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)!

We would like to congratulate our 3 amazing teachers, Nic Sao, Charlotte Sutton and Lisa Lord on their graduation this week. Well done!

This is a friendly reminder to those who still have their pool keys. These need to be returned by Friday 3 June to be able to receive you bond back. Any returned after this date will forfeit the bond.

Once again our Kaiārahi is facilitating the Milford School drive to support ‘Give a Kid a Blanket’. For those new to our community ‘Give a Kid a Blanket’ is a community action of kindness where donations of warm bedding and pyjamas are given to families and kids in need from across the wider Auckland area and beyond. Collection Week will be from Tuesday, 7 June to - Tuesday, 17 June 2022. Items can be brought directly to room 18.

Check out this week’s episode of Milford School TV by clicking the link below.

Today the advanced string ensemble went to Milford Kindy to play for the tamariki. Emily, Emily, Olivia and Elaine were outstanding representatives and performed beautifully. They then stayed for some kai and chatted to the kindy staff and tamariki. It was a wonderful experience for everyone and we were able to connect with some of the tamariki who will be starting at Milford School soon.

This week our Year 0/1 Learner Profile Attribute is being Open-Minded. This means that we know and understand that people are different and may have different opinions. We listen to others and respect their ideas. The students who received certificates this week are: Clara and Avery (Room 13), Rachel and Tessan (Room 14), William and Arlo (Room 15), Layla and Bryn (Room 16), Emily and Jordy (Room 17). Congratulations to these wonderful open-minded learners.

The Maori action team has been very busy already this term. We have been planning and leading the Junior Kapa Haka Group every Friday and they sound Ka mau te wehi!!! We have also been lucky enough to have Ms Boyd teach us how to make poi at lunchtime. She is an amazingly patient kaiako.

Year one students are inquiring into SHARING THE PLANET. They have been working really hard in ESOL classes and have built up their PYP vocabulary bank. Well done!

Children in Year 3 have enjoyed inquiring into our most recent unit on How The World Works, where children gained scientific understanding through curiosity, observation and experimentation. Concepts being explored included Form (what it is like) and Function (how it works). During this unit, children took a trip to MOTAT where they took part in a range of hands-on experiments focussing on electrical circuits. While in class, they went through the design process to create a device containing a simple circuit to meet a need that had been identified. Children also utilised their knowledge of 3D shapes to make a cylinder shaped bedside lamp out of clay. What a great Unit of Inquiry!

Our young HIVE COMMUNICATORS (featured on the photo) are not only fluent in Japanese, Chinese,Korean, Arabic and English - they are translating Te Reo sentences in English, too. In ESOL classes they are being taught a very powerful message: " The limits of my language are the limits of my life". We are very proud of our multilingual children!

The students in Year 4 have been learning about the early Polynesian explorers and how their voyages on great double hulled canoes, or waka, led to the discovery of Aotearoa.

Our lovely Shannon, Room 12 is learning many new and very, very tricky Unit of Inquiry words in her ESOL class. Shannon is not only an Inquirer - she is the most caring girl helping her sister Helly settle down at Milford School. Shannon is a star and works extremely hard.

In STEM we have been learning about how human activity affects the Antarctic environment. This week we looked at ocean acidification and how pollution is causing changes to the acidity of the ocean which in turn, is affecting ocean life. We created our own pH indicator to understand acids and bases using red cabbage juice.

I had the privilege to spend a block with Room 6 students yesterday, as they worked on their research for their Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry. The level of conversation, collaboration, and thinking involved in the learning the students were doing was amazing! The students used Chromebooks to collaboratively collect and analyse information, and present it in Canva. I found out a lot of interesting information about water - what different bodies of water are called, how much water consumption per capita there is in different countries, droughts, and the sustainability of water resources in our world. Through the units of inquiry, students have the opportunity to direct their own learning into areas they are passionate about, and to learn HOW to learn. Room 6, you are a class of open-minded, reflective, and thinking Inquirers!

The unbeatable Milford Orcas, have been on a roll over the past two terms. They have improved their skills and are working so well as a team! Keep up the wonderful effort, Milford Orcas!!!

On Monday the Year 2 team played on one of the indoor courts at Netball North Harbour. They are improving their skills each week and worked cooperatively as a team to get the ball down from one end of the court to the other. The players also displayed great sportsmanship and fairplay. Well done to all of them. One of the players, Paige and her brother Connor, were lucky enough to meet and have their photo taken with 2 of the Mystics players. What a great experience for them!

Takapuna Normal Intermediate School (TNIS) warmly invites families and whānau of Year 6 learners to the following enrolment events:

Adapted for the stage by Tim Bray Created for Ages: 5 – 10 Show Run Time: 60 mins (no interval) 2 – 30 July at The Pumphouse Theatre.

A big thank you to these business for support our Skool Loop app.