Welcome back to everyone at Millfields — pupils, parents/carers and staff. I hope you have had a good summer break, and enjoyed time with friends and family. A special welcome to all our new Nursery and Reception class children and parents/carers and other new starters throughout the school.

Welcome also to all our new staff; Cheniece, Rosie H, Emily, Rachel P, Mia, Nuzha, Hurvinder and Suheer, and welcome back to Rosie M and Rachel Stone. The children all seem happy and settled in their new classes with their new teachers and they have quickly learnt new routines.  They all seem to be enjoying working in their new classrooms, and enjoying the first week’s learning.

Each class has been revisiting behaviour for learning expectations –respecting everyone, supporting and actively listening to each other, discussing and explaining ideas and taking responsibility for their own learning. All our classes are named after British authors, artists, scientists and inventors -there is an overview on the school website. So, this week, the children have been learning about the person their class is named after—please discuss this with them to see what they have learnt. As part of a whole school competition, the children have also been learning lots of facts and trivia about their famous person which will be transformed in to a decorative classroom door!

The children have also taken part in class activities to launch their new topic and WOW trips to enthuse and encourage learning around new topics will be taking place over the next few weeks.  You will have received a letter about trips via email; the one-off payment will cover all trips and outings, please respond ASAP along with the £20 contribution. There will be additional copies of all letters available at the main office.

The Year Group 'Welcome Meetings' are taking place next week –see the next page for or the information on the website.  These sessions are an opportunity for you to meet your child’s new teacher and find out what they will be learning in school, have a look at their learning environment , and see what a day in the life of a child in that year group looks like. There will also be some handy tips about how you can support your child at home.

Thank you to all of you - parents and carers for making such a great effort with school uniform. All of the children are looking rested and refreshed and extremely smart in their new uniforms. A reminder that children should be wearing black or navy sensible shoes and please, no tops with hoods.

We try our very best to ensure that you are all kept informed via lots of differnet forums, so please remember to look for information on the school noticeboards, on the digital screen in the playground, on the school website, via text or email, as well as in the Millfields Mag. If you have not let the office know your email address or you have recently changed your mobile phone number please let them know asap. Class information, notices, trips and home learning opportunites are all communicated through the 'Marvellous Me' APP. If you have not yet downloaded this, please do asap if you don't want to miss out on any class-specific information. You will also need a passcode, so please email info@millfields.hackney.sch.uk to get it set up.

Next weekend is the Thames Festival and if you have never been before, it is well worth visiting the many activities that take place along the South Bank, and also an opportunity to come to the Scoop outside City Hall on Sunday 15th September, where Millfields Choir will join lots of other school choirs from across London to sing as part of the festival.

Finally, it is really important that children get in to class on time and begin their daily routine. From Monday 9th, all classes Rec–Y6 will be able to come in to school from 8:45am for a prompt 8:50 start. Please note that if you arrive after 8:50am, you will be marked late. Please sign Please also note that on a Friday school finishes at 2:15pm.  Please sign up and pay for enrichment activities (2.30pm-3.30pm) before 12 noon each week.

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

Welcome Meetings

I hope you are all enjoying the last few days of the holidays, spending time with family and friends.

I would like to remind you of the school hours. School starts at 8.50am every day and pupils will be able to walk in to school from 8.45 each day. School finishes at 2.15pm every Friday.

At the beginning of each academic year, there is a Year Group meeting for parents and carers who have children in Years 1-6. This is an opportunity to meet the teachers in each year group and to find out about what your children will be learning this year, as well as visit the classroom and find out about some of the class and school routines and expectations. The teachers will also let you know how and when it is best to contact them. There will be time for questions too!

All meetings will take place in the midle hall. The meeting times are below:

Class Welcome Meetings 2019

Monday 9th September at 2.45pm -Year 1

Tuesday 10th September at 2.45pm -Year 2

Wednesday 11th September at 2.45pm -Year 3

Thursday 12th September at 2.45pm -Year 4

Thursday 19th September at 2.45pm -Year 5

Monday 16th September at 2.45pm -Year 6

*Nursery and Reception Classes will have a meeting later in the term once the children have settled as the majority of parents and pupils have had home visits.

Autumn Term PARENTS' EVENING: Wednesday 13^th November 2019

I cannot believe that it is the end of another academic year and as always, there has been lots of hard work, fantastic learning, some challenges but most importantly lots to celebrate and lots of rewards! We organised so many amazing events; we had many successes; academically, in the sports arena and in the creative field; we celebrated together; we shared learning opportunities. We worked together as a team, a community and have created memories for another year! Thanks to all the children, staff, parents and the wider community for all of your support, compassion, enthusiasm and energy – none of the amazing things that happen at Millfields could happen without all of you. This year has been made so special for me person-ally as I celebrate 30 years at Millfields. On that first day I joined the, then, Millfields Junior School, as a newly qualified teacher in Y3, who had never been to Hackney before, I could never have imagined still being here, and still loving every day. I can honestly say that no two days have ever been even remotely the same, and every day, and every year I meet so many wonderful new colleagues and of course new children who are undoubtedly the heart of this very special place! A thousand thanks again for my amazing gifts, and for the fantastic signed book from all the children and staff, and a song written about me! There have been so many very special moments -thank you. As I reinforce every year, the Millfields School community is definitely very special and I am humbled and proud to be a part of it.

As always we are very sad to see the children in Year 6 get ready to move on to the next stage in their educational journey. This group of Year 6 children are an amazing group of talented and confident individuals who have been true ambassadors for the school in every way and on every forum. From their very first day, at the start of their journey at Millfields, it has been an absolute pleasure. The end of year performance of ‘Aladdin’ was just brilliant – great staging, costumes, acting, singing and most of all good humour and fun. This year group have worked extremely hard, they have been enthusiastic learners, good friends and considerate classmates. They have always been excited to learn and take part in all aspects of school life. They have all developed confidence in their own way and become informed and articulate, and not afraid to share their views and opinions; there are many big personalities as well as a few quite talented individuals in many fields – writers, actors, singers, musi-cians, sportsmen and women, footballers, cyclists, politicians, dancers, singers, ambassadors and entrepreneurs! I know we will definitely hear some of your names again in the future, of that I am sure. Remember – continue to make sure your voice is heard and be the best that you can be! Well done – we are going to miss you all!

At our end of term celebration assembly today, we recognised all the hard work of our very dedicated and enthusiastic class champions – Eco, Learning, Road Safety and Language champions. We also thanked Prime Minister, Kit and Deputy, Annie for all their work – they have made some changes and differences to many aspects of school life. We also celebrated the 4th successive Hackney Cycling League trophy, as well as recognising the amazing sponsored cycle ride and the children who passed their Bikeability training. Well done everyone! I am always very proud of your effort and achievements!

Last, but certainly not least, we are again, saying a goodbye and a huge ‘thank you’ to some members of staff who are moving on to many varied and exciting ventures in the UK and the rest of the world! Farewell to teachers– Dorothy, who I think is finally retiring and having a rest we hope (after all the tears today), Y6 teacher and PE Lead, Matthew who is moving up North, and our SENCo, Lilly, who is moving on to a new role in SEND; also to Jade who is taking sabbatical and heading off to Australia, and Bruno who will be travelling for a few months before returning in February. Also, farewell and bon voyage to Mahalia who is also off to Australia! I know you will join me in thanking them for all their work at Millfields and wishing them all the best and good luck for the future! Good luck and best wishes also to Keli, who is getting married during the summer!

And finally, good luck to all the children and families who are moving out of London to new houses and new schools over the summer –we will miss you all! Thank you everyone, have a great summer break, and see you on Wednesday 4th September at 8.45am. Set those alarm clocks now!

Best Wishes, and have a fantastic summer. Jane

This week was a nervous one for our Year 6 children who awaited their KS2 SATS results that were published on Tuesday. I am really pleased to say that all the children did very well and have made us and their families very proud. The hard work and determination has definitely paid off! The results for the school will be validated and published nationally in the Autumn term, and on the school website in the next week, but initial calculations show that 80% of pupils made the expected level in Maths, 83% in Reading 82% in Writing and 87% in SPaG. the combined RWM score that the school is essentially measured on is 77%, so a huge well done to all the children and to all the school staff who have worked so hard with the children this year!

As I write this, I am really hoping to hear that Millfields have built on their points at today's event and won the Hackney Cycling League again, but will need to update you next week! Everyone associated with the team are so proud of all the riders in Y4, Y5 and Y6 who took part this year to ensure that we led from the start of the season so fingers crossed! A huge ‘thank you’ to Paul, Karen and Nicky who do all the hard work organising the team, fixing the bikes and raising money for the team. Thank you also to Sharon, Theo, Dudley, Sumon and Chris who have supported the team this year. Well done everyone!

The music department, all of Year 6 staff and all of the Y6 children have been busy preparing for the end of year show, which is ‘Aladdin’. All of the children will have an opportunity to watch this next week, and Year 6 families are invited to an afternoon performance at 2.15pm and evening performance at 7pm on Tuesday 16th July. As part of the Y5 Music curriculum, 2 classes visited the Stratford Theatre to see the Benjamin Britain performance of 'Noyye Fludd' -they had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the music.

Thank you to the parents and carers who dropped in to speak to their child’s class teacher about their reports and/or pick up SATS results yesterday and to those who have completed the feedback sheet. Please hand them in to the main office if you would like to give us your views.

This week, Reception classes have visited the Diana Memorial Gardens and had so much fun splashing about in the water. Year 2 classes, Hepworth and Riley visited the Fire of London workshop at the Museum of London and really enjoyed finding out more about the topic they have already learnt so much about.

Yesterday was Transition morning for all of the children and staff. We welcomed back Rosie from maternity leave, Rachel Stone from her year out, new teachers – Emily, Cheneice, Rosie, Mia and Rachel Pan to the Millfields staff team. Our class names are staying the same this year; EYFS classes are named after British authors; KS1 classes are named after British artists; LKS2 classes are named after British inventors; and UKS2 classes are named after British Scientists. It is going to take all the staff and children some time to learn all the new names, but I hope that your child will have spoken to you about their class name and that you will help them research and find out more about their class namesakes over the holidays. I hope that your child enjoyed their morning with their new class teacher/s. It is always a difficult task to allocate teachers to classes and there are always many reasons that my team and I have to consider when making this decision, factors that you may not be aware of as parents, but please be assured that the decisions are not taken lightly and much thought always goes in to the process to ensure the best outcomes both academically and socially, for all of the children in the class as a whole.  The class allocations, with the new names can be found on the website under the parents information section. Support staff allocations have not yet been finalised, but we are confident that we can again maintain the high ratio of pupil-staff next year despite the budget cuts. A list of all the school staff will be available on the school website at the beginning of the school year.

It has been 'Safety Week' this week, so please talk to your child about the different kinds of dangers we have been talking about in assembly and in class -road safety, rail safety, how to do CPR in a medical emergency, water safety and e-safety.

Please note that London Day is on Thursday 18th July, and all classes will be visiting a London park as their end of year trip. Also, please note that the last day of term in Friday 19th July at 2pm. All end of year class parties with the exception of Newton Class will take place in the morning of Friday 19th July -teachers will let you know what you can bring.

Have a good weekend and enjoy the sunshine. Best, Jane

Firstly, a ‘huge thank you’ again to all the parents and staff who made a contribution towards the amazingly generous gift to mark 30 years at Millfields! As I have said previously, I really had no idea and am so very grateful and humbled by your generosity and kind words. I am truly honoured to have been a part of the Millfields community for so long!

It was also a very sad day last Friday, when we said ‘Adios’ to Luis, our well-loved and amazing school-keeper, colleague and friend.  He was a true gentleman and I can honestly say that everyone loved him. We will miss him, but wish him all the best of luck back in Colombia

It was so good to see everyone in the sun at the Summer Fair last Saturday. There was such a great community feel to the whole event, and it was lovely to see so many children and their families enjoy the day. As ever a big thank you to all the members of the PSA who worked so hard before, during and after the event to ensure it was a success! Along with the sponsorship from the Keatons boards, the total was over £8000, so a thank you and well done everyone! A special mention Alison Quinn, who has been one of the main PSA organisers for many years now, who has stepped down in her role as Chair –thank you so much for all your time and commitment to the group and to the school. Thanks also to all the staff who cooked the amazing food that was on sale and to all the year groups for their organisation of pupil-made goods this year!

Also another big thank you to all the parents who sponsored the staff or made donations to MIND last week. The staff took part in the now annual walk for MIND in memory of our colleague and friend Alice. The money is still being counted, and we are still taking donations at the main office. I will let you know how much was raised in due course.

I don’t think there is anyone in our community that doesn’t know it is ‘Sports and Healthy Living Week’, as we have started each morning with a very loud and very energetic aerobic workout!  The children, staff and lots of parents have joined in and had great fun while keeping fit! Thank you to Kimberlie, Fiona, Roz, Matt and Fintan for leading these sessions for us. Over the week, each class has had a chance to try different sports and activities including tennis, table-tennis, archery, fencing, basketball, gymnastics, football, hula-hooping, yoga and Zumba. Some classes also visited the Junior Gym at Kings Hall. Classes have also been looking at healthy food, including sugar content in lots of the things we like to eat every day and we have been making healthy snacks and breakfasts. The sugar-free waffles and fruit have been a huge hit!

Thank you to all the parents and carers and the staff who have supported each age-phase Sports Day. We have been blessed with lovely weather and each day has worked well and we have celebrated lots of excellent effort and achievement, but most importantly, lots of fun! Thank you especially to Sharon and Dwayne who have been organising the days to make sure they all ran smoothly. And the biggest ‘thank you’ for this week has to go to Matthew who has worked for weeks behind the scenes getting all of the activities and planning for the week sorted! It has been a brilliant success!

Thank you also to all the children and families who contributed to the ‘Sports for Champions’ challenge! The children have raised nearly £700 and would like to buy a ‘Reflex Reaction machine –we will try to source one and keep you posted!

Y4 took part in the ‘Big Bang’ Stem workshops and exhibition in Tower hamlets yesterday –it sounds like it was an awesome experience! Thanks to Naomi for organising.

Finally, your child will bring their Annual Report home today. Parents Evening is a drop-in on Thursday 11th July, there are no appointments but if there is something you need to discuss on the report , please come between 4pm-5.30pm.

Have a good weekend. Best Wishes, Jane

It has been another busy week at Millfields, especially for all our cycling community!

Lots of the Year 5 children have been taking part in Bikeability lessons — learning how to have a roadworthy bike and how to ride safely on the roads. Well done to all the children who successfully completed the course. Yesterday, 36 of the Year 5 children also took part in Bike Around the Borough — an event that takes place every year! Hundreds of Hackney school children take to the roads for a mass ride around the borough, organised by the Council to provide a chance for students to practice the skills they've learned through national standards cycle training and to help them see how easy it is to travel around Hackney by bike. The riders started at Hackney Downs, travelling from there to Clissold Park, before heading on to London Fields, past Hackney Town Hall and back to Hackney Downs. Then today, many of our Cycling Team have taken part in a sponsored cycle ride — they did the last 30 miles of a 50 mile ride and have so far raised an amazing £1,750. Thanks to all the families and friends who have donated. They had beautiful weather today and cycled up the towpath to Ware. They hope to reach their target of £1950 by the end of today in order to raise money for World Bicycle Relief that will provide 20 bikes for children to ride to school in poorer countries across the world. If you can and would like to help, please click on the link:. https://www.justgiving.com/Millfields50miles. Thank you so much to parents, Paul and Nicky, who organised the whole thing and to all the parents and staff who cycled with them.

Also this week, both the tennis team and cricket teams have been busy competing at a London-wide level. the competition in both Youth Games events was of a very high standard and our children did really well, and were so proud of their achievement in getting to the final in the first place. Well done to them all. Thank you to Izaac and the parents who made this happen!

Earlier this week, we hosted the Hackney Chess Championships that sees Y5 teams from across 12 schools take part in a very tense and high level chess tournament. Well done to all the Millfields children who took part and received the bronze medal! Thanks to Mehmet and our Chess Tutor, James, for organising everyone on the day!

Reception classes visited the London Aquarium on Monday and I have had so many conversations with the children about what they saw there -sharks, jelly-fish, string-rays, eels and lots of different coloured tropical fish! I have also read some great prices of writing about their visit! Well done to all the reception children!

On Tuesday, it was the last of the 3 Hackney Music Festivals at the Round Chapel. This week was the turn of the musicians to share their talents with lots of children from across Hackney and to showcase the fantastic Millfields rock and jazz bands! Some great photos of them all as well! Thanks to Roz, Tom and all the musicians who support the children so well to achieve so highly in all the musical events that we take part in.

Next week is Sports Week, and fingers crossed, the weather is going to be fine all week for once! Please remember to wear sports clothes every day so that you can take part in all the activities that have been organised. Please also remember to bring lots of water, wear a hat and bring sun cream!

Finally, I hope to see you all at the Summer Fair tomorrow. Best Wishes, Jane

Firstly, my personal congratulations again to all the candidates in this year’s campaign to be Mill-fields PM! I have already had my first unofficial meeting with Rosa - PM and Biba - Deputy PM
who have lots of ideas for improvement and change at Millfields, in the local community and be-yond! I will keep you updated as will they, on their weekly News-desk in the Mag!

Over the weekend, our rock and jazz bands played at the SidcotPeace Festival near Bristol. The 25 children involved had a greattime staying over in the boarding houses and met lots of new
friends while obviously stealing the show as the youngest entertainers who were very impressive! Thanks to Roz, Tom and Simeon who gave us their time to make this happen!

We had a shorter and relatively quiet week this week as we busi-ly prepare for Sports and Healthy living Week staring on Monday 1st July and Safety Awareness Week starting 8th July. You will be informed via email and Marvellous Me about the dates andtimings of each class’s Sports Day and there is information on the website as below:LKS2 (Y3 and Y4) –Monday 1st JulyKS2 (Y3 and Y4) –Tuesday 2nd JulyKS1 (Y1 and Y2) –Friday 5th JulyEYFS (Rec and Nursery) –Wednesday 3rd July

On Monday, the local community police and members of associ-ated agencies who work in our community on awareness andprevention of knife crime, gangs and drugs addressed Y5 andY6 in an extended assembly. The children were very attentiveand asked lots of probing questions as you would expect. Please make sure you talk to your childif they do have more questions or refer them back to someone at the school.

Year 1 visited the Tower Bridge experience earlier this week and had a fantastic day out learning about the bridges in London and the work of the River Thames as part of their topic work on London and the UK. They were particularly excited about the glass floor where they could look down on the road and river below them! Some of the staff were not so keen...

Also this week, our Year 3 and Year 4 classes enjoyed a fantastic concert and information sessionat ‘Bach to School’ that was held in the church near Victoria Park. Our children, as always, wowedthe professional musicians with their passion and enthusiasm for music and by their knowledge of playing a musical instrument and singing! Well done!

Well done to the cyclists who raced last Friday and secured some first and second places to con-tinue to keep a lead at the top of the Hackney Cycling League -well done! And latest new from the
tennis tournament today - the girls team look to have won the Hackney tournament -congratulations....more details next week!

Thank you also to the parents who organised the after-school Jum-ble Sale yesterday - sales looked pretty good! More on how much was raised next week.Just a reminder also that the staff are doing a sponsored walk nextWednesday evening in memory of our colleague and friend Alice, and collecting money for the charity MIND. If you would like to donate, please see staff at the main office.

And please don’t forget it’s the Summer Fair next Saturday - hope you can all make it! Have a good weekend in the sunshine, hopefully! Best Wishes, Jane