Each term, all of our classes visit somewhere in London as part of our enrichment curriculum to enhance every child's cultural capital.

Nursery- Millfields Park

Reception- Olympic Park

Y1- Hackney Museum

Y2- National Maritime Museum

Y3- London Mithraeum

Y4- RAF Museum

Y5- Estorick Gallery

Y6- The Wallace Collection

Although the weather has been mixed this week,  the staff and children have been making the most of being outdoors by going out to learn in the local area.  They visited local parks for science and PE lessons, and also went out in the local area for art and design activities and geography and history sessions.  The children in Nursery and Y1  have also enjoyed being outside at Forest School.

A big 'thanks' to all of the children and staff who made such an effort to wear bright, interesting and mismatched socks for Down Syndrome Awareness Day on Monday. Also, another thank you to all the parents who met their child/ren's teacher during Parents Evenings this week.  The verbal and anecdotal feedback we have received has been very positive, but we would like to ask you to complete a questionnaire that will be coming out next week so that we can consider your feedback and comments on all aspects of school life for your child.Please do note that there is lots of information on the school website, so please do have a look!

Also this week, Kingsley (SENCo) and I met with the school allocated Speech and Language Therapists to discuss, among other things, the feedback, and some of the questions and suggestions from the last Coffee Morning for families with children who have additional needs. Although we do not have all the answers and definitely do not have all the resources and time, we will be addressing some of the specific concerns with individual parents. In the meantime, please look at the Millfields website that has a link to the Hackney Local Offer and also a Parents' Information Booklet with lots of FAQs. http://www.millfields.hackney.sch.uk/index.php?page=alias-10

Lots of children across the school also enjoyed a Hot Chocolate with me as a treat for doing something 'over and above'! We all enjoyed a chat, some delicious hot chocolate and a biscuit!

Well done to Newton Class and Jones Class on their sharing assemblies today -great work, lots of knowledge, lovely singing everyone!

Finally, I cannot believe that there is only one week left before the Easter break! You know us at Millfields, the final week is another busy one! It's STEAM Week - there will be lots of science, technology and design workshops and projects taking place on Monday-Wednesday, and then on Thursday, it is our whole school, London Day.  You should receive an email with details of where your children are going to visit that day.  Then Friday is the last day of term - there will be more details sent about the theme of non-uniform on that day, but please start thinking about that Superheroes outfit as it is SuperHero Day, when we will celebrate all our super powers. So please think about dressing up as your favourite superhero/power and help raise money for our Disability Awareness Day.

Some of our Y5 and Y6 cyclists took part in the circuit racing at the Velopark today. I hope it didn't rain and that they all had good fun and did their best! More news on the results next week.

Have a lovely weekend! Remember the clocks go forward on Sunday 26th March, so there are much longer and lighter days ahead.

Take care, keep well, and stay safe.

Jane

Firstly, a big thank you again for your on-going support of the school and staff during the two days of industrial action this week. And what a wonderful Friday it is!  After 2 days of a school with no children, the school playground and corridors were filled with chatter and laughter as the whole school celebrated Comic Relief - Red Nose Day, as well as St Patrick's Day!

The children and staff were dressed either in red, and some in green, and some in both, and there were lots of red noses on show! We have sold almost 500 red noses, and also lots of money from on the gate donations. Thank you, as always, to the Millfields community -all the money going towards Comic Relief charities!

Also, the School Book Fair arrived today and was open before school, with lots of children already buying books! The Book Fair will be open for the next week, before and after school and during Parents Evenings on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March. If you have not yet signed up to see your child's teacher, please do so before Monday via your Scopay account. The actual meetings will be in person in your child's class. During Parents' Evening, you will be able to browse the Book Fair, buy some delicious food from the school kitchen, and also buy a ticket or two for our annual Easter Egg Raffle!

There has been great excitement in the Nursery over the last 10 days as the chicks hatched and the children were able to observe, count and draw them! Every time I visit the Nursery, there is always a child talking to them and loving them!

On Monday, we had a visit from the new Hackney Assistant Director for School Standards and Improvement. He had a tour of the school and as always the children were delightful -asked lots of questions and showed great pride in sharing their learning. Jason commented that from his observations and interactions, and what we already know, is that Millfields is an inclusive and creative, true community school.

A big thank you to Lovelcae Class who held their Class Sharing Assembly on Tuesday this week -it was a great production, the children looked great and worked hard to entertain and inform us all. Thanks to all the parents and carers who attended. Well done Lovelace!

Finally, have a lovely weekend, and have a good rest!

Take care, keep well and stay safe. Jane

It has been a very busy week at Millfields as usual. On Wednesday, it was International Women's Day, and we celebrated all the brilliant, talented and inspirational women that we know in our assemblies. We talked about lots of famous scientists, pioneers and campaigners including Rosa Parks, Emeline Pankhurst, Malala Yousafzai, Florence Nightingale, Ada Lovelace, Michelle Obama, Marie Curie and Mae Jemison, Please ask your child about one of them!

Also this week, we have been focusing on Maths -all of SLT have been observing classes across the school, talking to children and looking at their Maths books. We are so impressed with the children's mathematical understanding and knowledge, their strategies and mathematical understanding of different concepts  in a range of topics from number bonds to 10 in Reception to fractions and decimal number lines in Y4 and Y5. The children are really building on their previous learning and making connections to enable them to make good progress.

I hope that you have already booked a slot to see your child's teacher at the upcoming Parents' Evening -Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd March (except Dunlop Class -Wednesday and Thursday). You will need to book your slot via Scopay but the actual meetings are in person at school. You will have an opportunity to see some of your child's workbooks and talk to the teacher about their academic progress and attainment. We are looking forward to seeing you in school again. After-school clubs will run as usual. There will also be an opportunity for you to sample some of the school dinners, buy a ticket for the Easter Egg Raffle and meet some of the school governors.

Firstly, thank you to the whole school community for your support for the teachers who have been on strike. Yesterday's action was local to London and the South East, and in Hackney, teachers, local councillors and politicians held a rally at Hackney Town Hall. There were lots of Millfields teachers, children and families there. I will keep you informed about the potential future closure dates.

Today, 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. The staff dressed as characters from the Harry Potter stories -great effort everyone! All the costumes were amazing - thank you to all the staff, parents and pupils for really entering into the spirit and making the day so enjoyable.

Also, thank you to the children and parents for the amazing cakes -there was  a huge array of fantastic cake creations! Look out for the names of the winners! You all did yourselves proud! The cakes will all be on sale after school, so we hope you are able to see some of the wonderful creations before they are cut up and eaten!

Also this week, lots of parents, and grandparents, as well as members of SLT have been visiting classrooms to read stories. 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! Look out for details of reading opportunities in your child's class on a more regular basis! A big 'thank you' to Sheyenne for organising us all!

The Y6 girls and boys football teams took part in the next round of the inter-schools competition, and both teams won convincingly. Well done to all the children involved. Thank you to Izacc and Devon for organising.

Another, thank you to the parents who attended one of the KS2 SATS information sessions on Wednesday. We hope you found them useful, but if there are any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Next Wednesday 8th March is International Women's Day and as well as marking the day with the children, there is also a Millfields=Equality meeting on that day at 5.15pm. If you want to talk about all things equality, please come and join us!

We also have Red Nose Day coming up on Friday 17th March, so we will be dressing in red and wearing red noses that day. There will be red noses on sale from school or also on sale from Amazon. More information to follow.

Final reminder that we are still collecting food every week for the Millfields Food Stall (open on Thursdays 9am - 3.30pm). Please drop any food items at the main office any day before Thursday. We always need fresh fruit and vegetables, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, tinned fruit and tinned fish, fresh eggs, pasta and lentils, but anything you can donate is gratefully received!

Have a peaceful weekend, and share some time with family and friends.
Take care, keep well and stay safe.
Jane

The school will be closed to children on Thursday 2nd March due to industrial action.

Please read the letter here.