Livingstone Primary & Nursery School WK5 MAR 2023

World Autism Acceptance Week!

Autism Awareness week was from the 27th of March to 2nd April. The theme this year was colour and there is a virtual Spectrum Colour Challenge as well as Spectrum Colour Walk and many more, so feel free to get involved. We need our community, more than ever, to help us to support 700,000 autistic children in the UK. On Tuesday 28th of March, Livingstone dressed up all in blue whether it was in your school uniform or in your own clothes. We had an assembly on Tuesday at 10'oclock about this important week and how we could help as well as what it is about children.

£5 could help keep the Autism Awareness Society's website up to date with the latest vital advice and guidance. £15 could ensure our online community is there for everyone who needs it. £500 could help 12 families receive support from our Education Rights line. £5,000 could enable a job coach to support an autistic person into paid employment. Even if you donate 1 penny or £1 that could add together to support the website and children in need.

Our school is extremely lucky to accommodate autistic children as well as teachers who are available to help them. This is another reason why we need to help the children who are autistic, as we also need schools who will accommodate them as many schools are not big enough or don't have space for them.

The assembly was attended by ex-Livingstone and Kingfisher pupil Max. Max shared his thoughts on autism and how he has developed strategies to make his autism into a strength. He is now a published author and he shared a story with everyone in the assembly. It was lovely to hear all of his successes.

By Orpita Y6 :)

Orla (Y2) - 'We have a friend in Yr2 who is good at playing games. She is caring and understanding.'

George (Y2) - 'Our friend is funny and playful. He likes to be with his class'

Zachariah (Y2) - 'We have a friend in KF1 who is fun to play with. He likes different games'

Striking is where people, such as teachers, are protesting over pay. This is because of a thing called the cost of living crisis. This is where the prices of things, like food or electricity, go up in price, making it harder to pay for the essentials. This is measured in inflation. Inflation is where the price of an item is compared to the price of it last year. In 12 months, inflation has risen 8.8%. This is why teachers (and other people with different jobs) have decided to strike. Teachers are also the only people, that are paid by the council, who haven't had a pay rise. Their last one was in 2011. Another reason why teachers are striking is that they aren't given enough resources or money to help the children education. With more money, teachers could help children with their work by getting a person whose is an expert on it or go on a trip. And also, teachers need money to support themselves. With electricity and water bills going up, it's harder to pay everything with not much money.

By Aidan Y6

Red Nose Day is an annual fundraising campaign which was officially on last Friday but we celebrated it on Wednesday 22nd March . The younger children did a dance competition and circus moves. There was a clown called Mr Sudbury too! KS2 did dodgeball matches against each other: Year 3 vs Year 4 and Year 5 vs Year 6 and there was a big competition to be won. At the beginning of the day, the children had a sale for charity and they bought all sorts of thrilling things: Red Nose Day cups, red noses and more! Even the teachers seemed as though they could not resist to join in on the fun as they competed in some dodgeball matches too. The school is grateful to all the staff, who helped, and to the children who donated money!!! As an end to this delightful day, all the years gathered together to watch the epic Netball match. On the playground, students from Y6 formed one team and the teachers formed the other. However, the children were not the only ones who were watching. The other staff and some parents were spectators too. If you were there, then hopefully you didn't miss anything because it was simply breath- taking! The staff showed you are never too old to play games.

By Anastasia Y5:)

On Friday 17th March, the PTA organised a Mother's Day stall. Mother's Day is a celebration to thank all women in the family for what they have done. As a thank you, every year the PTA organise a stall to celebrate this. All children were asked to bring in money to spend on the stall that day on wonderful gifts. They brought many gifts: Teddies, Candles, Sweets, Flowers and many more.

Thank you to all the people who helped arrange this!!!

By Lois Y6 :)

For reading week each class had a teacher reading to them at the end of the day. They were called the 'Secret Readers'. Most of the higher years had an opportunity to read to the lower years. We also had World Book Day where we got to dress up in our favourite book characters or our favourite celebrity (singers, dancers and many more.) We also got to dress up in our favourite non-fiction characters or in our pyjamas.

The winners for the book characters;

Reception: Eva and Frankie

Year 1: Billy and Mollie

Year 2: Lola and Ellis

Year 3: Scarlett and Georgie

Year 4: Charlotte and Ravi

Year 5: Cairo and Ruby

Year 6: Alex and Jack D

All of these people got a certificate and a choice between a ten pound book voucher or a free book. Thank you to Mrs Cockburn for organising such a great week.

By Chloe Y5 :)

At Livingstone we celebrated British science week. Reception and KS1 explored how tractors are connected to space. Years 3 and 4 looked into how pigs are connected to jumbo jets. Years 5 and 6 learned how sheep are connected to seaweed. Ada (Mrs Evans) came into school to deliever a very fun assembly and to teach us how science connects to tractors, mining and ziplines.

Thank you to Mrs Snell who made this week possible for us!

By Brychan Y5 :)

We had a visitor from the Non-Stop Action leader, Alex. He has a son called Leo who was diagnosed of a rare genetical syndrome called Angelman's Syndrome. He came to talk to us about what it is about and told us about signs of it. He is part of a charity called Spread your Wings which is a charity to donate to research on it and hopefully a cure. Because of this talk School Councillors have been thinking of ways to donate to it. Alex told us all about the features of this syndrome and what different kids have in common.

By Matteo Y6 :)

Nursery are now starting Read with Me on a Friday! This is a fun reading session in the morning for children and parents to read together. All of the kids are really excited to do this with their parents. This will also help them start to read at a younger age. Read with me is very important for them because it encourages them to start reading at home together. We are very lucky at Livingstone as we have a good selection of books suitable for their interests in the library.

Jaime Y5 :)

Thank you to all the parents who managed to come to these sessions to learn more about how we teach spelling.

By Mr Madle :)

On Thursday 30th March, Year 5 performed an Easter assembly about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Easter is one of the most important festivals in the Christian calendar. Year 5 were very good and Reception, Years 1 and 2 sang different Easter songs for the parents/carers and the rest of the school.

Thank you to the teachers who organised the assembly: Mrs Cockburn, Mr Thomas and Miss Gordan.

By Arbel Y5 :)

On the 17th April, was when one of us dearest staff members left the Livingstone family. One of the dinner ladies, Faye, had to leave this wonderful school. She will be missed very much and will always be part of our community.

Goodbye and Good luck Faye!!!

By Zach Y6 :)