Newsletter
November Week 1
Friday 8th November
PTA Comedy Night - Thursday 30th January
Exciting Announcement! Due to the last year's success, we are hosting another comedy night fundraiser for over 18's only.
We are looking forward to welcoming back our comedy host for the evening, Joe Bor (Milo's Dad in Year 4) and can't wait for the hilarious talents of Esther Manito (Live at the Apollo) and Hal Cruttenden (Mock the Week).
Tickets are available on School Money for purchase at £15 per ticket. You will not want to miss out so be quick to avoid disappointment.
Join us for a night of laughter!
Non-uniform Dates and Information
Black History Assembly
Today, our school gathered for a Black History assembly, celebrating influential Black authors and poets. Each class studied a different figure. Early Years and Kingfisher classes engaged with Anansi, a traditional tale about a clever, greedy spider, learning valuable lessons about storytelling. Year 2 students read Sulwe by Vashti Harrison, writing statements on self-worth and embracing inner beauty, inspired by the book’s uplifting message. Older students explored the works of Grace Nichols, Gwendolyn Brooks, Benjamin Zephaniah, John Agard, and Maya Angelou, diving into themes of identity, resilience, and hope. The assembly highlighted not only these authors’ contributions but also the importance of diversity and self-expression in writing.
PTA Treasurer Vacancy
After many years as a member of the PTA and long after her children have moved from Livingstone to Secondary, Becky McMahon has informed us that she would like to give up her role as the PTA Treasurer. Becky has done an incredible job helping out at the school fairs as a parent and as a Treasurer, keeping the accounts and maintaining the documentation that gives us charitable status.
If you have a background in finance and would like to do some book keeping for the PTA, we ask that you contact the school office asap.
By volunteering for this role, you will joining a dedicated group of volunteers who work together to enhance the lives of our pupils through putting on events and providing extra resources.
Nursery and Kingfisher Nursery
Welcome back, we hope you had a pleasant and restful half term!
This week we have been all about fireworks. With both Guy Fawkes and Diwali being celebrated there were plenty to be seen and heard, and the children were keen to share their news.
We have been learning about the sounds, shapes and colours. The children have even been moving like fireworks. Lots of colourful art work has also been created. We discussed firework safety as well as observations about the changing of the seasons as we enter the longer and colder nights.
The core book for this week and next is 'What ever next' by Jill Murphy.
Reception
Welcome back Reception, what a great first week!
We have been continuing our learning about celebrations and this week have been discussing our half term experiences of Halloween and fireworks! We have read the story of The Quiet Little Firework and have been talking about the feelings of worry. We have been making firework art and even drawing our own little fireworks, writing down the sounds that fireworks can make.
Our phonics groups are going well and we are hoping to see as many parents at the phonics IMPACT meeting next Wednesday to support you to help the children's learning at home.
Year 1
Welcome back Year 1! We are learning all about our own history and finding out about toys our parents and grandparents used to play with. The pupils have asked excellent questions and are looking forward to hearing from grandparents next week. In our Maths lessons we explored subtraction and even solved word problems. We are in new groups for phonics and are working hard at decoding words using our special friends. We look forward to seeing you for our Impact session on Monday where we will show you how we teach phonics.
Well done on a great first week back!
Achievement awards go to King and Royce for their excellent work in history classifying toys into the present and the past.
Year 2
In Maths, we have been using pictorial representations to subtract one-digit and two-digit numbers from two-digit numbers.
Our English lessons are now a mixture of Read Write Inc Comprehensions and grammar activities to help us with our writing. Our writing this week has been inspired by the story A Squash and a Squeeze.
In Science, we have been continuing to learn about materials. We have participated in investigations to find out how materials can change shape and the stretchiness of objects.
Year 2 have had a busy first week back because we also had the Barnet Infant Music Festival on Thursday. We were joined by two other schools, here at Livingstone, where we got to perform lots of songs. The children were true performers! Our assembly to the whole school and parents/ carers is on Thursday 21st November at 9am.
The singing doesn't stop here though. It is time to prepare for the Christmas Show. Lyrics have been uploaded to the Year 2 class homepage on the VLE. You will find the PDFs in the 'file' section. Please practise at home. Unfortunately, we are unable to upload the soundtracks but some are available on YouTube if you search 'Lights. Camel. Action.'
Homework
No maths this week.
Reading- pages 18 and 19.
This week's awards go to Eva for trying hard in our comprehension lessons and for her good inference and Yashvi for challenging herself to complete elements of the spicy task across all lessons.
Kingfisher 1
This week in Maths we have been working on one more. The children did practical and interactive activities with the aim to say one more to any given number. Reception arranged numbers from one to ten on a number line.
In English we continued our story, Oi! Get off our train! The children enjoyed retelling the story through role play activities and used colourful semantics to build sentences. Reception matched animals to corresponding play activities.
The children enjoyed participating in black history assembly and showed their Anansi spider they made to the whole school.
This weeks award goes to Leslie for her great work in maths, understanding the concept of one more.
Well done Leslie!
Year 3
Year 3 have returned to school ready with a positive attitude. This week in Maths we have been using concrete objects and pictorial representations to help with the formal method of adding and subtracting with exchange. All the children persevered even though it has been a challenging concept.
In English, we have enjoyed reading, using role play and asking rhetorical questions linked to our stimulus text: The Day the Crayons Quit.
Homework
I apologise for the mistake regarding the Brain Booster homework. It is not due until December 4th.
Maths Practice Journal: page 22 - 23 (page 24 is optional)
CGP Punctuation: pages 12 and 13
Nirvani- For being a helpful table partner
Jonathan – For perseverance and continued improvement.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 have finished their addition and subtraction learning in Maths. In English, the children have been researching Greek gods and goddesses in preparation for their fact file and learning about appropriate subheadings and apostrophes for possession.
Our foundation learning is History and the Ancient Greeks where the children will be learning about how the Ancient Greeks have influenced our lives today.
Homework
Maths - pages 23 and 24 (page 25 is optional).
English - Punctuation and Grammar - pages 18 and 19.
Please ensure your child is reading and practising their timetables, everyday.
This week's achievement awards go to Zachariah for always striving to complete as much work as possible through his determination and fantastic learning behaviours, and Savannah for her grammar work in English where she shows how she considers the impact of her word choices in her writing. Well done to you both!
Year 5
This week in Maths, the children learned all about prime, square and cube numbers - they did an excellent job!
In English, they studied the character Bradley from our whole-class text as they will be writing diary entries as this complex character in a couple of weeks.
In Science, they learned about reversible changes, irreversible changes and dissolving; they enjoyed their classifying experiment about which solids are soluble and which are insoluble.
Homework due by Weds 13th November
Maths: pages 24 and 25 (properties of numbers)
Punctuation: pages 24 and 25 (apostrophes)
This week's awards go to Christina for her understanding of the main character in English, and to Skye for his positive attitude to learning in all lessons. Well done, you two!
Year 6
This week, Year 6 tackled long division in maths and began exploring balanced arguments in English, debating whether children should go to PGL in Year 6. In D&T, they completed their automatic nightlight projects for the reception class.
Homework:
Arithmetic: Long division (pages 20-21). Check Teams for a video tutorial if needed.
SPaG: Formal and Informal writing (pages 27-29).
This week's achievement awards go to Anastasia and Georgie for their excellent work with long division in maths.
Kingfisher 2
Kingfisher 2 have settled well back into the new term. This week in Maths we have been looking at multiplication and using different resources such as Numicon and arrays, to help us understand the concept
In English, we have started our topic of 'Superheroes' and have enjoyed designing masks, exploring top trumps and creating our own.
This week's award goes to Enzo for excellent independent work creating arrays in Maths to match multiplication questions. Well done Enzo!
Netball Fixture
We had our second fixture in the Netball League on Thursday against Christ Church. It was a close first quarter as the teams were very evenly matched. This spurred Livingstone on to get in to a space to create more opportunities for themselves. The children played brilliantly and we won 6-1 . We have won two games so far. Three more to go. Come on, Livingstone!
Well done to Nadine, Muthara, Anastasia, Elsie, Anwen, Lucas, Zyan and Albeiro.
NOVEMBER 2024
Monday 11th:
- Year 1 IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:20am
Tuesday 12th:
- Year 2 IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:20am
- KF1 trip to Cinema - AM
- Years 5/6 Netball Competition at Copthall (small group of pupils)
Wednesday 13th:
- Reception IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:30am
Thursday 14th:
- Year 6 IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:20am
- Years 5/6 Girls Football Match (Whitings Hill vs Livingstone) 3:30pm
Friday 15th:
- Non-uniform Day for Unwanted Gifts Contributions / Children in Need - children can also wear Pudsey accessories and donate loose change.
- Year 5 IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:20am
- Years 5/6 Mixed League Football Match (Livingstone vs Woodridge) 3:30pm
Monday 18th:
- Year 3 IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:20am
- Flu Nasal Spray for pupils who were absent on previous date, 9:00am
- KF2 Cinema Trip - AM
Tuesday 19th:
- Year 4 IMPACT Meeting for Parents/Carers, 8:50 - 9:20am
- Reception and Year 6 Height and Weight Checks, 9:30am
Thursday 21st:
- Non-uniform Day for Unopened Bottles Contributions
- Year 2 Singing Assembly, 9:00am (parents/carers of Year 2 welcome to watch)
Friday 22nd:
- Year 5/6 Mixed Football Team Tournament - AM
Use this link to visit our School Calendar 23/24 for further dates next term.
We now have some of the Christmas dates included.