I cannot believe that we are now at the end of the penultimate week of the Spring term. Since all the children came back into school on 8th March, time has just flown by, and we are almost back to business as usual!

What a wonderful Friday it is as the sun is shining and the school is filled with laughter as we have all dressed up as Superheroes' for 'Red Nose Day' 2021! Thank you to the children and staff for really getting into the spirit of the day, and celebrating the day by dressing up! There were all the usual  superheroes, Spiderman, Superwoman, Batman, Wonder Woman, but this year, there were also lots of 'Super teachers', 'Super' children, and Super NHS workers! We are celebrating the greatness and the superpowers that we all have! Days like these really lift the spirits and the sense of joy and well-being around the school was amazing!

We have sold more than 600 red noses, and have raised an additional £450 plus for Comic Relief. Thank you so much to everyone for their generosity!

This week, we have also marked the fact that this coming Sunday 21st of March is Census Day. The last census was in 2011. To mark the event, Millfields hosted a ‘Let’s Count! Day’ in each year group and took part in the Let’s Count! competition. By taking part, the children developed their maths and geography skills, while also learning about the importance of the census and how the information it collects helps shape the society we live in. Each class decide what they would count, how they would collect the data, and then created graphs and artwork for a wall display. Things being counted included types of transport, recycling and waste facilities, types of houses and animals to name a few. The whole school display will be entered into a competition to win £1000 of equipment for the school. Thanks to all the children and staff, and to Emma for preparing and organising the lessons for us all!

Also this week, we did celebrate St Patrick's Day, even though due to covid restrictions, we really missed listening to the beautiful music and watching the fantastic dancing from the St Patrick's Day Troupe, but there were lots of children talking fondly about previous years, hopefully we will see them again next year again!

We also welcomed back the Cycling League competition to Millfields this week! The cyclists from Y4, Y5 and Y6 completed time trials on the roller bikes. It was a really quick session of racing, and all of the riders were excellent, and those who hadn’t done it before or were very nervous about it definitely gained confidence through the morning. All had a chance to have 3 500m timed races.Well done everyone, and thanks to Remi,Vivienne and Pia for stepping in at the last minute to give it a go! Thank you as always to our super parents - Paul, Alistair and Andrew for organising and running the session!

Finally, Year 1 and Year 2 classes also enjoyed taking part in drama workshops earlier this week. I think we have some budding actors in our midst!

Have a lovely weekend, enjoy the outdoors and have a good rest!

Take care, keep well and stay safe.

Jane

It has been so fantastic having all the children back in school and seeing all of the parents and families at the gates. The children were so excited as we welcomed them all in on Monday morning! The bunting was out and the smiles were radiant!

It now feels like we have never been away as the transition back to the school day and school routine, for the vast majority of the children, has gone really well. The children have been so excited to play with their friends again, and to share experiences with their classmates about their time away from school, as well as eager to start their collaborative learning again in class.

The children loved the 'Lockdown Learning' displays in class, so thank you for helping the teachers to select work to display, and they have really enjoyed getting back to the routine of learning new things and recapping on previous learning. Some of the things that I have seen on my daily walkabout school this week; Year 3 have been writing some great Information Booklets on the Romans, Y4 have been working hard on fractions in Maths; Y2 have written some great letters; Y5 have been enjoying their PE at the park; Y1 have been reading and doing work around the brilliant book, 'The Jolly Postman'; Y6 have been making models of meandering rivers; Reception have been working so hard on their phonics and reading; and the nursery children have been 'making magic bubbles'! So it's back to business as usual!

Next Friday, 19th March, is Comic Relief -Red Nose Day, and we are asking everyone to dress up as a 'Superhero'! Look out and/or get your costumes made this weekend! There will be a £1 donation on the gate please. Also, red noses are on sale from today until next Friday at each school gate. They are £1.50, and there are 10 noses to collect!

Thank you, as always to all the parents who generously continue to donate to the Millfields Food Bank. I know that some of you have involved the local community in collecting for us, so many many thanks. We are open every Thursday for any families in need. We need some of the following items please: toiletries including shower gel, toilet roll, fruit juice, squash, biscuits, tins of tuna, sardines & salmon. And anything else!

Finally, please have a good rest this weekend everyone, as I know that the children will be very tired at the end of this week as they complete a whole week back in school! Try to get outdoors for some fresh air and fingers crossed there is no rain!

'Happy Mother's Day' to all the mums out there -hope you have a rest too!

Take care, keep well and stay safe.

Jane

Well let's hope that this wasthe last week of remote home learning! The children and you, all the fami-lies, have been brilliant! You have worked with us and supported your childand the staff to get the very best out of learning over the last 8 weeks. The staff are all very excited and very much looking forward to welcoming the children and parents/carers back on Monday 8th March!

We have been busy today getting the school organised and ready! The staff have prepared resources and planned the lessons and activities for next week, and for the rest of this term to hopefully make the transition back to the classroom, as smooth as possible. The school has been thoroughly cleaned and sanitised.

Thank you for sending in your 'best' and 'favourite' lockdown work for our class displays -they are looking great and will remind you of your time at home! Again, if your child or you would like to speak to us about any worries or concerns about returning to school, or anything else about home learning or other issues, please email info@millfields.hackney.sch.uk or talk to one of SLT at the school gates. We want to help in any way we can! In school, the children can speak to any trusted adult, and of course can find Debi in the Well-being Shed.

We are trying to get back to some sort of normality from the start, so we will be straight in and getting on with the learning. We will be continuing to encourage less screen time, and will be trying to spend more time outdoors, including a whole school 'Outdoor morning' before Easter. We have also got 'Red Nose Day' coming up and a few other events and activities to bring the enrichment and fun back to learning in school. Then, we are hoping that the summer term will be a little bit more like our usual summer term, but we will see!

Please remember to bring the White Rose Maths books, writing journals, and any laptops and chargers into school on Monday. We will be lining up and using the same entrances as we did in the Autumn term - please try to drop off and leave quickly, and wear a face-mask.

I hope you have shared the news about the half term Photography Competition winners that were sent via email yesterday! Again, well done to everyone that took part, and congratulations to the winners - Bua, Minnie, Rohan, Vivien and Emily!

Have a lovely weekend.

Take care, keep well and stay safe.

Jane

What a lovely day to finish the week with the sun shining! The sunshine certainly brings a smile to everyone’s face and a spring to our step! I hope you all had a lovely half term break, and ‘well done’ and thank you again for getting back in to the swing of home learning!

Only one more week of home learning and then we will all be back in school togetheragain! I know that the children will be very excited to see their friends and teachers again,and we are all very excited and looking forward to seeing all of the children, and you the parents, too! We know that you have all been trying so hard to keep up with your learning at home and we are going to make the transition back in to school as smooth as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, all of the teachers will be using some of the timeon the first day back to talk to the children and have a well-being/circle time session. However, please do reiterate that the children can talk to any member of staff at any time if they need to about anything at all!

You should have received the Parent Information Booklet today via email and this has all the information for the arrangements for returning to school on Monday 8th March. Please check the document carefully. Please also make sure that your child comes back to school with their White Rose Maths book, writing journal if they have one, and any other resources, and if they borrowed a laptop/iPad/Kindle Fire and charger, please bring that back too!

Our last week of home learning is a fun one as it is Book Week and we will be celebratingWorld Book Day on Thursday 11th March by dressing up in the usual way! There will be online zoom sessions and activities as usual on Monday - Thursday, based on a range oflovely books and stories, and then on Friday, there will be optional sessions provided on Google Classroom including an online pantomime. All of the staff will be in school on Friday to plan and prepare learning and the classrooms, so that they are ready for everyone to return to face-to-face learning on the following Monday.

Also, please remind your child about the RE Calendar Competition and the Show Racism the Red Card art and creative writing competition. More information about these weresent via email.

Finally, have a lovely weekend in the sunshine.

Take care, keep well and stay safe. Jane

Another big 'WELL DONE' to all of you for the brilliant work and amazing creations this week! You are all doing so well, and we - all of the staff,are so proud of all the children and all that they achieve every day! We greatly appreciate all the support and guidance that you as parents and carers are giving your children too! I hope that you are all still coping with all the pressures of remote learning, working from home, online shops etc.!

It is 'Children and Mental Health Week' this week, and we are so pleased that so many of you as individuals and families have used our 'Well-being' menu and spent some time just relaxing, finding time to do your own thing, being creative and reflecting. We loved all the photos that you sent in! Keep looking after your mental health and well-being!

*Look out for details of our half term photo competition next week!

Remember, it is so important for all of us to have that bit of time for ourselves away from all the pressures and challenges of the outside world! I have read, and intend to keep reading again and again, anamazing book this week, 'The Boy, the mole, the fox and the horse' by Charlie Mackesy. It is described as 'A book for everyone whether you're eighty or eight' and 'A book of hope for uncertain times'. I would highly recommend it for so many reasons, so please try to get a copy ifyou can and share with everyone!

Next week is another busy week, and if we were all in school, we would be enjoying lots of fun, laughter and learning as part of Hispanic Week, so please let's all do the same but from home! Your child's class teacher should send you an overview of the week, and this will also include resources that your child may need, so please include them on your shopping list this weekend! If your child receives
free school meals, and you need ingredients for the cooking sessions, please contact the office on
info@millfields.hackney.sch.uk.

Another big 'thank you; to everyone who has donated food to the Millfields’ Food Bank -this is working really well and all our families who are accessing it are so grateful for thehelp! This will be one of the things that we will continue when we are out of lockdown! As you may be aware, the children learning to play musical instruments have continued via Zoom this term. I know that it is probably not very easy at all, but thank you to Tom, Celia, Jack and Lawrence for making it happen! Only a few exams have taken place this term and I am delighted to congratulate Agnes who passed her Grade 1 violin exam with merit! Well done!

Finally, we are sadly saying goodbye to our brilliant student, Dunya, who has been working in Year 1 and mainly with Whiteread Class. We hope you have learnt lots from us - certainly a teaching practice like no other! We want to say thank you, and wish youall the very best of luck for the future! Thankyou also to Zara who has been volunteering in Reception for a couple of weeks and left yesterday!

Please have a good weekend, and wrapup warm as I believe there may be some more snow on the way!

Take care, keep well and stay safe.

Jane