Kia ora koutou katoa. One of the hallmarks of a good school is to always be reflective and open to change. We have been reflecting on recent information from other schools that a change to their lunchtime routine has been beneficial to student learning, relationships and lunch eating. Research shows that Play, Eat, Learn enhances the ability to focus and concentrate, improving the quality of learning as well as lifting the well-being of students (Kathleen Liberty, University of Canterbury). Currently, our students eat their lunch first, then go off to play. Some students race through their food so they have more time to play, or don’t eat much at all. When they come in after the playing, they need time to settle ready for learning. The new Play, Eat, Learn model is that the children go straight to play at the beginning of lunch and then all sit down and eat their lunch before going into class.

You can watch this week’s episode of Milford School TV by clicking the link below

COLAB, our inaugural combined Teacher Only Day for our Pupuke Kāhui Ako, was held at Westlake Boys’ High School on Friday June 4. A bluebird winter’s day greeted over 500 Pupuke teachers who came together to share ideas, initiatives, and best practices designed to make a difference and drive change within our community.

The Kaiārahi are excited to share that we will be having a fundraiser PJ and Onesie Day to support the 'Give a Kid a Blanket' Charity.

In conjunction with our PJ/Onesie fundraiser we are taking collections all week for Give a Kid a Blanket.

This week Room 18 and Room 21 took a trip to Long Bay to become Coastal Biodiversity Detectives for the day. While they were there, children had time to explore the coastal environment, learning about the diverse number of species present. This trip was in connection with our unit of inquiry on Sharing The Planet, where we have been learning about our responsibilities towards other living things we share the planet with. There are many actions we can take to ensure the environments around us stay diverse.

We are very proud of our Year 6 student, Malika whose synchronised swimming team won a second place in a competition held at West Wave pool in Henderson on 30 May this year. Malika and her team will be taking part in the New Zealand National competition in synchronised swimming, which will be held in Invercargill in October this year.

The Year 5 and 6 APPA Choir had a regional rehearsal at Riverhead Primary on Tuesday. It was our first rehearsal with some of the other schools, working towards our performance in the Town Hall in November. Our students were impeccably behaved and sung so well. It was a joy to take such a wonderful, dedicated group of tamariki to the rehearsal.

In Room 9, our current unit is How We Organise Ourselves: "Economies rely on the interconnection between producers and consumers". As part of this unit we took part in a creative thinking exercise where we designed our own currency. Here you can see a range of currencies designed by the children in Room 9. We have also been busy writing business plans and creating advertisements, and considering how businesses need to generate enough income to cover their running costs and create a profit.

The Year 2 children are learning about how, throughout time, significant people and their actions have changed people’s lives today. In Room 8 we have been reading lots of inspirational stories about significant people and the children are very engaged in their learning.

Friday July the 2nd is a Teacher Only Day and as such, school will be closed for the day. FOMS have organised an exclusive one hour session at Jump Trampoline Park on Arrenway Drive for our students to fundraise towards a new Year 3/4 playground. This is also a great opportunity for parents/caregivers to meet each other.

We had a fantastic turnout at our first FOMS meeting for Term 2 last Thursday night. FOMS (formerly known as the PTA) is a group of parents who support the school in providing the very best for our children. We organise events that help fundraise towards improving the well-being of the school community. We’d love to have you involved. FOMS is open to everyone. Our next meeting is on Thursday 1st July, 7pm in the Staffroom. We have some exciting events planned for the year and will need lots of help on the various sub-committees.

Just a reminder: By now you should have received your child's online ordering photo access key via email from Photolife. Orders need to be placed by midnight on Sunday 22 May 2022 to get free delivery to school. Any orders made after this date will include postage costs to your home address.

Catalogues were sent home this week, BUT if you didn’t get one don’t despair. Please check with your classroom teacher or the office to get your copy. Orders need to be placed by 12pm Friday 18 June.

Did you know, you can buy fantastic Munch Products through your KINDO account?

The Milford Cruising Club are holding a fundraising evening on June 29th, to raise funds for their Junior Sailing Programme.

You can still purchase name labels for the 2021 school year through Kindo. These are great labels for naming your child's school uniform, shoes and lunchboxes. Lots of fun designs to choose from. And by purchasing though Precious Labels, you'll be helping the FOMS fundraising efforts to update the middle playground.

The project is to mitigate the flooding issues in the intersection of Kitchener Road and Shakespeare Road. They will be constructing a new public stormwater network and renewing the existing network.

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