We had a fabulous turn out on World Book Day –thank you to all the children and staff who dressed up as a book character as we celebrated World Book Day. There will be prizes for some of the best costumes given out next week during Celebration Assemblies. There has been a real buzz around reading, books and their authors this week, as all the classes have been preparing for meeting their authors as part of the Pop-Up Book event next week. The children have been reading the books, preparing questions to ask authors and illustrators, and writing their own stories to share with the authors when they visit the classrooms next week. There will also be a school Book Fair in the next week or so, so please either keep your £1 book token for then or visit a local bookshop at the weekend, as there is a special range of books at the discount price. Look our for more details of the author events in next week’s Mag.

This week all the class teachers have been observed teaching as part of the school’s self evaluation and monitoring cycle, and of course the pupils have been observed learning, by the senior leaders in the school. The lessons observed were all Literacy lessons and focussed on the children learning about spelling, punctuation and grammar, and how to apply this knowledge to their writing. We have observed some great story openers, story endings and heard children using some great vocabulary, and using a wide range of strategies to write, so well done to all of you – Definitely some future writers and novelists in our midst.

The wait for Year 6 pupils is now over, as they found out this week which secondary school they will be attending in September. This year the 75 children are going to over 15 different schools in and out of borough, so we hope they will stay in touch when the time comes. Thank you to all the parents from Year 6 who attended a meeting about the end of year celebrations  -please look out for further texts and letters to see how you can get involved or see Anne-Marie Dawkins (mother of Romario) for more information.

Parents Evening is also coming up soon –TUESDAY 25th MARCH. Please look out for the sign up sheets in the bottom hall, in the next week or so. Also a reminder this week, that children do need to be wearing school uniform. As the weather gets warmer, please ensure that your child wears appropriate school clothing, and wears sensible shoes.

Have a lovely weekend, and enjoy a bit of sunshine at last! Best Wishes, Jane

We have had a very exciting and very busy week at Millfields, not least because of the arrival of the new chicks that hatched earlier this week in the Nursery, and the owls that visited the Nursery, Reception and Year 1 children in assembly. The Nursery children are delighted that they saw some of the chicks pecking their way out of their shells and are now watching them grow in to the fluffy yellow chicks that we all love! The children were amazed and fascinated by the owls that visited on Tuesday –they watched the owls feeding, and ‘wowed’ at them flying low and swooping above their heads. The Year 1 children especially are very keen to learn more about owls –they have been reading stories, researching on the internet and looking at non-fiction books, as well as writing and drawing in class and at home.

Year 2 children have also been looking at non-fiction texts, and visited the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum this week as part of their learning. Mexico City shared fantastic work and interesting facts and figures about dinosaurs –their names, what they eat and where they used to live, in assembly today. Year 6 children also shared their love of books through mini plays based on their guided reading books in the Sharing Assembly this morning.

Well done to and keep up the enthusiasm for learning!

Also this week, some of our swimming team had the opportunity to visit the Olympic Aquatic Centre before it opens to the public this weekend. The children enjoyed a special tour around the pool and facilities, and received a goody bag to remember their visit. We are hoping that they will also have an opportunity to swim there sometime soon as well! Thank you to Sharon, Cynthia and Naomi (Marlow’s mum –Y6) for supporting the trip.

Some of Beijing Class also visited the National Theatre on Wednesday evening to see the play ‘Emil and the Detectives’ which is the book that this class are reading as part of the Booklinks (Pop-up author) visits that are coming up later this half term. The children were all very well-behaved and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, including the ice creams during the interval! They are also writing their own detective story, as Nicole has apparently been kidnapped! So look out for more on this in the coming weeks. All of the classes will have a visiting author during the week beginning 10th March. This is always a great week for the children who love the fact that the writer and/or illustrator of the book they have been reading is visiting their class.

Finally, we are still waiting for the final figures on the money made from the C-H-R-S-T-M-A-S single and will let you know as soon as we do! Meanwhile, the next phase of the re-development of the playground is due to take place over the Easter break. The plans for the playground can be viewed on the school website, and will be up in the Reception area next week, so please do have a look to see what all the money raised so far is going to fund and our future plans.

Have a good weekend. Best Wishes, Jane

Best Wishes, Jane

The children and staff from the Autism Resource Base have enjoyed a fantastic week at the annual residential at Kench Hill, near Tenterden in Kent. The children have braved all weathers, and enjoyed a country walk, visiting the Rare Breeds Farm -feeding and tending the farm animals, baking and cooking using local ingredients, and generally enjoying the outdoors! Thank you to all the staff and parents who were with the children  all week –hope they enjoy a well-deserved rest over half term.

There have been lots of trips and outings this week. Reception classes visited the Science Museum, the afternoon pupils in Green Class enjoyed their first experience of Forest School –more information on this will be available on our website soon, and Year 2 children enjoyed a trip to the Fire Station. We have had lots of positive comments from members of the public and parents and carers who supported teachers on the trips, about the excellent behaviour and conduct of the children on the buses, tube and in the public spaces. Well done to all the children –you are fantastic ambassadors for the school!. Thank you to the  parents who gave up their time to accompany their child’s class on their trip.

Thank you also to all the parents/families who took part in the Home Spanish Quiz, and ‘well done’ to all the children who have been nominated by Belen and their teachers, as the most enthusiastic leaners during Spanish Week. The winners of a dual language book or Spanish phrasebook, that will be awarded in assemblies after half term are as follows: Clagray –Juelz and Shanteanna, Paris –Uma, Saoirse and Viggo, Vancouver –Nia and Fergus, Mexico City –Haniah and Solly, Rome –Zarah P and Joseph B, Rio –Mari and Theo, Barcelona –Laura and Tyrese, Moscow –Abdur Rahman and Amelia, Innsbruck –Jasmine and Riley, Tokyo –Anoushka and Oliver, Seoul –Anwar and Aleksandra , Helsinki –Georgie and Kyle, London –Devraj and Sara, Beijing –Tamara and Sylejman, New York –Ummhanni and Khan, Athens –Ayo and Iona, Grenoble –Clara and Jacob, Oslo –Julia and Enes.

We have had a visit from the LA School Improvement Partner this week. This is part of the school improvement plan that looks at teaching and learning. The visit focussed mainly on the teaching of reading and writing across the school as well as scrutinising data and talking to a group of pupils about their learning and behaviours for learning. The children were great and spoke about how they are helped to learn in class, and how they can be independent learners because of the use of target sheets, marking and feedback to tell them what they need to do next in their learning. Thank you and well done on a successful visit to all the staff and pupils.

Finally, I hope you all have a fantastic break over half term with your families, and I hope to see you all bright and early on Monday 24th February.

Best Wishes, Jane

We have had a fantastic Spanish week, thanks to all the staff and to Belen in particular for all the organisation and enthusiasm! Lots of the children have made a real effort to dress up today in Spanish outfits including Spanish footballers, Flamenco dancers or just wearing the red and yellow colours of the Spanish flag. The children have all been learning more about Spanish speaking countries, learning new vocabulary, cooking Spanish food, learning how to dance the salsa and they thoroughly enjoyed watching the dance show yesterday afternoon! Thank you also to the Spanish-speaking parents who gave up their time to speak to different classes, and to Leea and her staff for the Spanish influenced menu this week. We have had lots of family quizzes back and Belen will be marking them over the weekend and letting the winners know, and present them with their prize next week. Also, each class teacher has been asked to choose two pupils in their class who have been especially enthusiastic and worked hard this week –they too will receive prizes in assemblies next week.

We have been reinforcing the importance of wearing school uniform this week. I hope that you all received a letter reinforcing this, and thank you to all the parents who have supported us by ensuring their children are wearing the correct uniform colours and clothing. Please also make sure that all the children are wearing appropriate shoes or boots, especially in the wet weather.

Well done to all the cross-country runners who took part in an cross-school event at Hackney Downs again this week. The children are all really enjoying the experience and are making progress at each event, as well as doing a great job of representing the school. Keep it up!

The teachers have been busy as a whole staff group, looking at and levelling the children’s writing. There is a real focus on writing in class at the moment and the children are all working hard on SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar), as well as using their fantastic imaginations and own experiences to write some fantastic fiction and non-fiction pieces. The children (and teachers) should be very proud of their achievements especially in Year 2 and Year 6. I hope you will have the opportunity to look at their writing at the Parents’ evening on Wednesday 26th March. More details of this after half term.

I can hardly believe that we are almost half way through the academic year –next Friday 14th February is the last day of the half term, and is also non-uniform day. The children in Year 5 have decided to make the theme -’Dress to impress’ as it is Valentines Day, so I look forward to seeing all the children dressed up. Please remember to bring £1 for the playground development fund.

Finally, I hope you have a good weekend.
Best Wishes, Jane

Gong Hey Fat Choy! Gong Xi Fa Cai!  Happy Chinese New Year! This year is the Year of the Horse and the children have been treated to a lovely Chinese meal at lunch and the Children Centre are having a special Chinese New Year event for families this afternoon. I hope that all our families who celebrate Chinese New Year enjoy the celebrations this weekend. There is always a great procession, and lots of food stalls, workshops and market in central London. So if you are at a loose end on Sunday, please pop down to China town.

We have been very busy in class and out and about this week. Year 5 enjoyed a fantastic trip to Cadbury World in Birmingham as part of their topic on food. They had a great time learning about the history of Cadburys and seeing how chocolate is made, and of course they all had lots of opportunities to taste the chocolate! Tokyo Class went on their WOW visit to Greenwich Observatory today, and enjoyed the whole experience - finding out about the planets and stars, as part of their Science work.

In Sports this week, a group of our KS2 children took part in an Interschool Cross country event and did very well with many children finishing in the top 20 –well done all of you. Also, some of our more able pupils took part in the HTSA Sports Event at Clapton Academy. Well done to Victoria Nkan who was voted ‘most outstanding athlete’! We are very proud of you!

Let’s hope we see some sun and less rain this weekend! 
Best Wishes, Jane

Today we hosted a special visit from a group of 24 Dutch students and their tutors, who looked around our school to get an idea of what schooling is like in England, and London in particular.  This is the 3rd time that the Koning Willem College have visited Millfields and they say that it is a very important opportunity for their students to see inclusion and community education. The children were all very happy to speak to the visitors about their learning and were proud to show their books. The visitors were very impressed, and commented on the good behaviour, the concentration and hard work in lessons and the diversity of the staff and pupils. They have left us a small donation for the playground fund as a ‘thank you’.

Also this week, Year 3 classes have visited a contrasting UK locality –Ashwell in Hertfordshire as part of their topic work. They had a great time meeting the children from Ashwell School, and also enjoyed looking around the village at the old buildings, including a house with a thatched roof, and they loved the stream with stepping stones that led to a spring that they could drink pure water from. The highlight for many though was the fantastic bakers that made iced buns for them! The children from Ashwell will be visiting Millfields in the summer term.

Year 6 had a great time and learnt loads on their trip to the Harry Potter Warner Brother Studios on Wednesday. The children were all very excited on their return as they had been in the great hall, had seen lots of props from the films and took part in a clue trail around the site. This will help develop some of the great writing talent that we have in Year 6 this year!

Helsinki Class have also been on their WOW trip this week –they visited the Greenwich Observatory as part of their work on the sun, moon and planets. Other visits this week included Year 6 taking part in a Citizenship afternoon at Hackney Town Hall, where Year 6  had the opportunity to learn about life skills ahead of secondary school.There are lots of other trips and events happening over the next few weeks, so please make sure that you return letters to the main office, and please help if you can during Spanish Week –the letter and quiz will be with you soon.

Finally, as it is very topical nationally, please can I remind you that it is important to get to school on time. Research does show that children who are persistently late do not achieve as well as their peers who are on time. Often reading or phonics groups have started, or sometimes even finished by the time some children arrive at school. This disrupts your child’s learning and the learning of others. Please try to be on time!Finally,

I hope you have a peaceful weekend.
Best Wishes, Jane

This week seems to have flown by and as ever there has been lots going on at Millfields!  Year 1 classes visited the Geffrye Museum this week as part of their work on ‘Houses and Homes’.  The children really enjoyed looking at all the different rooms from different periods in time, and listened well, asked good questions and made amazing observations as part of the workshop.  I know that the children will be using ideas from their trip to design and make their own room over the next few weeks. Seoul Class visited The Greenwich Observatory today as part of their topic on ‘The Universe’.  This is always a fascinating trip and the children learn lots to feed back in to their work in class.

The staff have been very busy learning this week (as well as teaching your children in class!), as there have been lots of training opportunities.  Some teachers visited Clapton Academy yesterday to look at the teaching of PE, an others are part of a ‘Becoming Outstanding’ course that helps to further develop teachers in their second and third year of teaching, specifically aimed at hackney teachers.  Abigail, the History lead has also visited Clapton Academy today to look at the teaching of history at KS3, to help Millfields get ready for the new history curriculum from September 2014.  As you may know, the national curriculum has been revised and there is a new curriculum that has to be implemented from September 2014.  The subject leaders at Millfields have been working on the transition, looking at the changes, developing new schemes of work and looking at resources.  We have appointed Leon Beardshaw as curriculum lead, so he will be working with colleagues on the Middle Leadership Team, and Deputy Head, Kate, to ensure that we are planned and ready in September.

Belen, our Spanish teacher, has been working with other teachers in the HTSA (Hackney Teaching School Alliance—more information on this via the school website) to develop a scheme of work for Spanish, as the teaching of a modern foreign language becomes compulsory in years 3-6 from September 2014.  Millfields are already a long way down the road in terms of teaching Spanish and of course, we have a scheme for EYFS and KS1 classes too.  Belen will be working with and supporting other schools with Spanish over the next few terms.  Thank you Belen for all the work you have done so far!

Today, we have also had eight students visiting from the institute of education to work with Alex Cruse, Science Lead.  And we also have students and a researcher from the university of Brighton working with the school council—looking at children’s views on debt and finance!  We will be getting feedback via their research report at a later date.  Next week we will be reporting back on lots of sports events!

I hope you have a good weekend.  
Best wishes, Jane.