Welcome to Term 3 at Milford School! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday period, with time spent with family and friends. It has been great to see our students back this week with smiles on their faces and enthusiasm for the term ahead.

It’s been interesting hearing so many stories of the great holidays the children have had, and fun experiences they share with teachers. We also welcome many new families and students to Milford School this week, and hope you enjoy becoming part of our learning community.

Term 3 is full of wonderful learning for the students, with Units of Inquiry, Performing Arts, sports, PE and Music activities starting right from day one. Mrs Vivienne Hammond is welcomed back this week, starting her new Year 0 class in Room 18 - it’s so lovely to have you back Viv! We also welcome Mrs Jo Bradburn to our Learning Assistant team, who will be working with students in Literacy. Our team of Learning Assistants are so motivated, and committed to helping students achieve their best, and we are lucky to have them with us.

With so many of our students involved in sports through school and clubs, it has been very motivating and exciting to see our national teams perform at top level internationally over the holidays. The Silver Ferns winning the Netball World Cup by one goal, and the Black Caps coming an incredibly close second in the Cricket World Cup has been gripping and nail-biting watching! Our students are keen sportspeople, and with teachers and parents coaching, managing and supporting, I’m sure we’ll see many of our children keep playing well into adulthood and beyond.

As we know, good communication between home and school is crucial to the ongoing success of each child. This term we have parent-teacher-student meetings coming up in Week 3 on Thursday 8 August, as per the school calendar, and in the newsletter. These meetings are a fantastic time for you to actively participate with your child in setting goals for the coming two terms, and to hear of their progress and learning to date.

A booking timetable has been set up which you can access online at www.schoolinterviews.co.nz and use the school code jsxfy. Enter the details you are asked for, push Go, select the year group then the teachers from the list, push Go, then choose the time you would like from the available time slots. When booking for more than one child, please leave 10 minutes between each appointment as it can take time moving between classes etc. There are also meeting times available with our specialist teachers if you wish: Catherine Kelly, Music (to be held in the Music Room), Louise Lavulo, P.E. (to be held in the Office), and Gordana Stanojevic, ESOL, (to be held in the ESOL Room). A confirmation email will be sent to the email address you supply. Meetings are available from 1.00pm to 7.30pm (excluding break times), with school finishing early that day, at 12.30pm. There will be limited supervision for children who are unable to go home at this earlier time, however we would appreciate arrangements being made if at all possible. Your child’s teacher will be asking soon whether your child has permission to go home at 12.30pm.

With illnesses and bugs in winter, please consider keeping children home when they aren’t well, to avoid the spread of germs. Often, a day or two at home resting means illnesses may not develop into anything too serious, and children can return feeling healthy and able to participate in class.

We look forward to seeing you all at some point throughout this busy winter term. Keep warm, enjoy the sun when we have it, and look forward to Spring in a few weeks time!

Nga mihi nui,

Sara Baker

Deputy Principal