Firstly, welcome back to everyone -I hope you enjoyed the amazing weather over half term and spent time with family and friends. And a belated 'Eid Mubarak' to all our Muslim families who are celebrated Eid Al-Adha last week. I hope you all had a lovely day celebrating with your families.

This week, Y6 children have been camping! We visited an activity centre, Avon Tyrrell in the New Forest. And as this is my last year, I spent the whole week with the amazing Y6 children -making more memories that will stay with me always. We had mixed weather - beautiful sunshine, gusty winds and torrential rain, but the children were still smiling, laughing, singing and enjoying the whole experience! They have had a fantastic week on the campsite, and took part in lots of outdoor activities including climbing, bushcraft, pioneering, zip-wire, archery, team challenges and a campfire (in pouring rain!) They also had the opportunity to take part in lots of water activities -pedalo, kayaking, canoeing and raft-building. They have really enjoyed being with friends in a different setting and have embraced the whole experience. Part of this week is all about building resilience, conquering fears and trying something new -they all did that and more! A huge 'THANK YOU' to all the staff - Isablle, Izaac, Leigh and Theo, and especially Sheyenne who organised the whole week! I think the children and staff will all be looking forward to a nice warm bed and a rest this weekend!

Also this week, Y3 and Y5 children had the opportunity to take part in the London Schools Literacy Festival at the Hackney Empire! This is part of the National Year of Reading, and included author sessions with former Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho and prize-winner Onjali Q. Rauf. I heard it was loud but lots of fun! Thanks to all the staff and parents who supported this event.

Next week is "Bike Week" 2025, so we would like to encourage as many children as possible to cycle to school. All of the children in Y1-Y6 have all been talking about air pollution and more sustainable travel in assemblies over the year, so they are keen to cycle, walk and scoot! We would also like you to make a BIG effort and create a BIG bike bus on Wednesday 10th June - meet at the main gates at 8:20am.

We have lots of other exciting events coming up this half term; it is Democracy Week (29th June - 3rd July), and Sports Week (6th - 10th July) -actual Sports Day dates can be found on the school website or on the Parent Information Booklet that was emailed out at the beginning of term; and the Summer Fair is taking place on Saturday 4th July this year - save the date! Please get in touch with the PSA if you can help in any way at psamillfields@gmail.com.

A reminder that any leave needs to be requested via a Leave Request Form that you can access on the school website or from the school office. Also, a reminder that Friday 19th June is an INSET day, so the school will be closed to pupils.

I hope you have a great weekend with family and friends. Fingers crossed for better weather! Best Wishes, Jane

I cannot believe that we are at the end of half term already! It seems to have flown by, and it has been so busy, especially this week!! And what a joy to see all the children in their own clothes today -just being themselves! We raised more than £350, so thank you so much for your generosity.

Today, we were treated to 3 brilliant assemblies - well done to Fitzroy, Shenandoah and Douro Classes for sharing their fantastic learning, as well as showing off their great singing and acting skills! Thank you to all the children and staff!

A massive ‘thank you’ to all the parents, carers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and pets who have taken part in our brilliant ‘Parents & Families Week’. The atmosphere around the school has been great and the feedback from parents has been very positive. There were lots of fun activities organised including, Art workshops with Dean and Jess, Computing workshop with Claire,  a DT workshop with Bruno, PE sessions with PE coaches Tom and Shaun, Maths workshop with Emma, EY Science session with Rachel, Forest School session with Angela, Board games in Nursery, Sandwich-making in Reception, Money Ready workshops and lots more!

Yesterday we had a really lovely afternoon tea with children and their grandparents. We think it is really important to recognise the many grandparents who play such a big part in the children's lives, so I hope you enjoyed it! Parents also volunteered to share/read a story with their child's class at the beginning and end of the school day. We will continue to ask for volunteers to read to your child's class throughout the year, so please contact your child's teacher if you would like to read at the end of the school day.

The children and staff have also really enjoyed meeting some of their friends’ pets too! We have had dogs, rabbits, tortoises, guinea pigs, cats, a snake and a bearded dragon! It was also great to see so many of you at the now Annual Family Picnic that took place at Millfields Park on Wednesday. We managed to just about avoid the rain and the children, staff and parents had great fun playing games and chatting! Thanks for making that happen!

Finally, a huge 'thank you' to Sheyenne for organising the whole week, and to Debi and Emma for all their support, and all the staff for their flexibility and support throughout the week -it was a huge task! We also loved seeing lots of parents at our agephase 'Croissants & Conversations' drop-in session each morning. There was lots of chat and opportunities to meet new people. If you would like to see more morning drop-ins, please let us know as this could be an opportunity to ask lots of questions and find out more about the curriculum and the working of the school day.

Thank you also to all the Book Fair volunteers, especially Sarah Worsley, and to all of you for buying lots of books over the last week! We hope to have made lots of commission to stock up on our book corners in class - the children on the School Council have requested more comic books and more graphic novels. We have lots of other exciting events coming up next half term too; it is Democracy Week (29th June -3rd July), and Sports Fortnight (6th -10th July), and the Summer Fair is taking place on Saturday 4th July this year - save the date!  Please get in touch with the PSA if you can help in any way at psamillfields@gmail.com

Also, a reminder that Friday 19th June is an INSET day, so the school will be closed to pupils. I hope you have a great half term with family and friends, have fun and a good rest. And it looks like good weather all week....for a change! See you all on Monday 1st June. Take care and stay well, best wishes, Jane

Firstly, well done to al the Year 6 children who completed their SATS this week. They al worked extremely hard over the year, as did al the staff who work in Y6 (and all the teachers and support staff who taught them throughout the school). All of the children did so well- they were focused after a school breakfast with their class-mates, had a positive attitude and tried their best. I was super impressed with the calmness and methodical way that the children approached the tests and was especialy pleased to see that they had lots of strategies to rely on in the Maths papers. Well done everyone! Thank you also to the parents who made a contribution towards the park party and celebration today! The children were very excited to spend some time in the park to unwind.

We are also excited to start working on the Y6 Show! The dates for the shows are in the penultimate week of term in July: Tuesday 7th - Mississippi, Wednesday 8th -Orinoco & Thursday 9th - Yukon. Y6 families - make sure the date is in your diary! Also thank you to the Y6 parents who are busy planning for the Y6 Leavers' Party -looking forward to it already!

Good Luck to all the children who are taking part in the Hackney Schools Challenge Run tomorrow it is an early start, meet at 8:30am and race start at 10am. Thank you to Ashraf for organising and to the staff who will be helping out on the day! It is always a great day out and Milfields is always very well-represented, and we usualy have a couple of winning times, so good luck to all the runners! It would be great if you could come and support the children, and there are also lots of activities to enjoy on the day as well.

Also, we have been making final preparations for 'Parents & Families Week' that is taking place next week 18th 22nd May. There are lots of exciting events taking place during the week including some of my favourite days of the year - 'Bring your Pet to School Day' and 'Grandparents Afternoon Tea', as well as the Family Picnic in the Park on Wednesday 20th from 4pm - 5pm at Milfields Park. We would love to see lots of you there enjoying time together with children, parents and teachers. There is also an opportunity for Y3 parents to have lunch with their child 'Come Dine With Us' - an initiative that we used to run regularly, and that we are going to bring back for all classes in the next term. We are also introducing a family drama session this year, as well as a board games session in Nursery, and a Money Ready workshop for Y2. Please also pop into our morning sessions -'Croissants and Conversations' that take place first thing after drop-off, for different year groups on different days. This is an opportunity to speak to other parents and members of staff, and start the day off in a relaxed atmosphere. Look out for text reminders! I know that lots of the events booked up quickly, and we have tried to accommodate more parents/families this year, but please speak to or contact your child's class teacher and firstly let them know if you would like to read a story in class during that week as wel! We are realy looking forward to seeing lots of you in school next week.

Next week is also 'Walk to School Week'. Each class in Y1 -Y6 wil work together to make lots of active journeys to school and if you join the chalenge, you can record them on the class chart! Look out for the email and a flyer on Google Classroom. Thanks in advance for your support. A big WELL DONE to al the Y4 and Y5 cyclists who took part in the latest Hackney Cycling Event yesterday! They did so well with lots of top 3 finishes, and lots of first time riders/racers, so a special wel done to them! But we are being chased for that position at the top of the table so need a big push at the next event if we are to retain the title for the 1th year! Thanks to Nishie and to Tabitha's dad for supporting the children at the event on the day, and for those who came to cheer the children on!

We had 2 briliant assemblies this morning - thank you and well done to Acatenango and Yangtze class who shared lots of their learning across the curriculum. Thank you to al the parents and grandparents who came along to watch. Thank you also to all the parent volunteers running the Book Fair, and for you and your children for supporting the children's love of reading while also helping to make money to buy more books for the class and school libraries! It will be here tonight after school and up until the end of Tuesday.

Finally, some date reminders: Friday 19th June is an INSET Day so the school is closed to children, and the Summer Fair is on Saturday 4th July. We also have our lovely London Day trips to the amazing parks across the local area and beyond, taking place on 15th and 16th July - we need parent volunteers so please look out for more information in the coming weeks.

I hope you have a good weekend, and enjoy whatever you have planned. Hope to see some of you at the Hackney Run tomorrow! Take care and stay well. Best Wishes, Jane

We have had a lovely few days during this short week with lots of hard work, learning and fun, and all much easier because we have had good, dry weather! This week, classes Y1-Y6 took part in assemblies celebrating Sir David Attenborough's 100th Birthday that is today -Friday 8th May. The children already knew lots and learnt more about his pioneering work on wildlife documentaries including 'Life on Earth', 'The Blue Planet', 'Frozen Planet' 'Wild London' and 'Secret Garden' and about his first programme called Zoo Quest; and the fact that he was also important in securing television programmes in colour instead of black and white. The children were so engaged and keen to share the documentaries that they had watched. We also watched this brilliant short video clip, 'Wonderful World' narrated by David Atenborough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYXBJmrsxZU

Also, the Environment Minister, PM and Deputy PM along with the Well-being Minister helped promote the day with Emma, and made a video to get everyone enthused about the day. We will share this on Google Classroom -they did a great job! Today, all classes have been celebrating Richard Attenborough's 100th birthday by taking part in a range of activities including nature spotting around Clapton Pond, making animal-themed snacks, having a Sir David Attenborough birthday party; having an outdoor picnic and nature drawing, Seahorse art (apparently is favourite animal), making nature documentaries about plants on iPads, researching favourite animal and present their facts, having picnic lunch in the park, animal origami and watching a nature documentary. The Eco Minister and some Eco Champs helped plan the day with Emma, and made a video to get everyone enthused about the day.

The children all looked very smart today too as they had their class photo taken outside in the sunshine! Thank you for making them all look so fabulous! Details of how to order photos will be with you before half term.

The Y6 children have worked very hard all year but especially in the last few weeks, doing practice SATS papers, as they have the real tests next week. We always invite all of Year 6 to come to the Breakfast Club free of charge every morning during the SATS week. We have found in the past that starting the day together with a good breakfast really helps to settle the children ready for their exams. So even if they normally have a great breakfast at home we would encourage you to send your children into the school Breakfast Club during that week so they can start their day with their friends -please send your Y6 child in from 7:45am onwards. I am extremely proud of the hard work and effort made by all the Y6 children this year - working so hard at school and home! I always reassure the children, by saying that we expect them to do their best, and as long as they have tried hard and know they have done their very best, then we will be proud of them no matter what the result. Please reinforce this with your child at home.

Today we were treated to 2 brilliant Class Sharing Assemblies! Thank you to Ganges Class and Mekong Class who shared all their learning from this term and some from last term! The costumes, enthusiasm, and sense of humour were second to none! The staff and children worked really hard, so thank you to them and for all the many parents who came to watch and support their children.

Nursery, Reception, Y1 and Y2 classes took part in an adventure drama workshop yesterday -they set sail for Neverland. The children had such a great time and were talking about it all day!

One of our favourite weeks at Millfields is coming up - it is 'Parents & Families Week'! The week before half-term, 18th-22nd May, we will be having our usual week of fun, inviting parents and carers to take part in lots of activities, coffee mornings, class and workshop visits etc, including the ever-popular 'Bring your Pet' to school, and the ‘Big Community Picnic' on Wednesday 20th! Look out for more details on all activities on the email that was sent out yesterday. You will need to sign up via  a Google Form. We are looking forward to welcoming you (and your pets) into school!

Thank you to Y1 and Y2 parents who came in today to read with their child/child's class - this happens every Friday, so please come along next time!

We are also looking for any sporty parents who could offer a session/s of any sport or activity as part of Sports Week (6th - 10th July) or, if you think you can help in any other way, please email Ashraf amohi@millfields.hackney.sch.uk

Finally, have a lovely weekend in the sun, hopefully! Take care, Jane

Finally another reminder about Sports Week ( 6th-10th July -volunteers wanted) and also look out for more information about Families Week (18th-22nd May). And a few more dates for your diary -please note that Friday 19th June is an INSET day; and this year’s Sumner Fair is on 4th July.

Take care, stay well and enjoy the long weekend. See you on Tuesday 5th May.

Best Wishes,

Jane

This week seems to have flown by and we have certainly been enjoying the lovely sunny weather!

Welcome back to everyone! All the children seem very happy to be back in school, they look well-rested and ready for the busy summer term! It has been a very calm and relatively quiet week (by Millfields standards!) and all the classes seem to be settled, and ready to learn!

This term is, unbelievably, the beginning of the last term of my time at Millfields -very sad, a bit scary, but also exciting! It's going to be an emotional one! I will continue to be here and work hard with the Millfields team to keep all the amazing things that your children experience at Millfields going, and also ensure to encourage embracing the change, and welcome the new members of the Millfields community! I have no doubt that the old saying, 'a change is as good as rest' is exactly what we all need to prepare for and take on together, supporting each other as always.

It was nice to welcome Robin and Anna in the playground today, and thank you to the parents and children who said 'hello' and made them feel welcome. They also met with the support staff today. So we will continue to work together for the rest of this term to ensure a smooth transition in September.

This week, teachers have been introducing the new learning for this term and there is a real buzz around the school about William Shakespeare! Each year-group is studying a different Shakespeare play or poem, and there has been a lot of great role play, brilliant orating, puppet making and fantastic character and setting descriptions. Some of the plays being read are Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream and The Winter's Tale. The children in Y1 know lots of facts about Shakespeare too. He was born in Stratford upon Avon, he died on 23rd April in 1616, his plays were on stage at The Globe Theatre and lots more. There have already been some brilliant acting and drama sessions around the class play, so the children are really immersing themselves in the
world of Shakespeare. I am looking forward to reading some of the children's rewrites of the plays and scripts in the next few weeks!

This is a short half-term, so we are busy getting ready for some of our theme weeks coming up! Y5 have their residential trip to Kench Hill in Kent, and Y6 have their SATS tests, and there is the Hackney School Run on Saturday 16th July. Just before half-term, we have the ever popular 'Parents & Families Week', and we are organising lots of the usual activities, including an after-school Family Picnic for the whole school, and 'Come Dine With Us' event for Y3. Look out for more information and how to book in for the events in the next few weeks.

We are also looking towards Sports Fortnight that happens in July, and have already begun putting together a timetable of sporting activities. As always, if you have any skill in any fitness or sporting activity and have some time and plenty of enthusiasm, we would like to hear from you! Please email Ashraf at: amohi@millfields.hackney.sch.uk if you think you can help out in any way!

Finally a reminder to remove your bikes and scooters at the end of each day, and especially on a Friday ahead of the weekend. Also, please try to store your scooters and bikes in an orderly way! And a reminder that there is a weekly 'Ride Out -Bike Bus' before school every
Wednesday at 8:20am - see the poster in the Mag for the route.

Have a lovely weekend. Stay well and take care. Jane