Livingstone Newsletter
May 1st 2026
Football Finals
Football season has come to an end and what an epic finale it was! Our girls reached not one, but two finals against the same strong opponents, St. Catherines. Last Friday, our Girls Team played with determination, teamwork and confidence, showing exactly why they deserved the win. Staff at Livingstone have been continually impressed by their talent and commitment, and this was clear once again as they secured the title of Barnet League Champions for the third year in a row. Another trophy for the cabinet! But, it didn’t stop there. On Tuesday, the girls returned to the pitch for their second final, full of energy and focus, knowing they were up against a determined side. After a tense first half, a motivating team talk from Mr Thomas set them up for the second half. A brilliant corner from Elsie gave Dotty the opportunity to put us 1–0 ahead. With minutes remaining, Anwen struck a powerful shot to seal a 2–0 victory. Cup winners! Combined with our Powerleague win earlier in the Autumn term, this means our Livingstone girls are treble winners. An outstanding achievement. Go on, Girls! We are incredibly proud of the team, and all of this success will certainly go down in our school’s history. Thank you to Mr Thomas and Mr Madle for training the girls all year and to our parents/carers who have supported us continuously. Well done to, Xhizela, Eva, Holly, Anwen, Elsie, Soroiyan, Amelia, Ryann, Daniella and Dotty.
T1 Rugby
As one sporting league comes to an end, a new one begins! And so, the T1 Rugby League starts, and we had our first game against Dollis Primary School on Thursday. T1 Rugby is a new sport this year with an exciting new format and our pupils and rose to the challenge. The pupils have adapted quickly to the new rules and have approached their training with focus and enthusiasm. As always, they arrived well prepared and organised, ready to give their best. On the pitch, the team demonstrated excellent formation, strong tactical awareness and impressive skill throughout the game. It was a fantastic first match, with the team working cohesively and confidently to secure a 5–0 victory. Well done to Kevin, Zak, Elsie, Holly, Anwen, Daniella, Soroiyan, Eva and Dotty.
Livingstone Parent takes on the London to Brighton Charity Ultra Challenge
Junior (Y6) and Sienna's (Y3) Mum is taking on the London 2 Brighton Walk and would love your support in helping her to raise money for a very worthy charity. She says:
"I am doing a charity walk from London to Brighton on the 23rd of May 2026, in loving memory of my dear mum who sadly passed away in January this year. I have chosen The British Heart Foundation as my charity; they are an amazing charity and do great work."
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to British Heart Foundation, so it's the most efficient way to give - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
You can donate to Suzan's JustGiving page by clicking here:
JustGiving - Suzan Webster London2Brighton Ultra Challenge
JustGiving sends your donation straight to British Heart Foundation and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more.
Thank you for your support!
Nursery
We have had another very busy and exciting week in nursery, with lots of wonderful learning taking place!
This week, we have been exploring life cycles. Our caterpillars have now formed their cocoons, and we are eagerly waiting as they grow their wings and prepare to become butterflies over the next couple of weeks.
In literacy, the children have really enjoyed reading Oi Frog! and have been having lots of fun with rhyming games. We have been making up our own silly rhymes such as “cats sit on mats” and “frogs sit on logs,” which has caused lots of laughter!
In phonics, we have been learning the sounds ‘d’ for dinosaur and ‘t’ for tower. The children have been practising recognising these sounds and thinking of words that begin with them.
We have also created some fantastic artwork using paper plates to make frogs. The children designed very long tongues for their frogs, which can gobble up lots of bugs!
Talking Homework:
Can your child explain the life cycle of a butterfly?
Can they create their own rhyming phrases like the ones from Oi Frog!?
Go on a sound hunt to find objects beginning with ‘d’ and ‘t’.
Talk about frogs: where they live and what they eat.
KIND REMINDER:
Now that the weather is getting warmer, please send your child in with a labelled hat and sun cream. They can bring their own cream to Nursery if they are doing a full day (roll- ons are preferable).
Kingfisher Early Years & Nurture
This week has brought more minibeast excitement as the caterpillars have finally stopped wiggling around and eating and have formed cocoons around themselves. We eagerly await their emergence as beautiful butterflies!
This week Bluebirds have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and their work has been themed around caterpillars, life cycles and fruit. In fun with Food, the have made caterpillar biscuits and made caterpillar and butterfly fruit art.
In Kingfisher Early Years we have been learning all about frogs and their equally amazing life cycle. The Makaton song of the week has been 5 little speckled frogs. They have been enjoying reading, Oi Frog and Freddy the frog, as well as looking at non-fiction books about frogs. The phonics sounds for this week were 'd' for dinosaur and 't' for tower.
Reception
This week, we have continued enjoying our focus story The Three Little Pigs. The children loved exploring the alternative version, The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf, which led to some lovely discussions about the characters and their different viewpoints.
In Literacy, we had great fun creating “wanted” posters for either the pigs or the wolf, thinking carefully about what the characters did and how to describe them.
In Maths, we have been learning about sharing and grouping, using practical activities to help us understand these concepts.
During our outdoor learning, the children spent time in the pond area with Diane. Some children decided to build a nest using natural materials. It was wonderful to see their teamwork, as they shared ideas, took turns and worked cooperatively.
In PE, we have been practising our jumping skills, focusing on taking off on one foot and landing safely on two feet. The children showed lots of enthusiasm and are developing their confidence, balance and control.
Just a reminder that PE takes place on Wednesdays and Fridays. On these days, please send your child to school wearing:
- Plain black trainers
- White t-shirt
- Black jogging bottoms or plain royal blue shorts (see photo below for reference)
Please remember that summer dresses should not be worn on PE days, as they can restrict movement and be unsafe on climbing equipment.
We are really looking forward to our trip to Lee Valley Farm on Thursday 7th May. Please ensure your child arrives promptly in the morning, wearing suitable, weather- appropriate clothing.
Requirements for the day:
- School uniform must be worn (raincoat and wellies if needed depending on the weather)
- Sun hat and suncream applied before school if the weather is warm
- A named rucksack/bag with a healthy packed lunch and a bottle of water
The children will return to school for the usual pick-up time at 3:10pm.
Thank you, as always, for your support 😊
This week’s awards go to Mary Rose for her excellent effort and determination in phonics, always trying her best to improve, and Daayaar for his strong phonics skills and for working hard to use his sounds when writing sentences.
Year 1
In Maths, at the start of the week, we explored volume and capacity. We have now moved on to multiplication, focusing on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, and would encourage you to practise this at home to build fluency. In English, we have been placing a strong emphasis on handwriting, and both Miss Gordon and I have been very impressed with the progress the children are making. We also began a new text, Puffin Peter, which the children thoroughly enjoyed, and they produced some detailed and thoughtful character descriptions. In Science, our focus is plants, where we have been learning about the different parts and their functions. The children particularly enjoyed exploring the school grounds to identify and observe a variety of plants.
Maths homework
Pages 82 and 83.
This week's awards go to Mark for his excellent writing in English and Jessica for her hard work in phonics and handwriting.
Year 2
This week in Maths, we have continued our learning on fractions by recognising a half and a quarter of a shape followed by finding a half and a quarter of an amount using our concrete resources. In English, we have begun our new unit on traditional tales by exploring The Three Little Pigs. We have used drama to role-play the story and have started to write descriptive sentences about the characters using adjectives to construct expanded noun phrases. In the afternoons, we have worked extremely hard to produce some beautiful textured collages of a seaside scene.
Homework
Maths - pages 87 and 88 (additional extra page 89)
Grammar - see photocopied sheets
The two achievement awards this week are to Ayva and Safiya for their excellent textured collage of the seaside in Art.
Kingfisher 1
Another busy week in Kingfisher 1
In Maths, we learned to describe the position, direction, and movement of objects. The children described positions using left, right, forwards, and backwards, and placed a range of objects in relation to each other. They used Bee-Bots to programme turns, including full turns and half turns, to reach a destination. We also used ordinal numbers to describe the position of objects on a line.
In English, we continued to explore Eric Carle books. This week, the children enjoyed reading The Mixed-Up Chameleon and took part in role-play and art activities. They used colourful semantics to build grammatically correct sentences to retell the main events of the story, progressing to tracing, copying, or writing phrases and simple sentences.
This week achievement award goes to Dajjen for completing his sticker chart. Well done and keep up the good work!
Year 3
We logged on to our individual Year 3 computers this week, which has been a very exciting experience for all of us. The pupils have been practicing their 2, 5, 10, 3, 4, and 8 times tables on TTRockstars. As well, we have been learning how to create PowerPoint presentations and how to search for information safely online. In maths, we are continuing our work on fractions. In English, we drafted and published our Revolting Recipes inspired by The Twits.
Please can I remind you not to bring to school any toys, Pokeman cards or special objects from home.
Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend!
Homework:
Maths: p.87 and p.88 (p.89 optional)
English: Grammar - p.68 and p.69
George - for an excellent PowerPoint presentation.
Kai - for an amazing revolting recipe.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 have been using their decimal knowledge to convert between pounds and pence and compare money in Maths. In English, the children have completed their long write about their magical world behind a secret door.
The children have completed History and are experts on how the Romans influenced modern day Britain and are prepared or our upcoming trip to the Verulamium after half-term. Next week, the children will be looking at the digestive system in science.
Homework
Maths – pages 90 and 91
Punctuation – pages 32 and 33
Times Table sheet and daily reading and TTR practice.
This week’s achievement awards go to Aysha for her hard work and perseverance as she never gives up and works extremely hard, and Holly for her excellent money work in Maths. Well done to you both!
Year 5
This week in Maths, the children have been learning about the properties of shapes, nets of 3D shapes and whether they are regular or irregular.
In English, they drafted, edited and published their romantic letters between characters from The Highwayman. They did a fantastic job!
In RE, they've been exploring how non-religious people use science, reasoning and personal experience to find out what is true. They also learned about the different interpretations people may have.
Homework due by Weds 6th May
Maths: pages 93 and 94 (shape)
Reading: pages 58, 59, 60 and 61 (Journey to Jo'burg) Singing: listening to the Music Festival songs
This week's awards go to Andreas for being more confident in Year 5, and to Lola for her enthusiasm singing and learning the Music Festival songs.
Year 6
This week, Year 6 completed their mock SATs, giving them a valuable opportunity to experience what the real assessments will be like. The children conducted themselves brilliantly and should be very proud of their efforts; they are now feeling confident and well-prepared for the SATs.
During SATs week (which begin on Monday 11th May 2026), we will be running a free Year 6 breakfast club in our classroom from 8:00am, followed by a yoga session with Kate to help the children feel calm and ready to start their tests at 9:00am.
Homework:
GPS: Tenses
Maths: Fraction of an Amount
This week's achievement awards go to Lukas and Stefi and their excellent efforts during our mock assessments, and to Daniella for her perseverance and determination.
Kingfisher 2
This week in Maths we have been learning about multiplication. We have been practising the formal written methods and have become more confident and independent in our skills.
In English, we have started our unit on instructions. We practised following instructions and planned our own pizza. We also looked at the structure of instructions and put some jumbled ones back in order.
This week's award goes to Enzo for excellent Maths this week completing formal methods of multiplication. Well done Enzo!
MAY 2026
Monday 4th:
- Bank Holiday - School Closed
Tuesday 5th:
- KF2 trip to Sainsburys - AM
Thursday 7th:
- Reception trip to Lee Valley Farm - all day
Friday 8th:
- Y5/choir cluster rehearsal for KS2 Barnet Music Festival at Whitings Hill School - AM
Monday 11th:
- Year 6 SATs Week (free Breakfast Club and Early Morning Yoga for Y6 pupils from 8am Mon 11th –Thur 14th)
Friday 15th:
- Year 6 trip to Trent Park
Use this link to visit our School Calendar 25/26 for further dates.
We have added two dates for Sports Day: Thursday 25th June and a backup date for Monday 29th June.
- Nursery AM pupils will have one race at 9am followed by Reception, Years 1, 2 and 3 from 9:05 - 11:00am.
- Nursery PM pupils will have one race at 1:30pm followed by Years 4, 5 and 6 from 1:35 - 3:00pm.