News

Gardening club have been hard at work preparing the vegetable garden! Children are re-seeding, weeding and clearing the beds. We have also planted lots of wild flowers to encourage bees and insects to have a lovely habitat.

The theme this year was ‘Protect Our Species’ and children throughout the school have been learning about various endangered species around the world. Each year group also had fun raising money in order to adopt an endangered animal through the WWF charity! A huge well done to all the children for their hard work throughout these weeks.

Children from Years 5 & 6, took part in a special celebration for VE Day. We heard readings about how WWII and the Blitz affected East London and we remembered all of those who fought in the battle.

On Sunday 11th May both teams from St Helen's (Under 9s and Under 11s) took part in the semi final of the National Primary Schools Chess Championship. All of the players used their skills and knowledge to try to beat their opponents from their 5 rounds of games. Between rounds we had a chance to practice our moves and tactics to prepare for the next round. It was an exciting and intense day that we all thoroughly enjoyed and we did very well on the leader boards too!

As we prepared for Easter at the end of term, each phase prepared to retell the story in various ways. Children in Reception retold the story of Holy Week to Easter in their assembly, KS1 put on a production of the Easter Story and Years 3 & 4 took us on a journey through the Stations of the Cross.

The Art Afterschool Club have been working hard this term to create their pieces of work for their exhibition. On the last day of the club, they invited their parents to come along to showcase their amazing art skills. We are very proud of the wonderful art they created!

Some of the year 5s and 6s put on a wonderful performance of Macbeth at the new drama space opening at the Beckton Globe. The children devised their own pieces and responded to different feedback to tweak their drama’s. They showed great dedication and hard work by giving up their lunchtimes to rehearse. They were a fabulous team and that showed in their performance. Watch a clip here

As part of our citizenship week project, year 2 have been researching people who help us in our local area. We have also been researching charities to help our local community. We took a trip down to Age UK where we asked some prepared questions, enquiring about the services and work the shop provided. We found out that the shop raises money for the elderly, and that the money goes towards something as simple as a phone call to those who might be lonely. We were very inspired by the volunteers who work in this shop for free.

Young Voices is the world's largest children's choir concert, offering primary school children an unforgettable musical experience, fostering a love for music, and empowering them to discover their voices. Our choir took part in one of the shows at the 02 in February and thoroughly enjoyed singing with 9000 other children to a huge audience that sold out the 02. The children learnt a range of songs from different genres and eras as well as some songs written for the event.

Maths Focus Weeks this year focused on real-world application of maths through fundraising for charity. This was linked to our Gospel value of Option for the Poor. All classes used their maths lessons to organise a fundraising event to raise money for their charity.