SCHOOL'S out for Christmas but that doesn't mean your child's learning has to stop, according to Southampton's primary schools advisers.

Together the six-strong group, known as the primary team, offer advice and guidance to teachers across Southampton's schools.

They say that the festive season is packed full of ways for primary school-aged children to brush up on their maths, science and English skills.

They are encouraging mums and dads to help their children at home after Southampton was named one of the three most improving local authorities in the country, alongside Sunderland and Hartlepool, for Key Stage Two results taken last summer.

In English, 73 per cent of children reached the government's milestone of Level 4 or above, an increase of seven per cent on last year and far outstripping the increase nationally of just three per cent.

In maths, 71 per cent of children reached Level 4 or above, an increase of seven per cent, which again was a much bigger rate of improvement than the national average, which saw results rise by just one per cent to 74 per cent.

In science, Southampton pupils increased their performance by three per cent, with 87 per cent achieving Level 4 or above, despite the national average falling by one per cent to 86 per cent.

Primary teaching and learning adviser Alison Hurrell said the results were testament to the hardwork, dedication and enthusiasm of teachers of all year groups.

"It's good to see the good results of the previous year for Key Stage One have been maintained," she said.

"This cohort of children who took their Key Stage Two tests last summer have benefited from five years of numeracy and six years of literacy strategies which have worked.

"The successes are down to the cumulative effect of their teachers at Key Stage One and Two and the foundation stage."

Alison, along with science advisor Eugene Brunet and primary teaching and learning adviser in English Sue Bence, has helped support head teachers and senior managers in Southampton's schools.

They have got results by identifying the key areas in maths, English and science for development and helped schools to draw up action plans.

Their tailor-made approach to individual schools and pupils and support they have given to schools' subject co-ordinators has paid off, with improvements in all three subjects complementing each other.

Mr Brunet says the future's looking bright too, with youngsters acquiring important skills early on, equipping them well for the future.

"We expect to see some strong results at Key Stages Three and Four in the next few years," he said.

HELPING YOUR CHILD LEARN OVER CHRISTMAS:

(Different tips are suitable for different ages)

ENGLISH

Encourage your child to write for a purpose, which can be a great motivator, by asking them to:

Write a shopping list for food

Write a letter to Father Christmas

Write thank-you letters for presents

It is much easier for children to write about something when they have talked about it. Ask them to:

Talk about the characters in their new books and videos

Imagine what characters might feel

Think of good words to describe different settings

Describe the presents they find in their Christmas crackers

Encourage them to think of ways to improve what they have written by using a pretend "polishing pen". Ask them to write four sentences and afterwards ask them to add three adjectives, or three adverbs, to what they have written.

MATHS

Look at the instructions for cooking the festive turkey and ask your child to work out how long it will take to cook

The January sales are a perfect opportunity to look at fractions and percentages and work out with your child how much money you might save

Plan a Christmas party for ten people and work out how many bottles of squash guests will need if one litre fills a certain number of cups.

Imagine Father Christmas has a budget of £30 and needs to buy six presents - give your child a catalogue to see what he could buy.

Tip out a box of wrapped chocolates and ask your child to count them before arranging them into different colours and shapes. How many will be left if you eat one, two, three or four?

Ask your child to look at the TV listings to pick programmes that would fit on a three-hour video tape for a brother, sister or friend.

SCIENCE

Remember the golden rules: to challenge your child, have fun, research together and identify patterns.

Ask your child to hang chocolates on the Christmas tree and see which ones fall off and which stay on along the different branches. The weaker the branch and the heavier the chocolate the less likely it is to stay on.

Christmas tree lights are a great way to talk about electricity circuits.

Talk about why mince pies shrink when they come out of the oven, which is due to the gases inside expanding when they are in the oven.

Talk about why the candle flame does not touch the candle. (It's the wax vapour that will not burn until it comes into contact with oxygen in the air).