Firstly another BIG thank you for all the amazing cakes that you made for the Great Millfields World Book Day Bake-off! And for helping us sell them after school. We are getting feedback from the children about the books they would like to see in the school library. And the children who took part all received a certificate in assembly and winners all received a £5 book voucher! Well done everyone!

This week has really flown by, and the children have been so busy, as always with their learning in school and out and about in the local area.

If there wasn't enough excitement last week after the Art Exhibition, this week has been 'Book Week' at Millfields, and the school has been full of all things reading and celebrated being part of the National Year of Reading. It has been great to hear the children talking about authors and characters in the books and comics that they enjoy reading, and to read the brilliant stories that they have been planning and writing in class -there are definitely some future authors, journalists and playwrights out there!

Classes have visited the local libraries, the school library and the local bookshop, Paiges to spend their World Book day tokens.  We had a great turnout for the Reading Breakfasts for Y3, Y4 and Y5 parents and children. It was lovely to see so many children reading with their adults while enjoying a late breakfast snack. And it was lovely to see the Y1 and Y2 parents coming to Family Reading in class as they do every Friday. All welcome every week!

Yesterday, we had a brilliant time celebrating World Book Day! As ever, well done and 'thank you' to the Millfields' children (and parents of course!), and staff, who all made a massive effort dressing up. All the costumes were amazing - especially the homemade ones!

Also, THANK YOU to the children and parents for the amazing cake creations today -just wow, it was so hard to decide on the winners. All of the children who made something will receive a certificate and we (SLT and Y6 Reading Champions) have chosen 20 winners who will each receive a £5 book token. Well done again and thank you. The cakes and baked goods were sold after school to make some money for new library books to be chosen by our KS2 Reading Champs!. And wow, what a crowd there was! Thank you everyone, and especially to the parents and staff who stepped in to help sell!  There are some photos in the Mag!

A BIG THANK YOU also to all the parents, grandparents and family members who have come into class to read stories this week. Thank you also to the staff who have been reading books in different languages to the classes -Portuguese, Georgian, Irish, Spanish, Germa, Italian and many more. The children have thoroughly enjoyed hearing so many different adults reading to them and have asked for more of this! Thank you so much to all of you who came in! Remember if you are in Nursery or Reception, you are welcome to come in to read throughout the year, please speak to your child's class teacher to arrange this.

Thank you to all the staff, parents and pupils for really entering into the spirit of this week and making World Book Day and all the reading activities throughout the week so enjoyable. And a big thank you' to Sheyenne for organising it all and for having the energy and enthusiasm to make it all happen.

On the sports front, the girls football team did really well earlier this week and won the match on Tuesday to take them through to the semi-finals. And today, the football girls will again take part in a one-off competition to celebrate International Women's Day. We were the winner last year so fingers crossed! So, on Sunday, it is International Women's Day, and we will be marking this through assemblies next week -please speak to your child about a brilliant, talented and inspirational woman that you know and see if they can name one!

Y2 has been learning about inspirational women in History and both Zambezi and Nile classes shared their learning in assemblies this morning -thank you to all the parents who supported their child.

A reminder that Spring term Parents' Evenings are now on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st April. You will need to book your slot via SCOpay , but the actual meetings are in person at school. there will be more information in the next few weeks.

Also coming soon.......Friday 20th March is Comic Relief - Red Nose Day, so it is a non-uniform day and we will be asking you to wear your own clothes - something red, and a red nose! Red noses will be on sale for £2 from all the gates and the main office, from the end of next week, and £1 donation on the day! 

Finally, thank you to the parents who have already volunteered their time to sew on the ID buttons on the children's coats! We have been donated a button for each child with their initials & year group on, by an upcoming company ‘Graf Glyph’. We have a mountain of lost coats with no names in them. We still have lots to go, so if you think you could help in your child's class, please email Debi on dcookhorn@millfields.hackney.sch.uk

Have a good weekend. Take care and stay well. Jane

It was lovely to welcome everyone back after half term, and to see all the children looking rested and ready for this half term's learning! And welcome back to Dudley, our Y5 TA! This week in assemblies we talked about all the celebrations and events over half term -Lunar New Year, the start of Lent -Shrove Tuesday and the start of Ramadan. The children were all very knowledgeable about all of them and we will be continuing to talk about these festivals and celebrations throughout the term.

And, wow, it has been a very busy week as children and staff gathered all the amazing artwork produced during Creative Week before half term, and we were amazed by Jess's vision to create the fantastic Art Exhibition that we welcomed children and their families to on Wednesday evening. This year's 'Creative Week' theme was 'Robots'. We looked at how the world is changing through advances in technology, engineering, and artificial intelligence. We talked about how robots are increasingly used to help people in areas such as healthcare, transport, space exploration, and industry. All of the children created something that contributed to the whole exhibition -from robots, stop animation, futuristic cityscapes, collages and lots more!

Nursery children created robot pictures with printing and paints ; Reception children made 2D robots; Y1 made 3D robots, Y2 made junk-modelling robots; Y3 made robot animals; Y4 and Y5 made futuristic cityscapes. The artwork was varied in so many ways and truly represented all that is in our local community.

Every child in the school produced something for the art display, so it was a truly inclusive event. Both parent and pupil feedback was very positive. A massive well done and thank you to all the staff and of course to the very talented children, and to Jess for having the vision and idea to make it happen in the first place!  Also, Alecia made some delicious food that was on sale and was enjoyed by many parents and children – thank you. The whole evening was a lovely community event and is always one of my favourite nights of the year!

Also this week, Reception children visited Woodberry Wetlands this week as part of their topic work and took part in pond-dipping and minibeasts exploration. The children had a great time, and they found lots of interesting minibeasts. Also, Y3 classes visited Bruce Castle
Museum for a workshop about life in Roman times. This was very useful and has supported in class learning too. Ganges Class visited Cardinal Pole school to take part in a Design technology Workshop -the children loved making their own keyrings!

Today, we were also treated to a  brilliant sharing assembly - the children in Kilimanjaro Class were brilliant. They had written a fantastic script, all learned their lines -and there were lots of them, sang and danced beautifully, worked together, supported each other and entertained all the parents and carers who came. Well done to them all, and thank you to all the parents who came in.

A BIG well done to all the Y5 and Y6 cross country runners who took part in the 4th event of the year, and did brilliantly. All 14 children involved finished in the top 20 and amassed a good points total to keep them in the race for finishing in the top 3 in the league this year! Well done to all the children involved, and thank you to Izaac for organising and supporting, and to all the parents who came to cheer the children on.

A reminder that it is BOOK WEEK next week, and World Book Day is on Thursday 5th March - save the date in your diary. World Book Day 2026 will celebrate the National Year of Reading: 'Go All in' -the National campaign to get more people reading by bringing reading to where culture is. . As well as dressing up as a character from your favourite book, (please do not go out and spend money on new costumes - re-use and up-cycle!). We are also asking you to design and make a cake, cup cake, bread or other savoury foods that represent their favourite book in 'The Great Millfields Bake-off' on Friday 6th March! Prizes will be going to children from each key stage for the best bakes! Then after judging, we will be selling them in the playground at 2.30pm. -all proceeds to the school library fund!

Please see the email and posters that went out earlier this week and again today about all the book activities happening - reading breakfasts for Y3, Y4 and Y5, as well as classes visiting Pages Book Shop, and parents reading to their child's class.

Finally, please make sure that we have 2 or more contact numbers for your child - this is a safeguarding issue. Please email info@millfields.hackney.sch.uk with any additional numbers/contacts or number updates.

Stay well and keep safe. Have a good weekend. Best Wishes, Jane

I cannot believe that we are at the end of this half term already and that means half way through the academic year! It has been a very busy one with Hispanic Week, Creative Week, Safer Internet Day, Workshops, trips and lots more!

The school has been filled with lots and lots of artists this week as all the children have enjoyed being part of 'Creative Week'. Every class has really embraced the theme - 'Robots' and have been thinking about how is the world changing through advances in technology, engineering, and artificial intelligence. Robots are increasingly used to help people in areas such as healthcare, transport, space exploration, and industry. Every child has created something that will contribute to the immersive art exhibition. There are some amazing creations, and I cannot wait to see all of this come together for our 'Creative Evening' on Wednesday 25th February from 4pm -7pm. Save the date! Timed tickets will be available via Eventbrite -look out for an email with instructions on how to book.

A HUGE THANK YOU to our Art Lead, Jess for planning and organising us all this week, and to all the staff who worked with the children to make this happen! And BIG thank you to you for all the junk materials and to the children's amazing creativity in imagining and producing some fantastic artwork.

Today is also Children's Mental Health Day, and the children have been immersed in the theme: 'This is my place'. Classes talked about belonging, about the feeling of being valued as part of a group and places that are important to them.  They discussed that belonging to a group makes you feel cared for and comfortable to be yourself and the more places you belong, the more you feel valued and happy. All of the children made a personal island map, and were given the opportunity to share and explain their island to friends if they wanted. Also, all of the older children completed a well-being survey that we will look at after half term to address anything raised.

On the sporting front, we took part in Hackney Schools Cycling League on Hackney Downs yesterday. The children from Y4 and Y5 involved did so well and we won the event overall and are now 100 points clear at the top of the league! Well done everyone, and thanks to Nishie, and Logan, and all the parents who came along to support.

Also this week, the children in Y6 visited The Ben Kinsella Trust - an anti knife crime charity that educates young people away from youth violence and campaigns to stop knife crime. This is always a thought-provoking trip, so please support your child if there are any questions, or visit the website. https://benkinsella.org.uk/

As always, thank you to all the adults that support the children at Millfields every day, and especially with the many trips -teachers, support staff and parents and carers.

Finally, 'Happy Valentine's Day' for tomorrow. Have a lovely half term with family and friends, whether you are travelling or just relaxing at home.

Enjoy, stay safe, take care. Jane

It seems to have been a very long and busy week for us all, mainly due to the amount of rain and therefore 'Wet Play'! We really do try to get the children outside as much as possible but sometimes the weather is just too bad and we don;t want the children getting soaked... a little bit of rain is okay but this means that your child needs to be wearing a waterproof coat please!

Despite the rain, the children in class and around school have of course continued to have enriching and enjoyable learning experiences this week.

Firstly, a big 'well done' to both the girls and boys football teams who represented Millfields brilliantly in the 5 aside and 9 aside Hackney leagues. Thank you to Izaac for his support and organisation!

Today was NSPCC Numbers day! THANK YOU to everyone for getting into the spirit and dressing up! There were some fabulous t-shirt designs, lots of dominoes and dice, Rubik cubes, clocks, calculators, as well as lots of home-made maths puzzles. Thank you also for the donations that will be sent directly to the NSPCC to support vital services like 'Speak out, Stay safe' and Childline. We have raised more than £350! The children have enjoyed a day of Maths puzzles, games and problems, and especially the TTime Tables RockStar competition to be the best TTRS individual player and best TTRS class! Winners will be announced in assemblies next week. Thank you to Emma for organising us all!

Also, we are all very excited for next week as it is 'Creative week'. The theme this year is 'Robots: How is the World Changing?' The world is changing through advances in technology, engineering, and artificial intelligence. Robots are increasingly used to help people in areas such as healthcare, transport, space exploration, and industry.  The children in each year group will be focussing on one thing e.g. - Printmaking & Painting in Nursery, 2D Robots in Reception, 3D robots in Y1, junk-modelling robots in Y2, Robot animals in Y3, Futuristic cityscapes in Y4 and Y5 and robot animation and film in Y6.  The children will then produce pieces of artwork based on their specific area throughout the week. For those who are new to Millfields this year, all of the work produced during this week - something from every child, will form an exhibition that parents are invited to visit. Our Art Exhibition will be ready for you all to see on Wednesday 25th February from 4pm-7pm - save the date and look out for more information via email and text about how to book a ticket for the sell-out event!

We will also mark 'Safer Internet Day' on Tuesday 10th February and Children's Mental Health Day that will involve an activity linked with our creative week work, as well as completing a questionnaire, next week on Friday 13th February.

In the meantime, you could get creative and produce some amazing artwork to submit to the Royal Academy of Art. See the link here for more information: https://youngartists.royalacademy.org.uk/

Finally, please note a change in the dates for our upcoming Parents' Evenings. Due to Ramadan, we have moved the Parents Evenings scheduled for March, to Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st April.

I hope you have a good weekend. Take care and stay well. Best Wishes, Jane

We have had another wonderful week of learning, despite the weather and the need for wet play earlier in the week! It is always quite tricky for many children to be inside all day, so we have tried to have some time outside even if it is slightly raining. And there have been so many exciting lessons and learning happening across the school.

The Nursery children have have made kites and luckily we have had lots of wind this week, so they really enjoyed trying them out in the playground earlier this week. Reception classes have been learning about space, and have been reading books, painting and drawing, learning about planets, rockets, Martians and lots more. Shannon Class shared their learning in a lovely first Sharing Assembly this morning. Thank you to all the parents who came and for your support in getting the children ready. It was lovely to see and hear all the children confidently share what they have learnt with other EYFS children and their parents.

On Monday, Y5 and Y2 classes took part in fire safety workshops led by local Fire-Fighters. The children were really interested and learnt a lot. Thanks to LFB for their time. They In Geography, Year 5 classes have been learning more about the UK, especially about human and physical geography, the use of land and how this has changed over time. They did some research on the coastal town of Happisburgh. Y2 classes have been learning about Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole in History. Y1 classes have been finding out about the kind of toys that their parents might have used and have also been practising their acting skills as part of English work on the book 'Man on the Moon'. Yangtze Class in y4 visited Cardinal pole Secondary School to take part in a DT workshop -they had a great time and brought back the keyrings they made. Well done Yangtze!

Thank you also to all the many Reception parents who attended the Reading session on Monday -we hope you found the session useful and that your child will benefit! Thank you to Sheyenne and Kimberlie for organising and sharing the resources we use in school. After half term, we will be asking parents to volunteer to read in Reception classes at the end of the day, so watch out for the email/on Google Classroom to sign up! Next week on Tuesday 3rd February, there is a meeting for Y1 parents about the Phonics screening check that takes place in June. Please look at your emails to sign up!

Again, thank you also to the parents who attended the Y4 Multiplication Tables Parent Information session on Tuesday. We hope you found it useful and that it will help you support your child to get ready for the tests that take place in June. Please look out for the Power-Point and other information via email for those who could not make it to the session. Thanks to Emma for organising.

Finally, some very exciting news for Fuji Class this week -they wrote letters to the King to tell him about their learning about the role of women in the Second World War and their assembly performance, and his office have written back to Fuji Class -you can see the letter, later in the Mag! Well done Fuji and thank you Bruno!

I hope you have a good weekend -it's definitely getting lighter earlier, so Spring is here! Take care and stay well. Jane

We have had another wonderful week of learning at Millfields! The children have all been very busy in class and around the school.

Reception classes have been learning about space, and have been reading books, painting and drawing - learning about planets, rockets, Martians and lots more. Mersy Class shared their learning in a lovely first Sharing Assembly this morning -lovely singing and great knowledge about the planets and space. It was amazing to see and hear all the children, even though a few were a little bit shy, sharing what they have learnt with other EYFS children and their parents. Thank you to all the parents who came, and for your support in getting the children ready. Well done Mersey Class!

Y3 classes visited Hmapstead Heath as part of Science learning about rocks and soil. It was very wet but lots of fun and learning took place!

Next week, we have lots of meetings for parents to support your child's learning. On Monday 26th, there is a Reception Parents Reading meeting at 9am. Then on Tuesday 27th January at 9am or 5pm, for Y4 parents, there will be an information session about the Y4 Multiplication Tables Test that every child in England takes later this year. The following week on Monday 2nd February, for Year 1 parents, there is a meeting about the Phonics test at 9am / 5.00pm. Look out for emails and texts with more details. We hope to see lots of you there.

Congratulations and well done to the Y5 and Y6 Cyclists who took part in a Roller Bike session this week as part of the Hackney Cycling League. We had quite a few top 3 spots and we continue to lead the Hackney league table after 4 events. Thanks to the parents who came along to support the team and to Nishie as always!

Naomi met with our Eco-Champions this week, and I would like to remind you that they are very keen for you all to get involved in the RSPB National Birdwatch. The Big Garden Birdwatch is for everyone, whether you're a complete beginner or a twitching expert. Simply count the birds you see in your garden, from your balcony or in your local park for one hour between 23rd and 25th January 2026. More information here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch. Debi and I also talked about this in SLT Assemblies this week, and Y1 and Y2 were keen to share all their knowledge and their sightings of so many different birds, so I have asked them to please bring drawings and paintings of any birds they spot this weekend -thanks in advance for your support!

This week, our Prime Minister, Anayah and her friends trialled a new initiative -'Healthy Snack Shop' for Y5 and Y6 at morning break. The children bought tokens ahead of the break, and there was much excitement around the playground! There was a long queue, and the shop was very busy! The next step is to trial this with Y3 and Y4, and then we will make a decision with the School Council and staff about the way forward if feedback is positive! Thank you to Anayah, Bjorn, Asmi  and Valeria for all their efforts! Well done!

It is nearly that time of the year for Millfields 'Creative Week'. This is happening from Monday 9th - Friday 13th February when the children will all be immersed in this year's creative project that combines creativity with mental health. The children will produce pieces of artwork based on this theme throughout the week. For those who are new to Millfields this year, all of the work produced during this week - something from every child, will form an exhibition that parents are invited to visit. This will take place after half term on Wednesday 25th February, from 4pm-7pm, so please save the date.

Finally, please note the letter/email regarding school uniform and bringing items into school, including toys, jewellery, phones and smart watches! The children have also been talking about this in Class Council. Thanks for your continued support with this.

Have a great weekend. Take care and stay well. Jane