00 p.m. today, Friday 9th May, children may bring along their own sketchbook for Cressida to see if they would like to. 

Next Week

Tuesday 13th May - Life Skills Day

Tuesday 13th May - Year 5 Transfer Meeting 6.00 - 7.00 p.m.

Wednesday 14th - Friday 16th May - Year 4 Residential Trip to Flatford Mill

Thursday 15th May - Owls Coffee Morning and Class Assembly

Friday 16th May - Month End Music Recital