The Senior School girls’ focus for the last couple of days of term has been on our annual House Arts Festival. The girls had a great day on Tuesday and, as ever, it was a day full of energy, enthusiasm and House spirit. All the Houses did themselves great credit and the adjudicator emphasised this several times in his conclusion at the end. However, many congratulations to the winners: Best Performer – Elizabeth Randall (Bruce), Best Music – Scott, Best Programme – Shackleton, Best Dance –Bonington, Best Director – Shackleton, Best Script – Scott and a special well done to the overall winners, Scott, who thoroughly deserved the title for their outstanding performance! I think I can still hear the cheering in RBH as I write this!
House Arts Day
July 8th, 2010Photo of the Week
June 28th, 2010This week saw the last session of the Photography Club for this year. The theme was ‘colour and texture’ and the winning photo was taken by Esana in Year 7. Congratulations also to runners up, Krishna and Scarlet, both also in Year 7
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Photo of the Week
June 25th, 2010
Photography Club, introduced this year by Year 12 student Rebecca Shapiro, goes from strength to strength and returned this week after a short break for exams. The winning ‘Photo of the Week’, based on the them ‘The Great Outdoors’, was taken by Rhian in Year 12.
Year 9 Song Writing
June 21st, 2010Last Tuesday afternoon, girls in Year 9 took part in a Song Writing Project. The whole event went extremely well with many outstanding individual and group performances. Robert Crowley, Director of Music, commented: “The songs were generally of a very high standard, with a wide variety of styles, and I was impressed by the confidence with which they all approached the event. This is the second time that this kind of presentation has taken place, and it was good that everyone in Year 9 was involved”. All the performances were recorded and the girls will now listen to them during their next Music lessons.
Sports Day at Junior School
May 28th, 2010Year 3 and 4 thoroughly enjoyed their Sports Day on Wednesday, ready in their shorts, sun hats and sun cream with high spirits as the morning began! Some of the skills and activities included skipping, balancing, bouncing and throwing. Everyone was involved and a fun time was had by all the girls, who worked hard for their Houses. The sun was shining and the relay races were very exciting, a great way to end the day. A great morning of fun, energy and team work! Year 6 did a sterling job of organising the girls, running their stations and making the whole day run like clockwork. It was lovely to see them taking their responsibilities seriously and organising the activities so well. Congratulations to Nightingale who were the winning House.
While Sports Day was happening Year 5 had an activity of their own.They were busy participating in an adventurous orienteering activity put together by the PE department! The girls were divided into groups within their Houses, and were each given a different number to begin their ‘scavenger hunt’. The girls were set the task of finding the number they carried in the fields somewhere and followed directions to find another number, until all 12 numbers were found! Once the girls reached their 12th and final number, they had to record the code word, race back to a PE staff member and tell them the code to signify they were done!
Year 3 visit Mountfitchet Castle
May 17th, 2010Last week, Year 3 ventured to Mountfitchet Castle in Stansted to experience first-hand what life in a motte and bailey castle would have been like in Norman times. They were particularly interested in this early-style castle and how it compared with their perception of other castle styles. The highlight of the day would have to be the livestock. One goat in particular provided the girls with much entertainment as it stole someone’s answer sheet and then proceeded to eat the entire paper! There were also deer, turkeys, peacocks, sheep and rabbits roaming free around the castle. A great day was had by all!
Kimberly Greene visits St. Helen’s
May 4th, 2010“Every no brings you closer to a yes..”
On 26th April, Kimberly Greene, a well-known American author of ‘My Sister’s a Pop Star’ and ‘My Life on TV’ came to talk to Year 7 about her trilogy of books, and how she came to write them. Her presentation began with a short background on herself. She told us about her life in California, and asked us what we knew about her homeland. She also informed us that she used to work in Hollywood, and that she tutored some children on TV sets. But these children were very ‘snotty’ as she said. They did not want to learn, as they thought that acting would pay all of their bills when they are older. What are they going to do with their money? They will end up losing it all as they won’t be able to learn basic mathematics, so she said. So she wanted to spread the message that money isn’t everything, and that you need to have the brains too. But how? By writing a book!
Kimberly Greene inspired us all greatly with her speech. Many of us would like to write books when we are older. The session ended with a signing of her books. Her trilogy is now available in the library, and we can ensure a good read for all.
Alicia and Maria, Year 7
A presentation by Zonta International
April 26th, 2010We were delighted to welcome representatives from Zonta International, a global organisation that works to advance the status of women worldwide, to St. Helen’s to present Camilla Draycott in Year 13 with the prestigious Young Women in Public Affairs award. Camilla has received this award in recognition of her leadership skills and dedication to public service both within the school community and outside it. At Senior School assembly, we heard about the aims of Zonta and some of its work and Camilla also spoke about some of the issues facing women today, including mortality rates in childbirth and the gender pay gap. We are all extremely proud of Camilla’s achievement, which is testament to all that she contributes to the community.
A Visit from Rebecca Stephens MBE
April 6th, 2010We finished the Spring Term on Thursday on a high note with a wonderfully inspirational presentation from Rebecca Stephens, MBE who was the first British woman to climb Mount Everest. She spoke to both Junior School and Senior School and had the girls enraptured as she explained what motivated her to climb the highest mountain in the world. The experiences and feelings she described were both fascinating and uplifting and her underlying message to the girls was that they can all achieve their ‘Everests’ with drive, commitment and dedication and the courage to believe in themselves. She also emphasised the benefits of working collectively with others; in her case, the Sherpas, without whom she would never have made it to the summit and who are very much the unsung heroes in the history of this famous mountain.
Eco Tip of the Week
March 29th, 2010When cleaning your teeth, don’t leave the tap running. When you have to use running water make sure the water is only pencil thin; this will help to conserve water.
Lydia and Savannah, Year 6
