Kia ora whānau. We have been very fortunate to have an amazing art teacher working in our school this year, one day a week. Mrs Jo Bradbeer has been working with the senior classes on pieces of art including clay, murals and 3D models. This photo above shows the latest beautiful art installation she has created with the students - one containing many, many butterflies. Each of these is unique, just like us, and together they create something visually beautiful and powerful that only works so well because they all came together. Next year, our Board has supported us to have Jo working four days a week (Term 1 only), so more children, and teachers, can experience her immense expertise in this area. We recognise the impact developing creativity has on other curriculum areas.

Our Kapa Haka uniforms are in need of a refresh and a steam. We are running a working bee to get them looking fresh and ready for our final performance of the year!

Don't forget you can still buy tickets for the FOMS raffle hampers everyday before or after school from the office. $5 each or 5 for $20. Please help support this great fundraising drive as FOMS works to get the last $5000 needed for the new playground. Raffles will be drawn at the Festival of Song event on 9 December.

Every year the Milford School students sing Christmas songs on the field while the parents sit on picnic rugs, drink and eat and enjoy the children singing. It is a highlight of the year and we haven't been able to do this concert for a couple of years, so the children are very excited to have it back! It is a wonderful opportunity to get to know people in the school community and to celebrate the wonderful year. Children wear red, white or green clothing. They start arriving with you at 5pm. The singing starts at 5.30 pm. Each year group will be performing, so put it in your diary!

This year, after not being able to participate in 2021 due to lockdown, we are happy to announce we will again be supporting the Age Concern North Shore organisation to collect gifts and Christmas messages of kindness and recognition to the elderly community of the North Shore. Many of our elderly in the community do not have relatives or friends able to be with them each Christmas day, so with the gifts we collect, Age Concern provides a small gift hamper for many of these lovely people. Please help us and donate an item to our collection!

Year 5 students have been making expressive clay heads this term. The models took a lot of care and attention to detail. They have made some amazing characters.

This week, the Learner Profile attribute that we have been focusing on is being Knowledgeable. Being knowledgeable means that we know many things, we know what to do, and we remember what we have learned. It also means that we know where and how to find new information to increase our knowledge. The Knowledgeable certificates this week were awarded to Hanna and Luke in Room 17, Layla and William in Room 16, Gianna and Carter in Room 15, Ian and Rachel in Room 14, Avery and Millie in Room 13, Grayson and Zachary in Room 18, Emma and Mina in Room 4. Congratulations to these learners.

This week we were super excited to find a letter from our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, addressed to Room 19! Back in October, as part of our Unit of Inquiry, Sharing the Planet, we wrote to the Prime Minister expressing our concern at the amount of plastic pollution there is in New Zealand. We suggested that it becomes illegal to litter and that people should be fined for littering.

Every Friday the Year 0 and Year 1 students meet together to have fun arts/crafts and play activities. We start our hui with some waiata (songs) and celebrate our learning. Each Year 0/1 teacher selects 2 students to receive the Learner Profile attribute certificates that we have been focusing on this week. The teachers then offer a wide variety of fun activities for the children to choose from. Meeting together every Friday fosters and enhances positive relationships between the students from different classes, and between the students and other teachers within the team. This in turn means that children are familiar with, and can work with and play with, many other children across the year level. What a cheery, colourful, Christmassy Fun Friday we had today in Year 0 and Year 1.

Over the last two weeks in STEM, some of the classes learned about the amazing invention of a bioengineer named Manu Prakash. He discovered that he could use the traditional whirligig toy as a more affordable and transportable alternative to a costly centrifuge that requires electricity. Spinning the paperfuge for a few minutes separates a blood sample into red blood cells, white blood cells, and plasma, making it possible to see and identify malaria-infected cells. By making this discovery he has been able to save millions of lives, especially in remote areas. Check out some of our awesome whirligigs!

Need a safe and fun holiday programme for the kids over the school holidays? Our before and after school care team, SKIDS, are running their holiday programme filled with fun activities and trips.

Shelley Bryce is once again running her Tennis Holiday programme from the Milford Tennis Club on Dodson Avenue these coming school holidays.

The Cheese Wheel is a cheese subscription service based in Wellington. They have kindly donated a cheese box for one of our FOMS raffle hampers and they have also given the school community a special offer of 20% of your first cheesebox using the code TCW22MILFORD. See above flyer for more information. The Cheese Wheel is a cheese subscription service based in Wellington.

This school holiday programme is the perfect way for your child to spend the last few days before Christmas. Each day has been carefully planned so that the children are engaged in a variety of creative activities throughout the day. The course is multi-leveled so is perfect for primary aged children.

Ethos has you sorted for the school holidays, running a 3-day programme, involving some of the following:

School Holiday Program and after school classes.

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