Tena koutou katoa. Happy Diwali/Deepavali to you all. This festival, which is also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates the victory of good over evil, of hope over dispair, and of knowledge over ignorance. This seems very apt right now as we keep hopeful and informed in the changing world we live in.

The plants don't know we're in lockdown. They just keep on doing what they do best: growing! With the warmer weather and lots of rain, our Gardening Club vegetables have grown wonderfully.

This week in Room 16 we have continued to learn our Heart Words. We learned the words that end in -ck. We learn by saying them, drawing a picture to show their meaning, and then we practise writing them a few times. Have a look at some learning by Maia, Dahee, Derek and Olivia.

At Milford School we have so many talented students and so we have been running a Milfords Got Talent competition. This will close next Friday so if you haven't entered yet, please do!

Last week the Year 3 children were encouraged to write an acrostic poem, as well as a letter, to show their gratitude. It was wonderful to read about their gratitude for simple but important things, including food, trees, bike rides, and trust. Here are a few more ...

In this article, Lily Drury writes about her passion for the environment and how she and her mum arranged for Green Party Co-Leader James Shaw to come and speak to Year 4 via Zoom as part of our Unit of Inquiry focused on "Sharing the Planet".

Team and Group photos that were taken last term are now available to order. Please email Photolife directly for your keycode. See below for details.

The length of the current lockdown is something we, as parents, have not experienced before, and with the vast majority of children unable to attend school, here are some sites and articles that may help you over the next few weeks.

Awards for: Best dance (individual or your bubble - get those mums and dads dancing). Best instrumental performance - solo or bubble. Best poetry or production snippet reading - how expressive can you be? Best original lockdown song - make up your own! Best singing performance - individual or bubble!

Because we want to continue to engage with the children through this lockdown, Skids Milford will be offering these online tuition classes beginning term 4, while we are still in level 3.

While we are currently schooling from home, Scholastics have created a special digital catalogue to help families stay inspired to read and learn. It's jam-packed with bonus Christmas pages and the best of the best books of 2021! This issue is available by viewing the catalogue online and placing an order on the LOOP platform. All orders will be delivered directly to the home!