Kia ora whānau. We know we have amazing learners in our school, but I am constantly reminded just how amazing they are as I was supervising the Junior Kapa Haka group this morning. This group of around 40 children are led by the Māori Action Team, year 6 students who do everything from teaching waiata, tikanga and ‘crowd control’. These learners show great leadership and are just one of the many action groups we have. Very impressive Miriam, McKenzie, Maria, Ocean, Esther, Louisa (and usually Daniel and Isobel)!

A reminder that next Friday, 3 June, is a teacher-only day so please do not send your children to school that day. The following Monday, 6 June, is the Queen’s Birthday public holiday so no school that day either.

We continue to monitor the potential risks of covid-19 in our school, and I keep up to date with the latest advice through the Ministry Principal’s zoom meetings. We know that ventilation is really important and we have a few Co2 monitors and portable ventilation units in the school which we are using to monitor levels. The Ministry advises that fresh air is the best ventilation and that opening doors and windows at intervals during the day (as well as fresh air breaks) are important measures. We continue to do this. So far this term, the number of students in isolation with covid remains low, with 11 students currently isolating. We are working hard to keep everyone well so again ask you to keep your child home if they have any sickness at all.

In line with keeping everyone safe, we have become aware of a person sleeping near the lakeside path and we wanted you to be aware and to remind your children to keep themselves safe.

If you haven't paid your school donation or activity contribution, please can you do so as soon as possible. These are to be paid via Kindo and if you need any help with this, Sam in the office is happy to help. Our Year 6 students also need to pay the Waterwise fee, and Year 5 students pay both Waterwise and Garden to Table. If you are unsure what is to be paid, going on your Kindo account will show you. Thank you so much for this as we want to keep offering all the opportunities that we do.

All school policies are on a website called SchoolDocs. SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive set of policies, which have been well researched and follow the Ministry of Education guidelines. The policies and procedures are tailored to our school, as the school supplies specific information. SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, and regular reviewing. Our board reviews changes and comments on them before they are implemented. The website is https://milford.schooldocs.co.nz (note that there's no "www."). Our username is "milford" and password "milforddocs".

This afternoon is a Year 5-led whole school assembly and we warmly invite the Year 5 parents to attend. Please remember to wear a mask if you do attend. This is at 2.15pm in the hall.

Keep safe and well everyone!

Noho ora mai

Sue