Kia ora koutou katoa. How exciting to see Team New Zealand win the America’s Cup!! Such important lessons for our tamariki about not giving up, the value of teamwork, of believing in yourself, and of having good support around you. Earlier in the week, an ex-parent brought in a big sail which we put on the field and many children wrote messages of support to the team on it. Perhaps, in some small way, this helped too!

International Read to Me! Day is an international campaign aimed at encouraging children to remind adults in their family to read to them often.

This year bookings for our parent teacher meetings can be made through the Skool Loop app, under the interviews tab. If you have not yet downloaded the school app, please do so and make sure you enable notifications. See the above image with the downloading information details. If you have any issues, please pop into the office and we can assist you.

Tad in Year 2 has been a Thinker this week, through his work in the Resilience Project. The mission statement of the International Baccalaureate says, in part, that "these programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right". Tad had responded to a different perspective in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and explained to me how the wolf in the story was feeling worried. In thinking about perspectives Tad showed he understood that the characters can present their points of view very differently! Awesome thinking Tad, we are very proud of you!

There was a great turnout for the parent Structured Literacy Meeting on Wednesday. After working with the Year 1 and 2 teachers all day, our Mentor, Dr Christine Braid from Massey University, spoke to parents about the brain science behind the change in how we are teaching reading, writing, and spelling. Dr Braid made clear the way decodable books differ from our traditional readers and how they are used to develop decoding and spelling skills. She explained that to develop other aspects of reading such as vocabulary development and comprehension, teachers will support children to read resources such as shared books and poems.

The 2021 Mediators have now been selected and they are looking forward to being trained and being on duty helping to ensure that Milford School is a safe and happy place for all. The role of the Mediator is not to solve problems for the students but to facilitate the problem-solving process which empowers other students to solve their own problems. There are many skills involved in mediating which require training so that all mediators are confident when they are on duty and helping others. Training will occur across the rest of this term with Term 2 being the official start date for trained mediators on duty in the playground.

On Thursday Room 12 was very lucky to have 8 baby quails and their mummy spend some time in our classroom! The babies were born on Sunday 14th March, so were just 5 days old. There were different colours including yellow, brown and stripy ones. They are kept in a special cage that has a lamp on to keep them warm.

Milford Tigers had a great game this afternoon. Whilst losing 8:4 to the MB Titans they improved their team play from their first game last week with all actively contributing and enjoying themselves. Player of the Day was awarded to Tawhana in recognition of the two baskets he scored. Well done team!

FOMS (Friends of Milford School - formerly the PTA) are holding a Jesters Pie Day to help fundraise for the middle playground which is in much need of an upgrade.

If you would like your child to participate in netball this year, then you will need to register them for the 2021 season by Thursday 1 April. All players, exisiting and new, need to register. If your child played in 2020, then you will only need to update their details. Instructions for all of this is on the school website. Click on 'Our Learning', then 'Sport', then 'Netball.

If you want your child to participate in the upcoming Year 3 - 6 Rippa Rugby or Year 5 & 6 Tackle Rugby tournaments, please click on the link below, to find out more information and to register. Dates are on the link. REGISTRATIONS CLOSE 22nd MARCH

If you want your child to participate in Hockey this year, please click on the link below, to find out more information and to register. Dates are on the link. REGISTRATIONS CLOSE 22nd MARCH

We will be having our next 2nd Hand Uniform Sale on Friday, 26 March at 2.45pm Find us outside the junior block, opposite the Courts.

Catalogues were sent home last 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 Monday 22 March.

One of our past teachers has decided to offer tutoring this year. See above image for all the details.

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

Get your kids excited about technology with these after school lessons or weekend sessions.

See attached enrolment information for Skids before and after school programme, including their weekly activity plan for Term 1.

Please note that the following advertisements are from external sources / businesses and are intended to be informative for the reader. This does not imply that they are endorsed by Milford School.