We are at the end of another busy week -it seems like we have been back for ages, and it's only the end of week 3!

Individual school photos were taken on Tuesday, and all of the children looked so smart in their uniforms. The photos are available to purchase via the QR code on the slip that your child should have brought home. please see your child's teacher in the first instance, and then Crystal at the main office if you have not received yours! Sibling photos will be taken later this term -watch out for the date!

Well done to all the Reception and Nursery children who are coming in through the gates on their own now and skipping down to their classrooms. There are still a few children finding the morning separation difficult but they will soon join their classmates -parens don't worry! The children will get there in their own time!

Another huge 'thank you' to everyone who baked and/or bought a cake, or made a cash donation for the Morocco Earthquake disaster fund last Friday. We collected more than £300 in cash at the gates, and £340 from the cake sale. Thank you for your generosity as always -money is still being collected and counted so will announce the total next week!

Each year there is a whole Year Group meeting, followed by a brief class teacher meeting for parents and carers who have children in Years 1-6. This is an opportunity to meet the teachers, look at the classrooms and to find out about what your children will be learning this year, as well as familiarising yourself with 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. You should get an idea of the school day for your child and receive a Maths and Literacy booklet specific for your child’s age group as well as the term’s overview. There will be time for questions too!

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

Class Welcome Meetings 2023

Year 6: Monday 11th September at 3.45pm

( YUKON -Orla,  ORINOCO–Sumon, MISSISSIPPI–Emily )

Year 1: Tuesday 12th September at 3.45pm

( KILIMANJARO –Dean,   KARISIMBI–Ashraf,  OLYMPUS -Ven/Kimberlie)

Year 2: Thursday 14th September at 3.45pm

( DOURO–Rosa,   ZAMBEZI–Naomi,  NILE –Mia )

Year 3: Monday 18th September at 3.45pm

( ARARAT -Angela,  FUJI-Bruno,  ANNAPURNA- Hurvinder )

Year 4: Tuesday 19th September at 3.45pm

( GANGES–Leigh, MEKONG –Jess,  YANGTZE–Theo )

Year 5: Thursday 21st September at 3.45pm

( SHENANDOAH–Tom,  ACATENANGO –Claire/Roz,  FITZ ROY-Mehmet )

There are also some wonderful events and activities happening over the summer. There are lots of free and cheap activities for your children to do during the holidays. There is free swimming for children at Hackney pools (not the Lido) and parks, libraries and museums all have free activities during the holidays. Children can also visit their local adventure playground.

Please look at the Hackney Summer Activity Guide here.

Here are a few other links/ideas in case you find yourself stuck for something to do:

Summer Reading Challenge - https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/

Events at your local library - https://hackney.gov.uk/libraries-whats-on

https://hackneycityfarm.co.uk/

Some ideas for those 'what shall we do today?' days!

Well we have made it to the end of another busy, fun-filled, and immensely enjoyable year at Millfields, and I can only again, thank the whole school community - the children, the parents andfamilies and the brilliant staff we have at Millfields, who have worked hard every day, who have all made it another fabulous chapter of learning. A huge ‘thank you’ to all the amazing parents and carers who have supported their children and the whole school community in so many ways. High-lights of the year for me have been many, but I will just mention a few - greeting all the lovely Reception children every morning, Families Week including 'Bring Your Pet to School, Creative Evening, the Summer Fair, World Book Day dress up and cakes, the Y6 Show, all the trips and visits, The Hackney Run, all the sporting events that we have taken part in, and especially winning the Cycling League for the 8th successive year... the list goes on!

Thank you again to all the parents/carers who completed the Parents Survey earlier this year -it will be published on the website for you to read. As always, we will endeavour to answer any questions or concerns. Also, please note that if you do have any concerns or complaints, or even compliments, please don't wait until the end of each term or the end of the term - please make an appointment to meet the teacher (they willbe available outside the gates at least twice a week from September) and/or a member of SLT. We are very approachable and always try our very best to deal with issues in a timely and appropriate manner.

You should have received your child's Annual Reports and any relevant test results in Y1, Y2, Y4 and y6. Thank  you to the parents who gave us feedback! Sports Fortnight continued this week, and the children in Y3 and Y4 enjoyed a chance to try out the Rollerbikes, and also Y4 children tried a martial arts class! The ever popular morning aerobics continued until Thursday! Again - thank you to Ashraf for organising us all! A special congratulations and well done to all ofthe 30 + riders who have taken part in the Cycling League events over the year. They won the league quite  convincingly again, and we are so proud of them all! There were big shoes to follow with organising the team of riders from across Y4, Y5 and Y6, so thanks to Sharon and Nishie and the parent volunteers for making this another amazing year! We celebrated today with a pizza! The new trophy will be coming ourway in the new term.

On Wednesday, we celebrated all the wonderful singers and musicians at Millfields at our end of term concert at St James Church. The 2 choirs, the guitarists, brass, drummers and string players, and the rock bands, all played brilliantly. A massive 'well done' to them all. And a sepcial mention to Anno and Lila foir their solo performances. Thank you as ever to Roz, Tom, Lawrence and Luciano for making it happen!

The whole school went out to local parks yesterday for Outdoor Day. It was a lovely day with so many great adventures and activities for all the children - tree climbing, rounders games, nature art, making dens, making potions and so much more! A lovely end to the year altogether.

As well as being a celebratory time of the year -finishing primary school and moving on, this is also a sad time for the Y6 children and their families, and for me and many of the staff who have seen the current Y6 group develop into confident, inclusive, brilliant, thoughtful and all round amazing human beings -our change-makers for the future! As they get ready to move on to the next stage in their educational journey, we celebrate the brilliant individuals and collective year group 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 a joy! They have thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks (and I hope the last 7 or 8 years!) at Millfields - the Y6 play, the Sports Days, the trips and other activities, and of course, the Y6 Party last Friday - there were so many emotions, but mostly they had a great time. Thank you to all the children and their families in Y6 -you have all been so supportive and we will miss you all! Good luck on the next stage of your journey and remember – continue to make sure your voice is heard and be the best that you can be!

Another really BIG THANK YOU to the PSA and all of you -you will have received an email this week letting you know how much money has been raised over the year -a whopping £14,700! It is a huge help to the school, so thank you for supporting all the various events. SPECIAL THANKS to Heather, Karen, Bettina and Melissa and the rest of the PSA committee.

this is the last Mag of the year, we are saying a goodbye and a huge ‘thank you’ to some members of staff who are moving on/taking time out for new and exciting ventures. Good luck and best wishes to Ben, Hizza, Clara, Rosie and Kamilah and Devon! Thank you and good luck in your new ventures! 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 also, to all the children and families who are moving out of London to new houses and new schools in the UK and further afield over the summer – we will miss you all!

Thank you everyone, have a great summer break. I will see you on Wednesday 6th September. Take care and stay well! Jane

What a brilliant day the Millfields community had last Saturday! The Summer Fair was a huge success again - despite the rain and the fact that lots of families were away that weekend! The PSA committee and other parent volunteers did an amazing job - it ran like clockwork. There were lots of great games and activities, karaoke, the school choir singing, food and drink, arts and craft stalls, lots of pre-loved things to buy, tombola and the raffle and lots more. Thanks to everyone for coming along and joining in the fun and helping to raise a fantastic £9,022.61, even with the rain! This includes money raisedt hrough Keaton's sponsorship. THANK YOU to each and every parent who volunteered before, during and after the event, and to those who donated raffle prizes, but a special thanks to all of the PSA committee especially Heather, Melissa, Karen and Bettina. A great community effort!

We are at the end of another busy, fun-filled, and really enjoyable week of sporting activities! Each morning started with lots of energetic aerobics and dancing, which the children, staff and some of the parents loved! Thanks to Jose, Roz and Reegan for their morning aerobics and fitness sessions! The children have also enjoyed extra PE sessions this week including the daily mile around the school each day; and lots of different activities have been on offer for children in different year groups. Children in Reception enjoyed a multi-skills session with Arlo's dad - big thanks to him for volunteering his time. Tag Rugby sessions took place for all children from Reception to Y6 - many thanks to Tiernan's dad and Hackney Rugby FC for volunteering their time and patience! Badminton sessions for Y4 and Y5 were very popular, as was online chess with Theo. Some Y4 and Y5 children enjoyed the opportunity to learn to sail - thanks to Dave (Klara and Loutro's dad for organising!). Y4 enjoyed the chance to play netball with Zaheera (Inayah and Hidayah's mum), Y6 had fun circuit training with Des, and Y2 enjoyed Hockey sessions with Jose. KS2 Sports Day was great fun yesterday - the children had great fun and

it was very competitive too, and that was only the parents! Today, despite the rain, Nursery and Reception children continued to have fun with all their Sports Day activities at Hackney Downs. Huge 'thank you' to Ashraf for organising us all, and to Sharon, Chris - our PE coach for the week, and all the staff who worked hard to make the Sports Days run so smoothly! More sports activities and Sports Days next week, so sports clothes and water bottles again next week!

Also today, the Cycling Team is in action for the final race of the season, at the Olympic Park Velodrome. Good luck to you all - do your best, and I hope that the Hackney Cycling League Shield will be coming back to Millfields for another year! (Fingers crossed!)

On Wednesday, it was Transition morning for all of the children and staff. Children met their new teacher and the teacher met their new class. We welcomed lots of new children to the Nursery andreception - lots of little brothers and sisters, as well as new teachers, Leigh, Dean, Hurvinder and Tom to the Millfields staff team. Our class names have changed this year! All classes are now named after rivers and mountains from across the UK and the rest of the world. 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 names overthe holidays. I know that all the feedback that I have had from children is very positive. It is always adifficult 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, and for all the classes across the school. The class allocations, with the new names can be found on the website under the parents information section and here in the Mag. Support Staff allocations have not yet been finalised, but will be decided by the end of the year and shared in September.

Y6 put on a great show (3 shows) over this week - 'Pandora's Box'. It was a brilliant way to round off and showcase the many talents - singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and actors! One more week to go!

Next week is UKS2 Sports Day on Monday 17th, KS1 Sports Day on Tuesday 18th, and a whole school Outdoor Day -Thursday 20th July (to replace London Day, as train strikes will impact all London buses and tubes). The whole school will be going to Hackney Marshes for activities and games and apicnic lunch! Finally, please remember that you need to complete a leave request form if your child needs time off during term time, and that this needs to be considered and authorised (or no) before taking the leave.

Have a lovely weekend. Take care. Jane

CONGRATULATIONS, to Iris Adams, our new Prime Minister and Orla McMahon, our new Deputy Prime Minister whose party 'Brilliant Blue Dragons' won with a very small majority - it was very close. as always!

It has had a brilliant, albeit short 'Democracy Week' -some fantastic ideas in the party manifestos, great debate, very professional press conference, amazing teamwork and great reporting. This week is truly magical and showcases all that is so brilliant about all the children, staff and wider community at Millfields!  From last Friday afternoon, all the excitement began as classes voted for 'members of class' and then the election of 5 excellent leadership candidates!  A massive 'Well Done' to Akaash and Tessa, Tia and John, Grace and Dixie, Iris and Orla, Tessia and Rudy  for their excellent manifestos and amazing husting speeches.  There were lots of fantastic ideas ranging from more playtime, more fundraising, more vegetarian and vegan meal options, more chill out spaces to help our well-being, more anti-bullying workshops and projects, better playtime games and equipment and so much more!  Thank you to the party advisors - Adele, Jo, Nino, Dudley and Izaac for supporting and guiding them.  All of the fantastic ideas will definitely be part of the work that all the candidates will be doing next year as part of the Millfields Cabinet. I am really looking forward to working with them and making some changes next year! All of the manifestos can be read on the website. I would also like to say a huge 'thank you' to Tafari and Vinne, our out-going PM and Deputy, who have been great ambassadors for our school and community!  And finally a big 'thank you' to Councillor Ian Rathbone who came to announce the new PM yesterday afternoon! He commented: 'It was a real privilege coming to Millfields and sharing in the elections. The school has such a community vibe and friendliness to it.'

All of the children from across the school have been so involved in all of the activities and events this week. They have been learning about democracies, the voting process, parliament and world leaders, and have been excited to hear all the candidate's ideas for our school.  The children made fantastic rosettes, and took part in a march around the local area to support and promote their parties.  They then listened to the leaders' speeches, cast their vote in the Millfields' polling station and they heard the PM announcements this morning.  There have also been lots of Y6 journalists, journalists and vloggers/bloggers at work, writing articles, sharing the gossip and showing the results of questionnaires, for the daily Democracy Week newspaper, 'Democracy Daily', as well as gathering opinions and views and making online videos etc.  Huge 'thank you' to Olivia (Debi's daughter) who organised and coordinated the newspapers..  The whole week has been organised so meticulously and creatively by Emma! Thank you so much as always!

Next week is the beginning of 'Sports Fortnight' and I am hoping that all of the children will really enjoy all the activities that are planned.  Please note that children can wear different sports clothes and sports shoes/trainers every day during this week.  As already mentioned, Sports Days for all the year groups have already been advertised in the Mag and via email. Text reminders will also be sent!

Please also be reminded that time off during term-time is not an automatic right and that any leave of absence must be authorised before booking any flights/holidays etc.  Schools are closely monitored for attendance, so anything below 90% attendance is considered a cause for concern.

Finally, it is the SUMMER FAIR tomorrow, SATURDAY 8th JULY from 11am-3pm. Hope to see lots of you there and hope that the weather holds!

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