Livingstone Newsletter
January Week 4
Considerate Parking and Drive Safe Reminder
Friday 31st January
If you travel by car to and from school, please make sure you are parking considerately and ensure you do not park across our neighbours' dropdown kerbs in front of their driveways when dropping off or collecting your children.
Also, it is incredibly important that when travelling by car, children are legally sitting safely by having the correct age- appropriate car seats and wearing seat belts.
Cinema Night - Celebration of the Minions!
Cinema Night will be a celebration of all things 'Minion'.
The film chosen is 'Despicable Me 4' and a compilation of the funniest scenes from all the films.
If you would like your child to attend 'Cinema Night' on Thursday 6th February, please give your consent and make payment via School Money.
Nursery and Reception will finish at normal times.
KS1 and KS2 will finish at 4.00pm and need to be collected from classrooms before 4:15pm
The cost of this event is £1.00 and includes popcorn and a drink.
Pupils can also bring in pocket money as there will be Enterprise stalls run by pupils and by the PTA. Pupils will have a chance to buy toys, games, books, comics, jewellery, sweet treats and hot chocolate. Please make sure pocket money is in a named purse/envelope.
Money raised at this event will be shared with the pupils/ entrepreneurs, the school and charities nominated by the School Council.
Please note, Spanish and Dodgeball Clubs are cancelled on that day, if your child attends one of these you will be credited for the cost of the session.
A Night of Laughter and Generosity at our Comedy Night!
What an incredible night of laughter and fun! A huge thank you to Joe Bor (parent of Milo and Levi) for hosting the evening with his fantastic energy. We were treated to brilliant sets from Hal Cruttenden and Esther Manito, who had the audience in stitches with their hilarious performances.
A special thank you to Alex from Non-Stop Action for donating the auction prizes. Congratulations to Krishna, who generously bid £200 for a pair of Arsenal tickets, and to Mrs Harker, Mrs Mills, and Mrs Papas for their auction purchases.
We are so grateful to everyone who attended and supported the school—your dedication makes events like this possible. Thanks to your generosity, we raised an amazing £850, which will go directly towards benefiting Livingstone pupils.
Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Mrs Phelan, Diane, Mrs Cavozzi, Ms Stephens, Mrs Craddock, Mrs Church, Mr Sudbury, and Mr Madle for their hard work in organising such a fantastic evening. We can't wait for the next one!
Parent Champion Coffee Morning
Nursery and Kingfisher Nursery
This week we have started reading a new traditional tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This story gives the children lots of different play and learning opportunities. They have been counting items from the story, comparing and ordering sizes.
They have been developing their language through sequencing, retelling and roleplay.
We have had lots of fun porridge themed sensory play and created beautiful artwork relating to the story.
Our Makaton song of the week is 'When Goldilocks went to the House of the Bears,' you can share this with your child by watching it online.
Reception
This week the children have had the opportunity to extend their learning about buses and continue their enjoyment of their core book 'The Naughty Bus' as they were still full of ideas and excitement on the topic! They have worked really well in groups and teams to create buses, bus stops and other role play creations. As we missed our bus trip (which we are hoping to reschedule!) the children were keen to take their home-made 88 bus on a trip around the school. They waited at bus stops, hopped on, rung the bell and even managed to depart and have fun at the soft-play stop!
We had a great discussion about how some children and people use signs and symbols as their language and learnt a Makaton version of 'The Wheels on the Bus'. See if your child can remember the signs and join in
You can enjoy it at home using this link:
Year 1
This week we used Digi map and Google Earth to explore the 7 continents and 5 oceans of the world. In Maths, we used practical resources to order and compare numbers. After reading Supertato, the children wrote WANTED posters for Evil Pea. We are focusing on recognizing our Set 2 and 3 sounds in phonics. See if you can work on your child’s fluency by asking them to try and show you ‘Fred in the Head’.
Next week we will be learning about our senses . Please bring in wellies for a trip to the woods (if the weather allows) to see what we can hear, see and smell there!
Our achievement awards go to Ben and Adam for their curiosity for and knowledge of the continents and oceans of the world. Great work, you two!
Year 2
In Maths, we are learning about multiplication and we have discussed the terms repeated addition and lots/groups of. We have drawn arrays as our pictorial representation to work out multiplication number sentences linked to the 2, 5 and 10 times table.
In English, children wrote fantastic setting descriptions linked to ' The Sound of Silence'. It was lovely to see a range of adjectives, prepositions and conjunctions in their writing.
Our next foundation block is Art which the children are very enthusiastic about. Our Art topic is drawing where the children have experimented using charcoal and using markings to represent different textures.
Homework
Maths- 52 and 52.
Reading- 46 and 47.
Also, if you complete your homework before Wednesday, you can bring the books in earlier to be marked. Thank you!
This week's awards go to Naz for her lovely writing in English and Carter for his creative art work. Well done both of you!
Kingfisher 1
In English this week we continued our Goldilocks story. The children used colorful semantic to build sentences and write an apology letter from Goldilocks to the three bears. Early years foundation children used their phonological knowledge of initial sounds to label pictures.
In maths the children were subtracting counting back and finding the difference. Children used a range of resources to calculate. Early years foundation looked at more or less, comparing groups of objects.
Year 3
This week has been extremely busy for Year 3. We had an educational visit from an Egyptologists! It was a fun and fact-filled day which included games, reading hieroglyphics and even Egyptian dancing.
We ended the week by sharing our non-chronological reports about dragons with Year 2. Together the children designed dragon eggs in preparation for our upcoming joint class dragon hunt.
Homework
Maths: pages 51 - 53 (page 53 is optional but is recommended to help secure understanding)
Comprehension: pages 18 - 19
Our achievement awards go to Arianna O, Arianna C, Jack and Jonathan for effort, reflective learning and demonstrating our school values of friendship and teamwork.
Year 4
What a busy week it has been! The children were great on our trip. From the travelling, to their curiosity, their behaviour and their interactions with the staff at the museum, they represented Livingstone beautifully and made us very proud.
In Maths, the children have began perimeter and in English, they have started the build-up to writing their own narrative for our stimulus of the 'Iron Man'. In D&T, Year 4 are using their Science learning of Electricity to make a torch.
Homework
Maths - pages 55 and 56
TTR - 12 times table
Punctuation - pages 28 and 29
Please read with your child daily as this really helps their understanding of texts.
This week's achievement award goes to the whole of Year 4 for their fantastic behaviour on our trip to the Natural History Museum.
Year 5
In Maths, the children are back to learning about fractions - specifically fractions of amounts and multiplying with fractions. They learned some top tips to help them do this efficiently as well as drawn bar models to help them understand.
In English, we've started our unit on non-chronological reports. They researched a chosen subject about the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons and looked at how the writing is set out to help the reader find information quickly.
In History, they looked at sources about the Vikings to decide whether they were vicious; used Digimaps to find Viking place names; and learned all about The Battle of Hastings in 1066, ending the Viking and Anglo-Saxon rule of England.
Homework due by Weds 5th February
Maths: pages 55 and 56 (fractions)
Reading: pages 62, 63, 64 and 65 (Solar System)
This week's awards go to Zak for his work on Viking place names, and to Xhizela for her excellent Maths work on fractions. Well done!
Year 6
This week in Year 6, we have been learning about ratio in maths. In English, the children have started writing a first- person, present-tense narrative recount of the Blitz, carefully selecting vocabulary to create a strong impact. In science, we have continued exploring how light travels, how we see light, and the fascinating ways it behaves.
Homework:
Maths: Unequal sharing (Ratio) – pages 42–43
Reading: Amazing Women – pages 51–54
This week's achievement awards go to Muthara for her excellent sensory description of the Blitz, and to Sonny for his brilliant work with percentages in maths
Kingfisher 2
This week in Maths, the children have been learning about reading the time and using clocks to show the time. They have really impressed us with their skills.
In English, we have continued with the story 'Hansel and Gretel' and wrote some wonderful descriptions of the gingerbread house.
Our Year 3s enjoyed their visit from Mr Egypt and our Year 4s had a great time on their trip to the Natural History Museum.
This week's award goes to Andreas for wonderful work reading the time. Well done Andreas!
Parent / Guardian Consultations
Please make sure you have booked a time slot on Arbor Parent Portal to see your child's class teacher. You will see on Arbor the Parent Consultations are referred to as Guardian Consultations
Consultations for each class will take place across two dates with the option to book a 10-minute time slot either during the school day or an evening. Times slots are offered on a first come first serve basis. The dates and times for each class are as follows:
Nursery:
- Tuesday 11th February 15:15 - 18:30
- Thursday 13th February 08:50 - 11:30
Reception:
- Tuesday 11th February 15:30 - 18:30
- Thursday 13th February 13:00 - 15:00
Years 1 and 2:
- Tuesday 11th February 15:30 - 18:30
- Wednesday 12th February 09:00 - 11:30
Year 3:
- Tuesday 4th February 15:15 - 18:30
- Wednesday 12th February 13:00 - 15:00
Year 4
- Tuesday 11th February 15:00 - 18:30
- Wednesday 12th February 13:00 - 15:00
Years 5 and 6
- Tuesday 11th February 15:30 - 18:30
- Wednesday 12th February 13:00 - 15:00
PARENT REPRESENTATIVE MEETING 24.01.2025
As most of you are aware, your class representatives and Mrs. Phelan get together once every half term and discuss anything you feel you would like the school to know, improve on, and provide positive feedback too. Whilst the school may not make the changes requested, we can explain why certain decisions are taken.
We always try and answer your questions to the best of our knowledge.
If there is anything you would like to feed back to the school, please either contact the school directly or ask your class representative to put your comments forward at our next meeting.
Here is a roundup of the questions put forward this term:
IN ATTENDANCE
- Giovanna Phelan – Head teacher
- Haley Woodley – Nursery
- Georgina Mace – Reception
- Sid Visuanathan - Year 1 & Kingfisher
- Jackie Scott - Year 2
- Laura Blackaller - Year 3
- Charlotte Gosling - Year 4
- Melisa Gosling – Year 5
- Kate Figgis - Year 6
A warm welcome to our new Nursery representative, Haley Woodley.
A huge thank you to Mr. Sudbury for his fantastic Santa’s Grotto! He has gone above and beyond to ensure the children have the best possible experience. We appreciate you, Mr. Sudbury!
A parent has shared their concern that the Year 4 class is always last to eat lunch, the food is cold, and there have also been occasions where there is a shortage of food when they get to the dining hall. What is being done about this?
All classes are on a lunchtime rota (apart from Year 6). This ensures that all classes get a fair lunchtime rotation. The food is kept on a hotplate and the temperature is monitored, so it should not be cold. The advantage of being last is that pupils get any food that is left over. There have been times when the company providing the food hasn’t sent enough due to supply issues, but the kitchen staff work with other Barnet schools to compensate.
Year 2 parents share concerns over too much homework this Christmas holiday.
Reminder to all parents that the Brain Booster homework isn’t compulsory. The weekly homework has to be done; however, if this is too much at home, the children can do it at school on Wednesday’s homework club run by Mrs. Phelan and Mr. Madle. Please put a note in the homework book to say that you couldn’t do it.
Why doesn’t Year 2 have a football club?
The children in Year 2 often struggle with competitive sport at this age, and if introduced too early, it could run the risk of putting them off altogether. The school believes that by Year 3, and with a little maturity, the children enjoy the sport a lot more. We offer multi-sports for the younger pupils.
If the children wish to play football, they can play in the Mini- MUGA at break times, or there is a Saturday football club at school with Pete (coach). Please ask in the office for details.
A request for piano and Spanish lessons, please.
Piano, guitar, and clarinet lessons are available for Year 3 to Year 6 pupils for a fee. We have recorder lessons for the whole of Year 3 and Year 4. All teachers are from BEAT (Barnet Education Arts Trust), and they come to us at a subsidised price.
We teach French as our Modern Foreign Language. We have links with French school pupils and take Year 5 to France. Pupils in Years 3-6 who would like to learn Spanish can join the after-school club run by Ms. Papas.
Is there a possibility for all the staff to have training on identifying and supporting children with Autism and additional needs?
The staff have regular training on autism and much more through the local authority Barnet Partnership for School Improvement. This is a cost-effective service that covers all staff members to cover a wide range of training needs. The staff at Livingstone are always looking to learn and will look into other forms of training, such as The Autistic Girls’ Network.
Kingfisher Read with Me can be challenging for some students. Is there a quiet space for them to go other than the library, as it can be quite busy?
‘Read with Me’ sessions are as much about the reading as they are about the experience of the visit to the library itself.
If a child is finding the space a challenge, maybe they are not ready for it, and this should be a conversation to have with Mrs. Ferdenzi to work out the next steps to help them deal with a challenging experience in a positive way.
Year 1 parents have asked if the benches in the playground can be wiped down when it has been raining?
We can understand that parents don’t want their child sitting on wet benches. Teachers will do their best to steer the children away from the benches when the weather is wet; however, this may not always be possible. Part of the philosophy of having outdoor play is that the pupils can get wet or dirty even with appropriate clothing.
Is it possible to remind children to drink water throughout the day?
Children can bring their water bottles into school, and there are sinks in the classrooms and a water cooler in the dining hall. Where possible, teachers will remind children to drink water, especially in warmer weather.
Nursery parents have asked if the children could have indoor and outdoor shoes?
The school understands, and from a home point of view, this makes sense. However, the Nursery is set up to be a free- flow environment, meaning the children can move between the classroom and outside freely at certain times during the day. Changing between two pairs of shoes with this age group can be time-consuming and could take away learning time for the children.
Could our school become pork-free?
This is not possible for our school as we are not a religious school. We have a low amount of pork on the menu (sausages and roast gammon), and both are very popular. Vegetarian and alternative meat options are available for pupils who do not eat pork.
Why have we changed our school platform to ARBOR?
ARBOR has taken over the previous system and updated the technology to make it more efficient for your everyday school communications.
Could Livingstone have a holiday club?
Sadly, not at the moment, as it isn’t cost-effective for the school. We are always open to new ideas and have attempted to run one in the past; however, the running costs were high and take-up low.
I hope this helps! If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to ask.
Times Tables Rock Stars Battle of the Bands
A huge thank you to everyone for a fantastic effort during battle of the bands and for all your encouragement. Children and staff alike have taken on the competitive spirit and we had a brilliant uptake of children completing their times tables at home.
The results are in and the winning classes are...
Year 6 and Year 4
Also, a special mention for the incredible effort of our MVPs:
Year 6 - Zainab & Sheena
Year 5 - Dotty & Stefi
Year 4 - Ellis & Gia Khang
Year 3 - Nora & Toby
Congratulations to them all and we look forward to the future battles!
FEBRUARY 2025
Monday 3rd:
- Year 3 begin Swimming for two weeks
Tuesday 4th:
- Year 3 Parent Consultations 3:15 - 6:30pm
Wednesday 5th:
- Y5/6 Netball Match vs St. Catherines, 3:30pm
Thursday 6th:
- Year 1 Geography Workshop
- School Cinema Night (see more info below)
Friday 7th:
- Years 3/4 Recorder Concert in Main Hall, 2:30pm
Monday 10th:
- Activity Clubs for Spring 2 go online for booking.
Tuesday 11th:
- Nursery Parent Consultations 3:15 - 6:30pm
- Year 4 Parent Consultations 3:00 - 6:30pm
- Rec and Years 1, 2, 5 and 6 Parent Consultations 3:30 - 6:30pm
Wednesday 12th:
- Years 1 and 2 Parent Consultations, 9:00 - 11:30am
- Years 2, 4, 5 and 6 Parent Consultations, 1:00 - 3:00pm
Thursday 13th:
- Nursery Parent Consultations, 8:50 - 11:30am
- Reception Parent Consultations, 1:00 - 3:00pm
Friday 14th:
- Activity Clubs finish for Spring 1
- School finishes for half term - Cabin Club open as normal.
HALF TERM: Monday 17th - Friday 21st February 2025
Monday 24th:
- Pupils return to school for Spring 2 term.
Use this link to visit our School Calendar 24/25 for further dates next term.