Dear Parents and Whanau - We are celebrating the end of our first full week back at school for 2021 with the Year 6 led assembly this afternoon. What a year it has been already! We would love to thank our learners and families for their support over Covid 19 levels 2 and 3, and the teachers for leaping back into distance learning thinking. Our focus for distance learning will always be the wellbeing of our learners and families through these testing times, meaning that the distance learning options will hopefully suit all family situations.

As you will have read in another newsletter this year, Milford School is an IB PYP school. So what is the PYP and what does it mean for learning? The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) for children aged 3 - 12, nurtures and develops young students as caring, active participants in a lifelong journey of learning.

We were very lucky to have Riley Hathaway, Young Ocean Explorer, come and visit us on Tuesday. She was so inspiring and passionate, sharing her knowledge, experience and videos about the Hauraki Gulf. We were amazed by the wonderful creatures living in our ocean. We are currently undertaking a 21 day challenge, a Young Ocean Explorers initiative. During this time the children will be learning, thinking, creating and taking action to care for the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park / Ko te Pātaka kai o Tīkapa Moana Te Moananui-ā-Toi. The goal is for each child to pick up at least 1 piece of plastic for 21 days. We can all make a difference to our local environment and protect our beautiful ocean. Let's all do this together! We Are Young Ocean Explorers!

Mrs Middleton and Miss Brown have this year started up our junior Kapa Haka group, which many younger students are enjoying. Two of our wonderful Year 6 students, Libby and Rebecca, had a great idea to both take action and show leadership, and offered to help the teachers with Kapa Haka.

I am happy to share this Learner Profile story for a student in our school who has been a RISK-TAKER, as well as a great Communicator and Reflective.

The Young Ocean Explorers ‘ 21 Day Challenge’ has been set up to make Auckland School children aware of the huge plastic problem in our Hauraki Gulf Park.

Our basketball teams started their season this week with some great results. Everyone played well and lots of fun was had by all.

You may remember that last year the school PTA had a rebranding and will now be known as FOMS - Friends of Milford School. The first meeting for 2021, and AGM, will be held Wednesday 3rd March at 7pm in the Staffroom. All parents are welcome to come along and find out more about the plans for 2021 and offer ideas and offer support if they would like. FOMS is not just about fundraising for school projects, but also about hosting fun events to bring the whole school community together.

Next Saturday is the start of NZ Sea Week, which ties in nicely with our Young Ocean Explorers 21-Day Challenge. There are loads of activities happening around the country for this annual event.

I would like to remind all parents and members of our school community about the recycling options that we have at Milford School alongside our kerbside recycling bins.For many years we have been a part of the Terracycle Recycling Brigade.

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.

Guitar Lessons are available at school, with Dave Gatman from Musiqhub. If you would like to enrol your child to start Guitar Lessons, please contact Dave on 021 2221456 or dave.gatman@musiqhub.co.nz.

In an ever-changing and fast-paced, technology-addicted world, it can be difficult to guesstimate what skills our children need in order to prepare them for an uncertain future.

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

This is a great time to trial Pform.nz, bring friends and experience all the different genre of classes that we offer.

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

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.