Livingstone Primary & Nursery School WK1 JULY 2021

Friday 9^th July

We have had requests from the parents/carers of younger pupils to let their children stay up late for the football on Sunday by opening the school later on Monday. Given that there is so much at stake and history in the making, we would understand if children came in later the next morning.

Year 6 will need to be in by 9.15 am as they are timetabled to go swimming and all other year groups should be in by 10.30 am at the very latest.

We can't believe that our last sports day was Summer 2019! The children have waited long and hard to be able to enjoy elements of school life that they love the most. One being, sports day! We have had a busy energetic week with our Y5 and Y6 sports day on Monday, Y1 and Y2 on Wednesday and Y3 and 4 on Friday. It was a day full of laughter, smiles and competitiveness!

The results of the games are:

Y6: 1st- Yellow, 2nd-Blue, 3rd-Green and 4th-Red.

Y5: 1st- Green, 2nd-Yellow, 3rd-Red and 4th- Blue.

Y4: 1st - Red, Joint 2nd - Green and Yellow, 3rd - Blue.

Y3: 1st - Red, 2nd - Yellow, 3rd - Blue, 4th - Green.

Y2: 1st- Blue, 2nd- Green, 3rd-Red and 4th- Yellow.

Y1: 1st-Red, 2nd- Green and Yellow and 3rd-Blue.

We are looking forward to Nursery and Reception taking part next week.

Well done, Livingstone!

Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 participated in a Multicultural Dance Day on Tuesday. They had the opportunity to attend four workshops of international dances delivered by experienced dance teachers who immersed them in the music and dance moves of different countries around the world. They practised Polka (Polish traditional dance), Jazz (U.S.A.), Bollywood dance (Indian) and Scottish Highland dancing. Each class was asked to prepare a performance for a dance and parents will have the opportunity to watch a video of their performance on their class' VLE page. We hope you enjoy watching it as much as the children enjoyed taking part in it!

Thursday was the turn for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6L/6B/6S to show their skilful dance moves. The weather allowed us to have an outdoor whole-school assembly; our very first one since lockdown restrictions were lifted. Year 3 amazed us with their quick, skilful Russian Hopak and Year 4 with their fierce New Zealand/Australian aboriginal Haka. Year 5 took us to the other side of the Atlantic, to Brazil, and had us bouncing and shaking our hips to their energetic Samba. Year 6L with half of 6S performed a smooth Cuban Salsa gliding to the rhythm of Latin tunes while Year 6B with the rest of Year 6S crew managed to coordinate arm, leg, core and rhythm work to perform an animated, vibrant Afro-Beats dance. All performance videos for KS2 will be available on Teams.

Both days were full of non-stop movement and despite the tiredness, Livingstone children showed their endurance, resilience and team spirit during their performances and made us all proud. Well done to everyone who participated and to all the teachers and staff who helped to make this day so unique!

IN ATTENDANCE:

Giovanna Phelan – Head teacher

Kate Orr – Year 2

Lina Cavozzi – Year 3

Teresa Osman – Year 5

Melisa Gosling- Year 1

Shelly Farmer - Year 3 and Kingfisher

APOLOGIES:

Zoe Cox – Year 4

Helene Anido – Year 6

Ellen Patmore – Reception

Nina Kornhouser – Year 5

Laura Blackaller– Nursery

This is the last parent representative meeting for this school year and here are the minutes…

Q Kingfisher 2 - Please could you help us understand why Miss Nicholson has been moved from KF2 and who is going to be the teacher on a daily basis? At present, we have a TA from Monday - Thursday and a teacher only on a Friday (Mrs Sudbury)

As some of you maybe aware Miss.Nicholson is now working in the Kingfisher nursery. This move is to facilitate Mrs. Ferdenzi work load and help Kingfisher work as efficiently and smoothly as possible for the children. Mrs. Snell and Mrs. Sudbury are now teaching in place of Mrs. Nicholson.

Q Could the snacks be healthier in cabin club, not sure if fruit is available?

Cabin Club make sure they are providing healthy snacks for the children and that fruit is available to them. Parents/carers who would like to discuss food preferences should speak directly to Mrs Kelly.

Q A parent shared a concern that their child reported playing a shooting game on line during Cabin Club and wasn’t sure if this was true or not?

Both Mrs. Phelan and Mrs. Kelly can reassure parents that shooting games are not allowed in school or in Cabin. Please speak directly to Mrs Kelly about any concerns regarding play in the Cabin Club.

YEAR 6 PROM

We don’t want parents to miss out on seeing their children graduate from Livingstone, so we are looking into something, weather and Covid restrictions allowing. Invitations will be sent nearer the time.

Q Parent Pay Parents have reported that they don’t get an email confirmation on parent pay.

Mrs. Phelan will investigate further. You can see when you have paid for something if you go to the menu and click on history and then transaction history, this shows all the payments you have made.

Q A few parents are concerned about the amount of parents no longer wearing masks in the school. Is there anything that can be done about this?

The school politely reminds parent to please wear masks at school. Thank you for your cooperation.

Q Do children get a report at the end of the year? Do we get feedback from recent tests as parents would like to know what their children need to improve on? Since the DfE announced that in 2021, there will be no SATs for pupils in KS1 (at the end of Year 2). Will there be catch up tests in Y3?

Reports will be given out at the end of the school year but the results will not be reported. You will know if your child has met the standard as they will be described as at Expected or at Greater Depth. The children are unaware that they are doing the assessments, they are just part of their normal day, so there is no pressure on the children. They will not have SATs in Yr 3 but the current Yr 1 may have to do Phonics Screening in Yr 2.

Q Would it be too much to ask if they have decided on staffing for September? Would it be in the children's best interest to continue with current staff given the impact of the pandemic?

The children will soon find out who their new teacher will be. Mrs. Phelan feels that there would be too much disruption to the teachers planning in certain key years to change the staff around at the moment. She reassures parents that the children adapt very quickly to their new teachers and classroom.

AC FINCHLEY- AC Finchley use our field for training and are starting a crowd funding page to raise money for a much needed defibrillator for Livingstone. This will not only facilitate them but us too.Keep your eyes peeled in the news letter. There will be more information on how you can donate to this good cause.

MUDDY PUDDLES -Our pond area has become a big hit in school time and sometimes a little bit muddy.Mrs. Phelan will make sure teachers tell the children to wear their wellies and also wash their hands after muddy play.

On sunny days please put sun cream on your child before they come to school. If the weather is excessively hot pupils are taken off the playground or taken to play in the shaded pond area.

FRIDAY FUN Thanks to our wonderful PTA, the kids are going to have an amazing time at the fair. We are having a BID UP for parents to win some fabulous prizes, look out for the texts coming your way. Good luck!