Livingstone Newsletter
October Week 2
PTA Spooky Party
Spooky Spa
We are looking forward to another spooktacular event and this year children can visit the Spooky Spa!
Parents/Carers, if you would like your child to visit the Spooky Spa you will need to book and pay online via School Money for the treatments of choice. Children can choose from facepainting, crazy hair glitter and/or stick-on tattoos all for a bargain price of £1 per treatment.
Tombstone Tombola
You need to be in it to win it!
Magic Mixing Toy, worth over £50. Tickets to enter are 25p each or £1.00 for 5.
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning the Magic Mixies set, please send money in an envelope marked with child's name, year and Tombola.
Parent Consultations and Impact Meetings
Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend their consultations. The next meeting with the teachers will be in the week beginning the 11th November when we start our Impact Meetings. Dates for each class can be found on the school website calendar.
Thank you for all the teachers for the hard work and parent teacher partnership.
Fixed Penalty Notices: What Parents Need to Know
Important Update on the Attendance Policy
The rules for school attendance have changed, so please read this carefully. The school will no longer authorise absences for the following reasons:
- Day trips
- Birthdays
- Visiting relatives
- Being tired due to a late night
- Colds and coughs
- Parents’ or carers' own appointments
- Siblings’ appointments
Fixed Penalty Notices
A fixed penalty notice (fine) if parents or carers do not make sure their child attends school regularly. This can happen if one of the following applies:
- Your child has at least 10 sessions of unauthorised absence (5 school days) over a 10-week period. These absences don't have to be in a row and include being late after registration closes.
- Parents or carers are not working with the school to help improve their child's attendance.
- You take your child on a holiday during term time without permission from the school.
The Local Authority can also issue a fine if:
- Parents deliberately take leave at the same time each year or just under the 10-session threshold to avoid a penalty notice.
How Fines Work
Fines are handled by the Educational Welfare Team, and the amounts are:
First Offence:
- £160 per parent, per child, to be paid within 28 days.
- If paid within 21 days, the fine is reduced to £80 per parent, per child.
Second Offence (within 3 years):
- £160 per parent, per child, within 28 days. There is no reduction for early payment.
Fines must be paid in full—there are no part payments or payment plans allowed. Late payments may be accepted in exceptional cases, but the full £160 will apply and must be paid immediately.
Paying the fine means parents are agreeing to settle the issue out of court. This clears the parent’s legal responsibility for the unauthorised absences listed in the notice, and they cannot be prosecuted for that same period.
Third Offence and Beyond (within 3 years):
- For a third offence, the case goes directly to Magistrates' Court, where parents/carers could face a criminal record and fines of up to £2,500; The offence being recorded on a parent or carers DBS check, which could affect future opportunities.
If you do not understand this information, please speak to Miss Evans in the office. She will do her best to assist you and answer any questions you have.
Times Tables Rock Stars Battle of the Bands
The results are in!
A huge congratulations to the winning classes YEAR 6 and YEAR 4!
Our most valuable players from the battles were:
Year 3 - Holly & Filip
Year 4 - Ellis & Gia Khang
Year 5 - Dotty & Stefi
Year 6 - Elia & Zainab
Well done to all of the children who participated in the battles and practised their times tables at home. Keep practising and get ready for your next battle!
Nursery and Kingfisher Nursery
To celebrate Black History Month, we are focusing on stories and traditional tales from Africa. This week, we read ‘Handa’s Surprise’ and the children used their senses to explore the fruit mentioned in the story. They spoke about what they could see, smell and touch and even tasted some avocado and guava. Next week we will try even more fruit from Handa's basket!
The children are continuing to make observations about the changes they notice in the weather and nature around them and created beautiful patterns with paint and natural materials like conkers, pinecones, acorns and leaves.
Talking homework: You can about the world, the country we live in, other countries you may have visited with them or the country you come from. You can use a world map, an atlas or google earth!
Reception
A great week in Reception continuing to talk about ourselves, our families and our local area. We have learnt that different artists make self-portraits and we have even started our own, talking about our features and how we are the same and different.
We have been reading stories about kind hands, feet and words and why the rules are so important.
At the pond area this week we had great discussions about Autumn with Diane, finding different types of mushrooms and even making 'squirrel kebabs' ready to help the wildlife through the changing seasons.
We have been noticing, making and copying repeating patterns with a range of materials and talking about more and less. Try and encourage this at home too!
This week we have learnt sounds c, k, u, and b. We are working on orally blending CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words. Please watch this video to support your children with this: Read Write Inc. Phonics: Ruth Miskin on how to teach blending to children - YouTube
Homework for this week is to practice sounds each day and Fred talk these words:
c-a-t, j-o-b, l-e-g, p-o-t, d-i-g, m-a-t
Year 1
Year 1 are budding scientists! They are expert classifiers and can tell you how to sort objects by their materials. Perhaps you can find some objects in your house and explore which everyday materials they are made from (e.g. a jumper is made from fabric, a water bottle is made from plastic).
In our Maths lessons we explored part-whole models and added with single digit numbers.
We are becoming more confident blending with Set 2 sounds in our phonics lessons and are starting to use our story-teller voices when we read our books.
We are enjoying listening to stories about London and can’t wait for our minibus trip to see many of the famous London landmarks on Monday. Please remember to pack a lunch and let us know if your child suffers from travel sickness.
Achievement awards go to Eden and Melisa for their excellent scientific skills!
Year 2
Year 2 have been adding one-digit numbers and two-digit numbers using mental methods. We have identified number bonds to 10 and used this to identify number bonds to 100. We have also discussed what commutative and inverse means in Maths.
We are continuing with Read Write Inc Comprehensions in English.
In Art, we have explored different ways to sculpt clay and used different tools to create markings. We are also singing as we have lots of songs to learn for the Barnet Music Festival.
Here is the link to practise at home.
https://beatrust.org.uk/schools/festivals/imf/practise-at- home/
password Beegu!
Homework
Maths- pages 17 and 18. 19 is optional.
Comprehension- pages 12 an 13.
This week's awards go to Sonny for his hard work and dedication to all our lessons and Sergio for his excellent art work and participation in class.
Kingfisher 1
We have had a busy and fun week in KF1. In English we have been reading Anansi the spider has eight skinny legs for black history month. The children had great fun role playing the story, we have some budding actors in KF1! The children used a range of resources including colourful semantic, matching initial sounds to words in the story and even making their own spider!
In Maths we have been learning all about movement and directions. The children used Beebots and remote-control cars to move in different directions.
This week's award goes to Nikki for participating in all activities and being a budding actress in our role play story of Anansi the spider that has eight skinny legs!
Well done Nikki!
Year 3
This week in Year 3 has been short yet packed full of fun. In English we immersed ourselves on the sounds, sights and smells of the forest.
In Maths we were pattern spotting and paying close attention to what happens when we add 1s, multiples of 10 and multiples of 100 to a 3-digit number.
In History, the children conducted research using their books and Chromebook to summarise key events, aspects and their understanding of the Stone Age to Iron Age in order to give group presentations to the class.
To wrap up, we visited Waltham Abbey on Friday 11th for a Stone Age discovery day. We had the opportunity create our own cave art and make fire!!
Homework:
Maths Practice Journal – page 16
CGP Punctuation – pages 14 and 15
Reading: In Year 3 we endeavour to change books on Mondays and Fridays based on the children completing their Accelerated Reader Quiz. The class teacher and teaching assistants will check Reading Records on these days. Please sign to indicate that you have heard your child read. Children are encouraged to write down their opinion of the book in the comments section.
TTRS: Please practise 3 times tables.
Achievement certificates
Due to being away on our Stone Age Discovery Trip, there are no achievement certificates this week in Year 3. There will double achievement certificates next week.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 have moved onto addition and subtraction in Maths and in English, the children are being immersed into their new book 'Into the Forest' by Anthony Browne. They are going to have to use their inference skills to imagine how the boy is feeling as they are going to be writing a letter to the dad.
The children have also started RE and are looking at 'Symbols and Religious Expression' in various faiths. We have some experts in Year 4, and it has been lovely to hear them share what they know and have experienced with the class.
Swimming starts on Monday and will be every day for 2 weeks. The children need a swimming costume and or tight- fitting shorts, swimming goggles and a swimming hat. These are requirements of the swimming pool. If you haven't given permission yet, please do so or your child will not be able to take part in the lessons.
Harvest assembly: On Wednesday 16th November at 9am, Year 4 will be presenting their Harvest assembly to the school. The children have their lines and will hopefully practise them over the weekend. Please come and watch.
Homework
Maths: pages 17 and 18 only
English: Reading comprehension - pages 14 and 15 only
Please encourage your child to do TTR and read out loud to you, every day.
This week's achievement awards go to Maya for working hard at home to learn her times tables and our song for assembly, and Deni for his positive attitude to learning and always doing his very best. Well done to you both! Keep up the hard work!
Year 5
This week in Maths, the children learned methods to calculate mentally and how rounding and inverse can help them with addition and subtraction.
In English, we started our next unit: writing fairytales from the villains' point-of-view. They enjoyed reading a range of alternative fairytales and role-playing as the villains to show their innocence.
In DT, they learned about bridges and used Tinkercad to design their own frame structures, which they'll be building next week.
Homework due by Weds 16th Oct
Maths: pages 17 and 18 (addition and subtraction)
Reading: pages 22 and 23 (Dirty Face)
This week's awards go to Scarlett for her excellent responses as the Wicked Stepmother, and to Leon for fantastic maths this week and for improving his presentation - well done!
Year 6
This week in Maths, we explored squares, cubes, and short division, both with and without remainders. In English, we designed our own 'mechanimals' inspired by Cogheart by Peter Bunzl and examined grammatical features to enhance our writing.
In Science, we wrapped up our experiment and discovered that moisture accelerates mould growth.
Homework - Due on Tues 15th
Arithmetic - pages 18 and 19
SPaG - pages 24 and 25
This week's achievement award go to Nadine for excellent reasoning and problem solving in maths, and to Cyrus for his character description in English. Well done!
Kingfisher 2
This week the children were very surprised to find their classroom had a spooky makeover! They have really been enjoying our new topic of Halloween and have created their own monsters and written some terrifying poems.
In Maths, we have been learning different methods for subtraction and have used dienes to support our understanding.
This week's award goes to Dilan for excellent independent work in his maths and persevering in OT. Well done Dilan!
We are a no nuts school!
For the safety of all children, we do not allow nuts or nut- based products in school. Some have severe allergies, and even small traces of nuts can cause life-threatening reactions. Please help us keep everyone safe by ensuring that all snacks and lunches are nut-free. Thank you!
Cross-Country Competition
On Tuesday, some children took part in a Cross-Country competition against 15 other schools in Barnet with 30 children in each race. We had pupils from Years 4 to 6 who had been training and preparing to run a mile. Running long distance is a tricky sport but the children did exceptionally well. We are very proud of them participating and finishing the race. Even with the rain showers, the children persevered, and we even have one pupil from Year 6 who came first and has been offered the chance to represent Barnet at the London Youth Games. Well done to Stefi, Ryan, Dotty, Ravi, Oliver, Elsie, Lola, Anastasia, Orla, Elia and Ellis.
Mixed League Football Match
Football season has begun! We had our first match in the mixed league against Trent Primary School on Wednesday. Despite only having a few weeks practise, the children had a great debut. They have been working really hard and getting used to playing as a new team. The game quickly went 2-0 to Trent but the children fought back and Sotirio and Stefi scored a fantastic goal each. The game ended 4-2 to Trent, however, the team have learnt a lot to improve ready for the next match. Well done to Stefi, Kevin, Nathaniel, Sotirio, Oliver, Elsie, Anwen, Alberio and Skye.
SEPTEMBER 2024
Monday 14th:
- Year 4 Swimming begins for two weeks.
Tuesday 15th:
- KF2 Bowling Festival - PM
Wednesday 16th:
- Year 4 Harvest Festival Assembly - 9am. Please send in donations of non-perishable goods with your children for us to send a local charity (Year 4 Parents/Carers invited to watch)
Thursday 17th:
- Nursery - Year 6 Individual School Photographs (for family photos of pupils with baby siblings please come to the main school hall at 8:30am if you would like to)
Friday 18th:
- PTA Spooky Adventure - £3.50 via School Money
Monday 21st:
- Year 6 School Journey to PGL, Isle of Wight (all week)
Use this link to visit our School Calendar 24/25 for further dates this term.