Weekly News - Friday 13th June 2025

Pre-Prep Sports Day

On Thursday the Pre Prep children put their best foot forward at Court Park for our highly anticipated Sports Day. The children participated in a range of different sporting activites rotating around 'stations' designed to challenge their agility, speed and technical skills. 

The atmosphere was buoyant as the parents and children cheered one another on to win valuable points for the all important House shield. However, in the end there can be only one overall winner. Congratulations to Cambria House! Well done to all of the children for taking part. Thanks also to the enthusiastic Year 6 team leaders for supporting and inspiring their younger peers and to the Parents' Association for providing refreshments for parents. We look forward to the forthcoming Prep School Sports Day next Friday. 

Singing Competition

Today marked the hotly contested final of the St. Helen's College Singing Competition. As ever, the finalists performed brilliantly and to an extremely high standard. This year there were an amazing 67 entries, so selecting the 25 finalists was not an easy task for Mrs. Fawbert, Mrs. Garnes and Mr. James!

To judge the final we were very lucky to welcome Gillian Dibden MBE to Upper School. Gillian set up the prestigious Taplow Choirs, a centre to bring together children and adults to develop their singing skills, and was awarded her MBE for youth choral services. Gillian had the unenviable task of judging our finalists based on the following criteria; breathing, phrasing and projection; musicality, intonation, diction and timing; overall performance and interpretation.

The children also enjoyed an inspiring performance from professional singer, actor and St. Helen's College alumna Lily Wood. Lily, from the SHC class of 2012, studied musical theatre at drama school and counts work with the Horrible Histories team among many of her professional achievements. It was a pleasure to welcome Lily to the Singing Competition as a terrific role model for pupils with singing talent.

Huge congratulations to all of the finalists. The categories and winners were as follows: 

Middle School

Y2 solo - Pavleen J (2C) and Amelia AK (2S) was highly commended

Y3 solo - Mia S (3B)

Middle School groups - Raya R (3M), Avni J (3M) and Kiran S (3B)

Overall MS winner - Pavleen J

Upper School

Y4 solo - Eleanor G (4T) and Alicia Z (4T) highly commended

Y5 solo - Gurdaya J (5R)

Y6 solo - Rohan F (6R)

Upper School groups - Alex A (6H) and Leo A (5R)

Overall UP winner - Gurdaya J (5R)

Boys Win Cricket Tournament!

Huge congratulations to the team of eight St. Helen's College cricketers who won the Boys Best cricket tournament on Wednesday. Twenty teams from independent schools took part in the event, held at Uxbridge Cricket Club on Wednesday, and the stakes were high. The boys delivered a spectacular team performance throughout, winning all seven matches across the day. Every one of the boys contributed by scoring runs and taking wickets for the team. We are incredibly proud of them for their thoroughly well deserved win. 

 

 

National Quiz Club Final at Oxford

Congratulations to a team of Year 6 girls who have won a place in the Quiz Club National Mathematics Final at the University of Oxford next month.  Ashvika A (6R), Amelia L (6R), Diya B (6H) and Evie J (6H) will be competing against teams from leading independent schools from across the country in this prestigious event. The finals take place on Friday 4th July and we wish them every success!

Forfar Debating Competition

Year 6 are competing in a Forfar cross school debating competition and today successfully reached the semi-finals. Six pupils competed against Springmead School in Somerset via video link and won the debate whilst opposing the motion 'AI is a threat to our jobs'. The children presented many salient points and answered probing questions with confidence and reassurance.

Well done to the team members who took part; Ashvika A (6R), Mustafa F (6R), Roshni J (6R), Alex A (6H), Avar D (6H) and Shanaya P (6H). New team members from Y6 will take part in the semi-finals coming soon!

 

Summer Arts Evening (Exhibition And Concert)

We are delighted to invite parents to join us for our Summer Arts Evening (Art Exhibition and Concert) at the Winston Churchill Hall in Ruislip on Tuesday 1st July. This very special event celebrates the arts at St. Helen's College Upper School. Every child in Years 2 - 6 will have at least one piece of artwork at the art exhibition and all three Upper School choirs, the school orchestra and many soloists will be performing at the evening concert. There will also be poetry and drama recitations. Our Middle School string group will be performing in the foyer before the concert, and parents of children who are performing only in the foyer will not necessarily need to book tickets for the concert (although are welcome to do so). 

Please read the following information carefully and book your tickets soon!

Art Exhibition

The exhibition will be open from 3.30 - 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 1st July, and again from 6.00 - 6.45 p.m.

The art exhibition is open to all SHC families. Every child in Years 2 - 6 will have at least one piece of art at the exhibition. We will also be offering you a drink to enjoy while you peruse the artwork. Tickets for the art exhibition are priced at £5 per family (not per person) and you may come and go as many times as you please during the opening hours. You are welcome to take your child's artwork home with you directly from the exhibition. Uncollected work from the exhibition will be transported back to school and sent home with children after the event.

Evening Concert

Many children will be performing at the concert from 7 p.m. on Tuesday 1st July, including those in the school choirs and orchestra. Parents will need to buy tickets for this event, and these will be made available first to parents of performers. If any remain unsold after a fortnight, these will then be made available to other families. 

Tickets are priced at £15 per person for the evening concert and include access to the art exhibition. (Doors open at 6 p.m. in the evening for welcome drinks/visits to the art exhibition). Concert tickets are limited to three per family and will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Please book your tickets through SchoolsBuddy. Bookings are open now.

Year 6 Musical - Moana!

Our Year 6 musical production of Moana will be performed at The Compass Theatre in Ickenham on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th June at 7.30 p.m. Tickets are now available via the Compass Box Office and can be bought online here. The Year 6 show is always an absolutely highlight of the academic year and tickets usually sell out very quickly so please do book early! Year 4 and 5 children will have the opportunity to watch the dress rehearsal during a school day.

PA Father's Day Stalls 

Many thanks to our dedicated St. Helen's College Parents' Association team for running the Father's Day gift stalls at Lower and Upper School on Tuesday. As ever, the stalls were very popular and the children enjoyed selecting and purchasing their special gift.

Please be reminded that the PA Summer Fete will take place on Saturday 28th June from 1.00 - 4.00 p.m. at Upper School. It promises to be lots of fun for all the family with stalls, games, BBQ, entertainment and more.

 

 

Next Week

Tuesday 17th June - Year 1 rehearsing at Compass Theatre
Tuesday 17th June - Year 3/4 Sports Day practice at Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex - p.m.
Tuesday 17th June - Year 4 Transfer Meeting 6 p.m.
Wednesday 18th June - Year 1 dress rehearsal (Nursery/Reception going to watch)
Wednesday 18th June - Year 5/6 Sports Day practice at Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex - p.m.
Thursday 19th June - Year 1 performance at Compass Theatre 1.30 p.m.
Friday 20th June - Ark Farm visiting Ducklings
Friday 20th June - Prep Sports Day at Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Complex