fter an exceptionally cold start to the first week of the new term the weather seems to have calmed down as we begin our second week of 2025 in school.

All pupils made a good start to learning last week beginning their new curriculum topics and continuing where they left off with their English and Mathematics learning.

Keep On Reading!

Thank you for your support of the holidays ensuring that children are RED - Read Every Day.

Reading is the most important skill that we must teach our pupils to ensure that they become fluent readers as quickly as possible. We want every pupil at this school to be a confident, fluent reader who not only reads to learn but also reads for pleasure.

To support this alongside our ongoing teaching of phonics and reading skills we have our authors of the month.

Our EYFS / KS1 author for January 2025 is Emma Yarlett.

Emma Yarlett is an award-winning author, illustrator and typographer based by the sea in Falmouth.

She has written a number of books for young children including Monster Post, Dragon Post and Nibbles the Book Monster.

Our KS2 author of the month is Andrew Cope author of the Spy Dog series of books.

A date for your diary is World Book Day which this year is Thursday 6^th March. Look out for details soon, of how we will be marking World Book Day this year.

Proposed minor changes to increase the length of the school day for all pupils.

A survey is now available for parents / carers to give their view on these proposed changes. This is available on the home page of our school web site or by clicking here.

Following discussions with our school trust, our governors and our staff we are proposing making some minor changes to the length of the school day from Monday 24th February. 

The first proposal is to extend the EYFS and KS1 day by five minutes to 3.10pm

The second proposal therefore is to extend the Y3 and Y4 day by 10 minutes to 3.20pm and the Y5 and Y6 day by 5 minutes to 3.20pm.

This will mean that all pupils in Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 will finish school at 3.20pm.

Could we please ask that you show your preference for both proposals on the survey – even if you do not currently have children in other year groups / key stages.

Behaviour Policy

As of the start of term our updated and revised behaviour policy is now in place in classrooms .

This updated policy includes a revised system of rewards and sanctions, the addition of restorative conversations and removal of the current behaviour ladder to support our approach.

This policy is now available on our school web site on our School Policies page (or by clicking here)

Mr Wiggett will be arranging a date and time for parents / carers to come into school to learn more about this new policy this term.

Attendance

Well done to 4A who had the best attendance during the first week back at school with a figure of 96.5%. 6SW and 3I were not far behind.

It is vital that all pupils attend school and on time every day unless there is an unavoidable reason for absence.

Good attendance at school is crucial because it helps pupils to achieve - pupils who are not attending are not learning and will therefore not achieve as much as they are capable of.

Parents / carers are reminded that holidays must not be taken in term time. Parents are reminded that due to government legislation head teachers cannot grant leave of absence for family holidays during term time.

Taking holidays during the school term will be recorded as unauthorised absence and the school will refer such cases onto the local authority (Staffordshire County Council) who may administer a penalty fine.

Admission to EYFS / Reception Class - September 2025

reminder that the closing date for applications for any parent / carer who wants a place for their child in EYFS at our school in September 2025 is this Wednesday 15th January.

On their web site Staffordshire County Council state: 

Last year there were over 250 late applications.

This may have affected the outcome of these applications.

We have had a significant increase this academic year in the number of parents / carers visiting the school to have a look around to inform their applications, so we feel that the demand for places in September 2025 could be high.

Key contacts

If you wish to discuss any aspects of your child’s learning at school or have any other concerns please do not hesitate to contact the school.

A list of key contacts are shown below:

Office Manager - Mrs Sarah Jarman

Email: office@millfield.staffs.sch.uk

Head teacher - Mr Simon Kelly

Email: office@millfield.staffs.sch.uk

Chair of Governors - Mr Martin Hall

Email: (via school office): office@millfield.staffs.sch.uk

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator - Mrs Heather Geobey

Email: senco@millfield.staffs.sch.uk

Deputy Head teacher  - Mr Richard Wiggett

Email: r.wiggett@millfield.staffs.sch.uk

EYFS Lead teacher - Miss A Crook

Email: a.crook@millfield.staffs.co.uk