This week has been really busy as usual at Millfields. All of the classes have been really busy on practical science investigations and Governors visited classrooms to look at Maths teaching. There is lots of positive feedback and evidence that pupils know what they are learning, know what their targets are and know what they need to do to improve.

The teachers have also been talking about all of the children in their classes this week at their half-termly Pupil Progress Meetings. The teachers are really pleased with the effort and enthusiasm that the pupils have for learning and their knowledge of their targets and levels, particularly in Maths. Well done to everyone!

OPEN DAY –Wednesday 17th March Focus: Maths teaching and learning Celebration Assembly: 9.10am-9.25am Classroom Visits 9.30am-10.30am—5 parents per class. Please book a place at the main office

Maths Whizz Demo: using Maths Whizz to improve mental maths skills Refreshments and chat with Leadership Team: 10.30am-11am in the middle hall

Sports Relief is happening next weekend. We are encouraging all pupils and staff to dress up in Sports gear or their sporting hero –donate £1 to Sports Relief.

I hope to see lots of you at the Open Day over a cup of tea and snack.

Have a good weekend.
Best Wishes,
Jane

We have been lucky with the Spring weather during the day this week and the Play Club have made the most of being outside. On Wednesday, some of the children dressed up and paraded in the playground with a giant Chinese dragon that they had made and played musical instruments. The adults and children had a great time.

Around school this week, there have been lots of exciting science lessons taking place. There have been lots of practical lessons, for example, ‘Growing Plants’ in Year 1 and ‘Changing States’ in Year 6. Classes are busy making books and class displays to celebrate their work. I hope you will be able to see the evidence when you have the opportunity to visit on Open Day.

I hope that many of you will have already noticed the new artwork on the stairwells in school. The poets and artists that worked with the children on Poetry last year, returned to create a permanent display of the wonderful poems and artwork that was produced last Spring term. Please take time to have a look –you will have to climb all the stairs to Year 6 to read the whole poem!

I would also like the school community to join the staff in congratulating Ashraf on the birth of a healthy baby boy, and Val and Liga who have also had a baby boy last week. I am sure you will join me in wishing them all the very best.

I hope you have a good weekend and enjoy the Spring sunshine.

Best Wishes,
Jane

I hope you all had a good half-term. The children certainly seem to have come back full of energy and very enthusiastic about their school work.

This week we have had a monitoring visit from the Learning Trust to look at the school’s progress since Ofsted, particularly in the following areas:-

• Progress in maths and Science
• The quality of teaching and learning
• The quality of the conditions for learning.

I am pleased to say that we were seen to have made good progress in all these areas.

Here are the strengths that were highlighted:-

• The behaviour of the pupils is very good and there is a positive ethos in the school.
• Conditions for learning in all classrooms were good including the consistent use of the working walls.
• Marking and feedback to pupils, especially in Maths is much improved.

As always there are still improvements to be made and we will be working on these over the rest of this half-term.

The nominations for Parent Governor have now closed. We have had 11 nominations for two Governor vacancies so there will be an election in due course. Please look out for the information on who is standing and use your vote.

I was also invited to meet with the Article 12 Group (School Council) this week to discuss a number of issues that have been raised in class council meetings. Among the topics discussed were a disco at the end of term, school meals, classroom displays and tuck shops.

I hope the rain stays away and you have a good weekend.

Best Wishes,
Jane

Firstly thank you to Raquel who has really inspired both the pupils and staff with the many activities that she organised for Spanish Week. The children were treated to sevillanas and pasodoble dance workshops, listening to flamenco guitar, eating Spanish food, looking at Spanish abstract artists and making masks and fans for the wonderful Carnival parties that took place this afternoon.

There has been a real buzz around the school and the sharing assemblies were true showcases for what has been learnt about Spain this week. Thank you also to the parents who have been in to lend a hand and even run assemblies this week!

I hope that you will continue to notice that the school is looking much cleaner and tidier and that the conditions for learning in the classrooms are much better. There will be more information on the classroom learning environments on the school website over the next few weeks.

Please make sure that you make a note of the following dates: Open Day –17th March, the Parent’s Forum -23rd March and the Parent’s Evening –30th March.

Finally. I would like to thank all of the staff who have worked very hard over the last few weeks and the governors and parents who have been very supportive. Have a lovely break with your families.

Best Wishes,
Jane

This week has flown by as all the staff have been busy working on the classroom learning environments. The classes all have working walls that support the children with their learning and your children will be able to tell you the whole school targets for Maths and writing.

We have had a meeting with officers from the Learning Trust to today to look at progress made towards the key areas for development since the Ofsted Inspection. I am pleased to say that we have been deemed to have made satisfactory progress towards the key areas but will need to continue to work hard to further improve before the HMI monitoring visit that will be happening next half term.

There will be Parent governor elections coming up, so please keep an eye out for the nomination forms.

I hope your children are excited about Spanish week that starts next Monday. There are lots of fun activities planned, including food tasting and dancing workshops and the carnival on Friday will be a lovely way to finish this half term.

Thank you for your continued support. Have a good weekend.
Best Wishes,
Jane

Firstly, thank you to all the parents and carers who attended the Homework Launch on Monday. I hope that you found it useful and that if you were unable to attend that you have received the school's Homework Statement. Your child/ren should have brought their purple Homework books home yesterday -Thursday, and should have a topic -related piece of work and a Maths sheet to complete this week.

Thank you to all of you who completed a Mag questionnaire, we will of course consider all the points raised.

Also this week all the staff have been busy making the classrooms a better space for learning. We are decluttering and ensuring that all of the classrooms have the appropriate resources to support learning. Some of the children have been really excited about the changes, so we hope that this will have a positive effect on the their learning and enjoyment of school.

There will be another opportunity to meet the staff and school governors and advisors, as well as ask general questions about the way the school operates and the progress made since Ofsted at the Parents Forum on Tuesday 23rd March at 5pm.

Finally, can I remind you that you will need to make a decision about your child’s school lunches before the half-term break. The children should commit to either packed lunches or school meals for the whole half-term.

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

The term seems to be going very quickly especially with the recent bad weather disrupting so many of your working days.

Thank you for all your support and understanding with temporary arrangements that had to be made to ensure that your children remained at school in a safe environment. I hope that you will now be familiar with the arrangements for any children who are late in the morning, Please come in to the school through the side door and not the main entrance as this causes a lot of congestion.

After half term we will be starting a new school meals policy. Children will have to sign up for either school meals or packed lunch on a half-termly basis. It will not be possible to change lunch arrangements from day to day as we need to get an accurate number to ensure that the kitchen are preparing the correct amount of food for your child/ren while cutting down on waste. The cost for school meals for the next half term will be £49.50.

There will be a whole school Homework launch for parents and carers of pupils in Years 1-6 on Monday25th Janaury. You will have the opportunity to look at the kinds of homework that your child/ren will be bringing home on a regular basis and you will also have the chance to speak with the class teacher, try some of the food on offer for school dinners and buy a school rucksack. I hope to see you there.

Have a good weekend.

Best Wishes,
Jane