Year 3 Blog

We have now begun the Summer term of Year 3. It is so lovely to see our pupils back after the break. We hope you had a lovely time. 

We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills, they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.    

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be emailed to you and can also be found on our school X (Twitter), so please ensure you are following the school account and the relevant class for your child. If you need any support, please let one of us know. 

Over the next half term, we will be learning about: 

English 

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• Exclamation sentences. 

• Dictionary skills. 

• Direct speech. 

• Editing skills. 

• Spelling and grammar. 

• Expanded noun phrases. 

• Commas in a list. 

We will be starting a brand new class text The Outlaw Varjak Paw. This is a follow up to the first book which we read during the Autumn term, Varjak Paw by SF Said. Asking your children questions about our class text helps a lot with their speaking, listening and retrieval skills, to see what they can remember from the first book. We are very much looking forward to finding out what happens to Varjak Paw in the next instalment. 

Please continue to update your reading records regularly. Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. 

Maths 

We will be exploring measurement and pupils will learn how to:

• measure, compare, add and subtract: lengths (m/cm/mm); mass (kg/g); volume/capacity (l/ml)

• measure the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes

• add and subtract amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts

• tell and write the time from an analogue clock, including using Roman numerals from I to XII, and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks

• estimate and read time with increasing accuracy to the nearest minute; record and compare time in terms of seconds, minutes and hours; use vocabulary such as o’clock, am/pm, morning, afternoon, noon and midnight

• know the number of seconds in a minute and the number of days in each month, year and leap year

• compare durations of events 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too.  

Science 

Our next Science topic is Light. We will be learning to: 

• Recognise that we need light to see things and that dark is the absence of light. 

• We will be experimenting how light is reflected from surfaces and objects into our eyes.  

• Recognise the difference between opaque, translucent and transparent objects. 

• Recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes  

• Recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by a solid object  

• Recognise how the position and shape of a shadow can vary depending on the position of the light source. 

History

What was the greatest achievement of the Ancient Egyptians? We will be learning to: 

• Place the period on a timeline and understand and use more complex chronological terms, eg. BC/AD 

• Show an awareness of the duration of this period and know that there were changes to life within this era. 

• Begin to understand the importance of artefacts and other sources (eg. tombs and pyramids) in teaching us about the past. 

• Explain key features of what life was like during Ancient Egyptian civilisation, including: 

• Aspects of daily life such as jobs and transport 

• Beliefs such as gods, mummification, the significance of tombs and pyramids 

• Social structure, eg. the role of a pharaoh 

• Explain some key changes which occurred during the Ancient Egyptian period including: 

• Different pharaohs 

• The development of the hieroglyph system. 

Computing 

This term we will be exploring game design using 2DIY£D on Purple Mash. Our aim is to create a themed maze game with ‘treasure’ and ‘villains’ that will affect the player’s success. We will be designing a setting, animating characters, creating an information page to ensure players know the rules, constantly evaluating and debugging our game and also designing a box for our game.  

P.E./Sports: Basketball and Cricket 

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E. 

We will be looking at Citizenship in P.H.S.E. We will be able to: 

• Explain that children have rights and how these benefit them. 

• Explain the responsibilities adults have for supporting children’s rights. 

• Discuss the benefits of recycling. 

• Recognise some of the different groups within the local community and how they use local buildings. 

• Explain how charities support the local community. 

• Describe how democracy works locally and how this affects us. 

• Recognise the need for rules and the consequences of breaking rules. 

In RE, we will be learning about the unit Being Loyal and Steadfast. We will be using our previous knowledge to learn from experiences and learn about religious traditions and non-religious worldviews.  

Learning at Home 

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack is available to download using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as Times Table Rockstars.

Times tables can be a bit of a stumbling block, and the only way forward is regular practice to improve speed and out-of-sequence recall.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library. 

Thank you for your continued support,

The Year 3 Team

Follow us on Twitter!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on Twitter.  Click a button below to find your child's class on Twitter.

The children have shown a lot of resilience and determination this term which I have been really impressed with.

In English, we have been reading Hetty Feather which linked nicely with our History topic. We wrote a brilliant recount using first person. It was a real joy to see how much effort the children have put into their work as well as using conjunctions, expanded noun phrases and great amounts of detail to bring their work to life!

In Maths, the children have been looking more closely at multiplication and division and fractions. I have been again impressed by the children’s memory recognising the numerators, denominators and realising the smaller the denominator the bigger the fraction! We have also looked at unit fractions, non-unit fractions and equivalent fractions. We have also kept up our work on timetables and lots of the children are improving their scores and answering the questions quicker which is brilliant.

In Science, we have been looking at plants. We have learnt about seed dispersal and the requirements needed for a plant to survive. We looked at the functions of a plant and how water is transported from the roots to the rest of the plant.

We have just completed our Tennis lessons in PE and not long started our athletics lessons in preparation for Sports day. The children have developed forehand and backhand shots whilst trying to concentrate on control and the amount of power required. The children’s technique and contact with the tennis ball has really come on.

In Geography, we have loved learning about Antarctica! We have looked at different compass points (8 in total) learnt about a famous explorer called Ernest Shackleton, found out some amazing facts about Antarctica and looked at lines of latitude and longitude.

Have a brilliant week off! Don't forget to log onto TTRockstars and keep up the reading! Both of which will really help going into Summer 1.

Mr Arnold

Thank you to the children for another lovely half term. We are all looking forward to the lovely weather in the Summer term. It has been exciting to continue to get to know the children more and also watch them progress.

We are continuing to read Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson and find new and exciting vocabulary. It is amazing how language has changed and evolved over time. We have borrowed ideas from a range of different genres to help us discuss spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG). We are encouraging the children to develop their own writing style. This is supported by the books they are reading outside school too. We have recently completed a piece in our Published Writing Book.

Times tables and rapid addition and subtractions facts are something we will continue to focus on. Please continue to encourage them to read at home and use TT Rockstars. Don’t be afraid to show the children any methods you use to use at school as it always benefits them to have a tool kit of different methods. We know children can insist they can only do it one way!

In Design and Technology, our topic has been 2D-3D textile products. The children will be developing sewing skills and using them to manufacture a product intended for another Year 3 pupil.

We have learnt about the Antarctica in Geography and how it is both different and unique as an environment. We have agreed that you wouldn’t want to do your normal Summer holiday activities there!

Our Science topic has explored a range of plants. We have used our previous knowledge to build on our understanding from previous years. We now know which parents are keen on their gardening! The children have taken part in a range of different experiments. As a class, we have observed changes and tested the strength of different stems. We have discussed that some plants maybe poisonous and that it is always important to remember to wash their hands.

We have continued to improve our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE.

Thanks again for all your support. If you ever want a conversation about anything then feel free to ask me.

Mr Reid

Another half term over and we are ready to begin our final term of Year 3!

I would like to say a huge well done to all pupils in 3D for their hard work and focus over the last few weeks, I am very proud of how far you have come and look forward to the Summer term with you.

We have continued to read Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson and we are still enjoying every chapter. We have used the text to create a range of writing genres and have seen a huge improvement in punctuation, grammar and spelling. All pupils are identifying their individual writing style and I couldn't be happier with their final pieces. We recently returned to a piece of writing from the end of Autumn term and edited our pieces. We then used our joined handwriting and added them to our ever-growing published writing books.

We have been looking at poetry extracts and non-fiction pieces relating to our other curriculum subjects, and that is really helping us in our understanding of topics such as, plants and notable individuals from past and present. 

We are continuing to see progress with the rapid recall of times tables and are continuing to monitor our scores every week to ensure that we are progressing consistently. In our Maths lessons, we have continued to consolidate our skills of the four operations and will continue to revisit these methods during our starters every day. 

We began the half term continuing our Geography topic of 'Antarctica' and have enjoyed studying this part of the world and in turn, improving our questioning skills. We also began our Design and Technology topic of 2D-3D textile products. We will be introducing sewing skills and using them to create an item intended for another Year 3 pupil.

Plants has been our Science topic this half term. We have explored a range of plants and used our prior knowledge to build on our understanding from previous years. We have taken part in a range of experiments including observing changes and testing the strength of different stems. 

We have continued to improve our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE. Please continue to check out our Twitter for further information on what we have been getting up to. 

Thank you again for another incredible half term and for all of your support along the way.

Have a lovely Easter break and I look forward to seeing you all when we return.

Mrs Danks xxx

As quick as flash and another half term is over. I can’t believe we’re going to begin our final term of Year 3!

I would just like to say a big well done to all pupils in 3T for their continued hard work and motivation over the last few weeks, I am delighted with the progress you have made and I look forward to the summer term with you.

We have been continuing with our class read Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson and we are enjoying every chapter. We have used the text to inspire a range of writing genres which has seen huge development in punctuation, grammar and spelling. All pupils are recognising their distinct writing style and I couldn't be happier with their latest piece. We recently revisited a piece of writing from the autumn term and modified them. We then used our best handwriting and added them to our increasing published writing books.

We have also looked at poetry extracts and non-fiction pieces linking to our other curriculum subjects, which is really helping us with our understanding of topics such as, plants and prominent individuals from past and present. 

We are continuing to see an improvement with the rapid recall of times tables, we will continue to observe our scores every week to ensure that we are continuing steadily. In our Maths lessons, we have continued to reinforce our skills of the four operations and this will be revisited during our starters every day.  

Our half term began with us continuing our Geography topic of 'Antarctica', which we have enjoyed studying. This has supported and improved our questioning skills. We also begun our Design and Technology topic of 2D-3D textile products. We will be familiarising ourselves with our sewing skills and then utilising them to create an item for another Year 3 pupil.

Science has seen us observing plants this half term. We have explored a range of plants, used our prior knowledge and built on our understanding from previous years. We have taken part in a range of experiments including observing changes and testing the strength of a range of plant stems. 

We will continue to expand our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE. Please check out our Twitter for further information on what we have been getting up to. 

A big thank you again for another unbelievable half term and for all of your support along the way.

I would like to wish you a happy Easter break and look forward to seeing you when we return.

Mrs Thomas.

We are now halfway through Year 3! It is so lovely to see our pupils back after the break. We hope you had a lovely time. 

We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills, they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.    

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be emailed to you and can also be found on our school X (Twitter), so please ensure you are following the school account and the relevant class for your child. If you need any support, please let one of us know. 

Over the next half term, we will be learning about: 

English 

In our English lessons we will be continuing to work on the following areas: 

• Exclamation sentences 

• Prepositions 

• Dictionary skills 

• Direct speech 

• Editing skills 

• Present perfect tense 

• Spelling and grammar 

Please continue to update your reading records regularly. Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning.  

We will be continuing our class text Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson over the next half term. It is a fantastic text that we are thoroughly enjoying. 

Please try and ask your children questions about our class text, this helps a lot with their speaking, listening and retrieval skills. 

Maths 

We will continue exploring multiplication and division:  

• Understanding multiplication as equal groups 

• Use arrays  

• Looking at multiples of 2, 5 and 10 

• Sharing and grouping 

• Multiplying and dividing by 3, 4 and 8 

We will also be learning about length and perimeter, fractions, mass and capacity. 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too.  

Science 

Our next Science topic is Plants. We will be learning to: 

• identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers. 

• explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant. 

• investigate the way in which water is transported within plants. 

• explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal. 

Geography – Who lives in Antarctica? 

By the end of the topic, we will be able to: 

• Describe what lines of latitude and longitude are. 

• Understand that the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience seasons at different times. 

• Define what climate zones are. 

• Understand Antarctica has a polar climate made up of ice sheets, snow and mountains. 

• Describe Antarctica’s location in the far south of the globe. 

• List some of the research carried out in Antarctica. 

• State the outcome of Shackleton’s expedition. 

• Begin to recall the eight points of a compass, following at least four of them. 

• Recognise and describe features on their school grounds from an aerial map. 

Design and Technology – 2D shape to 3D product

By the end of the topic, we will be able to: 

• Generate realistic ideas through discussion and design criteria for an appealing, functional product fit for purpose and specific user/s.  

• Produce annotated sketches, prototypes, final product sketches and pattern pieces. 

• Investigate a range of 3-D textile products relevant to the project.  

• Test their product against the original design. 

• Know how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce existing fabrics.  

• Understand how to securely join two pieces of fabric together.  

• Understand the need for patterns and seam allowances. 

Computing 

This term we will be exploring 2Sequence on Purple Mash. Pupils will design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals, including controlling or simulating physical systems. They will solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts, use sequence, selection and repetition in programs. 

P.E./Sports - Tennis and Athletics 

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E. 

We will be looking at Safety and the Changing Body in P.H.S.E. We will be able to: 

• Show an understanding that they must consider their own safety before helping others in an emergency. 

• Understand how to help someone who has been bitten or stung. 

• Write an email with instructions written using positive language. 

• Create a decision tree showing how to deal with unkind online behaviour and cyberbullying. 

• Send an email that describes some of the best ways to avoid being tricked by fake emails. 

In RE, we will be learning about the unit Remembering Roots. We will be using our previous knowledge to learn from experiences and learn about religious traditions and non-religious worldviews.  

Parents Evening

If you haven't booked an appointment already, we would like to invite you to attend our Parents Evenings, taking place on the following dates:

• Wednesday 6th March 3.40pm - 6.50pm

• Thursday 7th March 3.40pm - 5.30pm

Click here for further information and to book.

Learning at Home 

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack is available to download using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as Times Table Rockstars.

Times tables can be a bit of a stumbling block, and the only way forward is regular practice to improve speed and out-of-sequence recall.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library. 

Thank you for your continued support,

The Year 3 Team 

Follow us on Twitter!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on Twitter.  Click a button below to find your child's class on Twitter.

Spring 1 has just flown by and the children should be incredibly proud of their achievements this term.

In Maths, this term we have looked at multiplication and division. We have become more confident with both focusing specifically on the 3s, 4s and 8s which the children need to learn by the end of Year 3.

In English, we have focused on a new text called ‘Hetty Feather’. It is a very emotive text and we have based a lot of our writing and reading activities upon it. We have also looked at possessive apostrophes, conjunctions and prepositions.

In Foundation, we have started to look at Art and Design and History. We learnt the four golden rules of drawing and have carefully used different types of pencils and a viewfinder to focus in more detail on our drawings. In History, we had a fantastic trip to the Black Country Museum. We had so much fun learning all about the Black Country region and how they had a big impact on the world and bring Black Country folk back to life, from metalworkers and miners to nurses and school life. This is related to what we have been learning about in History which is how children’s lives have changed.

In Science, we learnt all about animals including humans. We have looked at the human body, vertebrates and invertebrates, why muscles are used and the three types of skeleton which are endoskeletons, exoskeletons and hydrostatic skeletons. Did you know that a turtle is both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton.

In PE, this term we have focused on handball and hockey. We have looked at different types of passes in handball and performing them effectively in a game situation. In Hockey, we have started to look dribbling, passing and turns. 

Have a brilliant week off! Don't forget to log onto TTRockstars and keep up the reading! Both of which will really help going into Spring 2.

Mr Arnold

A big thank you to all the children for a great start to 2024!

I have really enjoyed getting to know the children and seeing what they are capable of. It has been exciting to appreciate their individual characters.

Our English, this half term, is based around the story of Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson. It is amazing how things have changed for children in just over 150 years! There are many twists and turns for the main character as she struggles to survive and thrive, while she discovers the mystery of where she came from. We will be discussing the plot of the story and using the text to develop both our prediction and summarising skills.

In our reading lessons, the children have been using their reading skills to access non-fiction, fiction and poetry extracts. We have read a range of different texts and revisited some ideas from our previous learning. 

In English, we have focused on improving cohesion, our sentence structure and choice of vocabulary.  The children have been steadily improving their knowledge of times tables too. 

In Maths, we have explored multiplication and division and reviewed our knowledge of addition and subtraction. We have also improved our fluency and our understanding of a range of skills, including, doubling, halving, partitioning, multiples and within these concepts. 

This term’s History topic is 'How Children’s' Lives have Changed?'. We have discussed how different children’s lives today are. Frighteningly, a lot of children would not have had what we would call a childhood! We have learnt that the law had to be changed so that children couldn’t work for more than ten hours a day! Most of us have been pleased that we live in the present day and not the past!

In Science we have focused on 'Animals Including Humans ‘this half term. In this topic, the children explored the human body and how it functions. This topic builds on previous learning and also helps to develop our investigation skills. We even had one of our class come in dressed as a skeleton!

In addition to this we have been developing our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE. The children have been teaching me (Mr Reid) about X (Twitter) and I will aim to include pictures of our interesting activities. 

Continue to encourage your child to read as much as possible and also to use TT-Rockstars. Don’t forget that there are prizes for the children who reach 50, 100, 150 and 200 nights of reading

If you ever need to discuss something with me then don’t be afraid to ask.

We are back to school on Monday 19th February. Have a well-deserved rest!

Mr Reid

Half way through Year 3! I can't believe it!

We have had an incredible half term since returning in January and we are seeing progress being made every single day.

We have started a new novel this half term, Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson and we are hooked! This story is full of mystery, twists and turns and very complex vocabulary. We are spending a lot of time discussing the plot and the characters to improve our inference and summarising skills. 

We are continuing to focus on a range of reading skills using non-fiction, fiction and poetry extracts. We have looked at texts linked to our previous History topic of the Stone Age, our Science topic of Animals Including Humans and we have also revisited some texts read during Year 2 to help us build our retrieval skills. 

In English, we have focused on improving cohesion and our sentence structure. We have learnt, practised and reviewed a wide range of GPS and are continuing to embed this in our writing. Throughout this half term, we have written a recount in first person and a petition letter to the Foundling Hospital. I am extremely impressed by the writing we have seen over the last few weeks and am looking forward to seeing more over the next half term.  

There has been a huge improvement in the rapid recall of the 2, 5, 10, 3, 4 and 8 times tables and are continuing to improve every week. In Maths, we have explored multiplication and division and reviewed our knowledge of addition and subtraction. We have also looked in to fluency and our understanding of a range of skills, including, doubling, halving, partitioning, multiples and so much more. 

Our History topic this half term is 'How Children's' Lives have Changed?'. We have spent time looking at children growing up in different time periods and discussing the jobs that they did and how working conditions affected them. We also had a great time visiting The Black Country Museum. 

'Animals Including Humans' has been our Science topic this half term. We have explored the human body and how it works and also used our scientific skills to compare and investigate using our prior knowledge to build on our understanding from previous years.

We have also been improving our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE. Please continue to check out our Twitter for further information of what we have been getting up to. 

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Enjoy your week off and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 19th February.

Mrs Danks xxx

What a great start to the new term. We have been seeing progress continuously made every day.

 Currently we are reading Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson. This is a story full of mystery and intrigue. There are a lot of discussions raised around the plot and in particular the characters within. This is having a substantial impact on our inference skills, alongside our summarising skills as we follow the twists and turns of Hetty’s complex childhood. 

  Throughout our reading lessons we continue to focus on our reading skills using non-fiction, fiction and poetry. We continue to look back through texts linked to our previous subjects. Looking at books previously linked to Science and the topic Animals including Humans and even texts from year 2 to support our retrieval skills. In English we have been concentrating on our sentence structure and cohesion. We have been continuing to practise and analyse a range of GPS which we are including in our writing.  Throughout this half term, we have written a recount in first person and a petition letter to the Foundling Hospital. I am captivated by some of the writing we have seen over the last few weeks and am looking forward to seeing more over the next half term.  

  There has been a vast improvement in the rapid recall of the 2, 5, 10, 3, 4 and 8 times tables, which continues to improve every week. In Maths, we have been working on multiplication and division, whilst reviewing our knowledge of addition and subtraction. We have also looked in to mathematical fluency and our understanding of skills, such as, doubling, halving, partitioning, multiples and so much more. 

During our History topic this half term we are looking at 'How Children’s' Lives have Changed’ We have spent time looking at children growing up in different time periods, just like at the Black Country Museum, including a discussion about the jobs that they did and how working conditions affected them.

'Animals Including Humans' has been our Science topic this half term. We have explored the human body and how it works. We have used our scientific skills to observe comparisons and investigate, using our prior knowledge in order to build on our understanding from previous years.

 We have also been refining our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE. Please continue to follow our Twitter for any further information around 3T. 

As always, thank you for your support.

Enjoy your week off and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 19th February.

Mrs Thomas

It is so lovely to see our pupils back after the Christmas break. We hope you had a lovely time. 

We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.    

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be emailed to you and can also be found on our school X (Twitter), so please ensure you are following the school account and the relevant class for your child. If you need any support, please let one of us know. 

Over the next half term, we will be learning about: 

English 

In our English lessons we will be continuing to work on the following areas: 

• Phonics – children will reviewing their phonic knowledge and will continue to develop their sound recognition skills daily  

• Use past and present tense accurately and consistently 

• Use of basic punctuation , . ! ? “ 

• Begin evaluating and editing own work 

• Word classes e.g. nouns, adjectives and adverbs 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation  

• Begin to organise paragraphs around a theme  

Please continue to update your reading records regularly. Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning.  

Our class text over the next half term is Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson. It is a fantastic text that we are very excited to begin.  Hetty Feather is a young red-haired girl who was left by her mother at the Foundling Hospital as a baby and follows her story as she lives in a foster home before returning to the Foundling Hospital as a curious and bad-tempered five-year-old. Please try and ask your pupils questions about our class text, this helps a lot with their speaking, listening and retrieval skills. 

Maths 

We will continue to revise number and place value and begin exploring multiplication and division:  

• Understanding multiplication as equal groups 

• Use arrays  

• Looking at multiples of 2, 5 and 10 

• Sharing and grouping 

• Multiplying and dividing by 3, 4 and 8 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too.  

Science 

Our next Science topic is Animals including Humans. We will be learning to: 

• Identify animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat  

• Identify that humans and some animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement. 

Art – Growing Artists  

• To recognise how artists use shape in drawing 

• To understand how to create tone in drawing by shading 

• To understand how texture can be created and used to make art 

• To apply observational drawing skills to create detailed studies 

• To explore composition and scale to create abstract drawings 

History – How have children’s lives changed? 

• To identify how children’s lives have changed using a range of sources 

• To understand why children worked in Tudor times and what working conditions were like 

• To understand the types of jobs Victorian children had and their working conditions 

• To understand how and why children’s leisure time has changed 

Computing 

This term we will be exploring Scratch software. Pupils create a car that travels round a roadway emitting smoke as it goes. Can the user keep the smoke trail on the roadway? Pupils will also create a sequence of instructions to take the car from start to finish. 

P.E./Sports - Hand Ball and Hockey

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E. 

We will be looking at Health and Wellbeing in P.H.S.E. We will be: 

• Creating a healthy diary, where energetic activities and high-energy food are scheduled for the same day. 

• Working in pairs so that one person can do a stretch while the other draws a stick figure to show the pose. 

• Understanding the different aspects of my identity. 

• Identifying their own strengths and that they can help other people. 

• Describing how they would break a problem down into small, achievable goals. 

• Understanding the benefits of healthy eating and dental health. 

In RE, we will be learning about the unit being fair and just. We will be exposing pupils to the reality of prejudice, reading the Christian story of Jacob and Esau and exploring the story of The Black Stone. 

Learning at Home 

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Times tables can be a bit of a stumbling block, and the only way forward is regular practice to improve speed and out-of-sequence recall.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library. 

Thank you for your continued support,  

The Year 3 Team

Follow us on Twitter!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on Twitter.  Click a button below to find your child's class on Twitter.

It has been an incredible first term with 3C. 

In English, the children have used the skills taught in Autumn and applied them to different genres of writing. The children have written a non-chronological about Russian Blue cats and learnt how to write a letter based on their class text for this term (Varjak). The children have thoroughly enjoyed the plot of the story and are really excited to read the second book in the Summer term. 

The children have focused on addition and subtraction as part of their maths topics. They have learnt how to use a number line and column method for these two operations. The children are also becoming confident with exchanging from different columns.

In Science, the children have been exploring Forces and Magnets. We have done a lot of comparative testing’s of magnets. The children have gone around the class to test out which objects are magnetic and non- magnetic. 

In our Foundation Subjects, the children have covered a Design and Technology topic (Levers and Linkages) and have started an Art topic (Growing Artists) which they will continue in Spring term. The children have learnt different mechanisms and applied them to their moving books which they created as a group. 

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Tri Golf. The children learnt how to put a ball in a hole and how to chip the ball. We all also created a golf course for children to experience a golf game. The children also enjoyed their Dance topic where they danced along to Moves Like Jagger and Waka Waka. They learnt the important of number of steps required for their dance choreography. 

In Computing this term, the children have created their own algorithms and have learnt how to insert shapes and arrows to help with their steps for their algorithms. 

It has been such a wonderful term with 3C and I have absolutely loved getting to know all the children in the class. I will miss all of them so dearly and will definitely come back to see the class. 3C I wish you all the best for the rest of year 3 and your years at Yardley Primary School.

I hope you all have a lovely and well deserved break. Merry Christmas to all those celebrating and a Happy New Year. 

Goodbye 3C. X

We have worked extremely really hard this term using our school values to try our best at all times.

In English, we have focused on a range of texts and predominantly looked at Varjak Paw. We have researched about Mesopotamia and wrote a non-chronological report about the Russian blue cat.  In our non-chronological reports, we included a main heading and subheadings about where they are from, their appearance and other facts. There were some brilliant pieces of writing which shows how hard we have worked in English.

During Maths, we have become more confident using a range of methods in addition and subtraction. We have looked at adding and subtracting tens and hundreds columns, 2 and 3 digit numbers and challenged ourselves on worded and missing number problems.

In Geography, our topic has been volcanoes and why people live there. We have enjoyed looked at different volcanoes around the world such as Mount Everest and Mount Etna. We had a lovely visit by Mr Giles who visited us in class to discuss his experience earlier this year to Mount Etna. Also, we have looked at earthquakes, tsunamis and the positives and negatives of living near a volcano.

Science has been fantastic and we've shown a good understanding of Forces and Magnets. We have planned and performed experiments, made predictions about what may happen using our knowledge and logic and even evaluated why such things happen. Also, we made a magnetic compass and designed our own game to consolidate our knowledge.

Design and Technology has been really exciting this term looking at linkages and levers. We have explored a range of books, then designed and made our own book which all look fantastic! Afterwards, we evaluated our designs about what we might do next time.

In PE, we have enjoyed learning about tri-golf. We have learnt how to perform the correct stance and holding the correct golf putts properly. Our accuracy has got better over the course of the topic because we have learnt that it is important to take our time during each shot. Also, we have really enjoyed doing dance and learning about different routines using team work to a specific song. There were some outstanding performances in both.

Have a brilliant few weeks off! Don't forget to log onto TTRockstars and keep up the reading! Both of which will really help going into Spring 1. Have a brilliant Christmas with your family and best wishes for the New Year!

Mr Arnold

Christmas already, where has the time gone?

3D have had another excellent half term and I am already looking forward to seeing you all progress further during 2024. 

We have been reading Varjak Paw by SF Said throughout this half term. Varjak Paw is  a Mesopotamian Blue cat from a large family that live comfortably inside the Contessa's large, grand house. Yet, when the Gentleman arrives with his odd black cats, Varjak and his grandfather the Elder Paw believe that something strange is going on. This adventurous text has had us on the edge of our seats every day. 

During our reading lessons, we have been focusing on a range of reading skills using non-fiction, fiction and poetry extracts. We have looked at famous people through the ages based on our Science, History and Geography topics and learnt a lot of information while retrieving, summarising, predicting and clarifying. It has also been a great chance for us to learn new vocabulary that we can use in our writing.

In English, we have recapped spelling rules and look at a range of GPS tasks to support our writing. We have spent this half term exploring a range of writing genres, including letters, poetry and non-chronological reports. We looked at the structure and rhyme scheme of different poems and have built our speaking, listening, reading and writing skills to create some incredible writing pieces. The outcome of this task has been incredible. We have been blown away by the skills of retrieval and choice of effective vocab to create pieces that have been published into our writing books. 

Maths has had a huge focus on the four operations and being able to use these methods to solve reasoning and problem-solving tasks. We have continued to improve our rapid recall of times tables and are continuing to progress in this! Our fluency skills are improving each day and we will continue to test and recap on these skills when we begin multiplication and division in January.

Our Geography topic has been very interesting, and we have gained a range of skills. We looked at the positives and negatives of living near a volcano and how this could affect peoples' lives. 

Forces and Magnets has been our topic in Science this half term. We linked a lot of our new learning to prior knowledge in previous year groups and also our last topic of Rocks and Soils. We have planned and conducted a range of investigation to understand gravity, air resistance and friction. 

We have also been improving our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE. Please continue to check out our Twitter for further information about what we have been getting up to. 

Thank you for all of your support since we returned to school in September, it is very much appreciated.

I hope you have a lovely Christmas and look forward to welcoming you back in the new year.

Mrs Danks xxx

Can you believe that it is nearly Christmas? Time really does fly! 

3t have had a tremendous half term and I am really looking forward to seeing you all continue your progress during 2024. 

We have been reading Varjak Paw by SF Said this half term. Varjak Paw is a story about a Mesopotamian Blue cat from a large comfortable family that live inside the Contessa's large, grand house. Until, everything changes with the arrival of a strange Gentleman who arrives with his feisty, black cats, Varjak and his grandfather believe that something strange is going on. This exciting text has had us wanting more drama every day. 

Our reading lessons, we have been us focussing on a range of reading skills by means of non-fiction, fiction and poetry extracts. We have looked at famous people throughout our topics, Science, History and Geography we have learnt a lot of information while retrieving, summarising, predicting and inferring. This has also given us a great chance for to learn new vocabulary that we can use in our writing.

In English, we have reviewed certain spelling rules and looked at a range of GPS tasks to support our writing. We have been exploring a range of writing genres, including letters, poetry and non-chronological reports. We have looked at the structure and rhyme scheme of poems and have built on our speaking and listening skills, alongside our reading and writing skills. We have created some unbelievable writing pieces.  We have been blown away by the pieces of writing that have been published into our writing books. 

Maths has had continued to have a huge focus on the four operations and being able to use these to solve reasoning and problem-solving tasks. These skills will be continuous so we can improve our rapid recall of times tables. Our mathematical fluency is improving each day and we will continue to recap on these skills when we begin multiplication and division in January.                                                                                                                       Geography has been extremely interesting; we have gained a range of skills. We’ve looked at the positives and negatives of living near a volcano and how this could affect peoples' lives. 

Forces and Magnets has been our topic in Science this half term. Which has linked to our prior knowledge from previous year groups and also our last topic of Rocks and Soils. 

We have also been continuing to improve our skills in Music, Spanish, Outdoor Learning, RE and PE.  3T would like you to continue to check out our Twitter feed for further information of what we have been getting up to. 

Thank you all so much for your continued support. I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 Best Wishes Mrs H Thomas

It is so lovely to see our pupils back after the half term break. We hope you had a lovely time. 

We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.    

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be emailed to you and can also be found on our school X (Twitter), so please ensure you are following the school account and the relevant class for your child. If you need any support, please let one of us know. 

Over the next half term, we will be learning about: 

English 

In our English lessons we will be continuing to work on the following areas: 

• Phonics – children will reviewing their phonic knowledge and will continue to develop their sound recognition skills daily  

• Sentence structures and types  

• Use of basic punctuation , . ! ? “ 

• Using descriptive language/expanded noun phrases  

• Word classes e.g. nouns, adjectives and adverbs 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation  

Reading records have now been given to all children. Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. 

Our class text over the next half term is Varjak Paw by SF Said. It is a very interesting text that we are very excited to begin. Varjak Paw is a Mesopotamian Blue cat from a large family that live comfortably inside the Contessa's large, grand house. Yet, when the Gentleman arrives with his odd black cats, Varjak and his grandfather the Elder Paw believe that something strange is going on. 

Please try and ask your children questions about our class text, this helps a lot with their speaking, listening and retrieval skills. 

Maths 

We will continue to revise number and place value, in particular the four operations. We will be learning to: 

• add and subtract numbers mentally, including: a three-digit number and 1s, a three-digit number and 10s, a three-digit number and 100s 

• add and subtract numbers with up to 3 digits, using formal written methods of addition and subtraction 

• estimate the answer to a calculation and use inverse operations to check answers 

• solve problems, including missing number problems, using number facts, place value, and more complex addition and subtraction 

• recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables 

• write and calculate mathematical statements for multiplication and division using the multiplication tables that they know 

• solve problems, including missing number problems, involving multiplication and division 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. Head to Times Table Rockstars for lots of challenges and battles!

Science 

Our next Science topic is Forces and Magnets. We will be learning to: 

• compare how things move on different surfaces 

• notice that some forces need contact between 2 objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance 

• observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others 

• compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials 

• describe magnets as having 2 poles 

•  predict whether 2 magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing 

Geography – Volcanoes 

• Learning why volcanoes erupt and about the two main types of volcano. 

• Understand how humans classify volcanoes. 

• Mapping volcanoes globally and using digital imagery to explore them. 

Design and Technology – Levers and Linkages      

• Understanding how a range of mechanisms create movement 

• Design a product criteria that meets the needs of the user 

• Developing design ideas further 

Computing 

This term we will be learning about Algorithm Design. We will be looking at how algorithms can be developed further by learning to create a series of step-by-step instructions (linear algorithms) as well as algorithms that include a decision-making process (branching algorithms). 

P.E./Sports: Team building and Gymnastics 

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E. 

We will continue to look at family and relationships in P.H.S.E looking at who we trust and why and stereotypes with regards to age and gender.   

In RE, we will be learning about the unit creating unity and harmony. We will be exploring Jainism and Islam. These include what they believe in, their culture and the Five Pillar of Islam. Also, we will be looking at Christianity about what they believe in and why Christmas is such a big part of their religion. 

Learning at Home 

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Times tables can be a bit of a stumbling block, and the only way forward is regular practice to improve speed and out-of-sequence recall.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library. 

Thank you for your continued support,  

The Year 3 Team

Follow us on Twitter!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on Twitter.  Click a button below to find your child's class on Twitter.

What a brilliant start to life in Year 3! Everyone has settled in so well and this is just only the beginning on our journey together.

This term in English has mainly focused around our class text Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We have wrote a character description on one of three main characters from the book and wrote a setting description from Charlie’s point of view using the 5 senses. We are becoming a lot more confident using conjunctions, expanded noun phrases and verbs which have helped to bring our work to life!

In Maths, we have consolidated and then developed our place value knowledge. We've continued our learning from Year 2 looking at different representations in place value. We have started addition and subtraction which will continue after half term for a short period. Our Maths is coming on well becoming more confident using a range of methods such as number lines and column method to help work out the answers quicker.

In Art and Design, we have used cross-curricular links with the Stone Age. We have made our very own cave wall in class using internal and external hand prints. This is on display in class and something that we can refer to over the course of the year in which we can take great pride in. Also, we have made our own cave paintings using a range of different materials that Stone Age people would have made many years ago. 

Science has been fantastic and we've shown a good understanding of rocks and soils. Focusing on their properties and performing tests to assess their properties. We've conducted experiments and evaluated the results.

The children have worked hard in P.E. We started off with participating in a range of teambuilding activities which we thoroughly enjoyed and rose to the challenge. This has helped us to understand one of our main school values in teamwork. We have also completed our gymnastics topic - learning different balances, jumps and rolls. Definitely future gymnasts in the making!

The children should be immensely proud of themselves this term and are all a great asset to the school.

Have a brilliant week off! Don't forget to log into TTRockstars and keep up the reading! Both of which will really help going into Autumn 2!

Mr Arnold

It has been an incredible first half term to the academic year. 

In English, the children have focused on basic grammar skills to help with writing for Autumn 2. This term we have looked at adjectives and verbs/irregular verbs to support the children’s character and setting description based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (English class text). The children have also recapped on nouns and expanded noun phrases to aid them with their writing. In reading skills, the children have focused on retrieval skills to help them understand their text for each lesson.  

We have recapped skills based on place value. The children have been able to partition numbers to understand the value of each digit which has supported them in column addition and subtraction. The children have really enjoyed using base 10 and counters to help with their understanding of regrouping and exchanging. 

In Science, the children have been exploring Rocks and Soils. We have done a lot of comparative testing’s of rocks where the children looked at which rocks are permeable and impermeable. The children also investigated which soil would be best to use to grow vegetables. They did this via a filtration process.  

In our Foundation Subjects, the children have covered a History topic (Stone Age to Iron Age), an Art topic (Prehistoric paintings) and have started a Geography topic (Volcanoes). The children loved learning about humans lived in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age era. 

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Gymnastics. The children learnt different rolls, jumps and balance and then used these skills to create a routine. The children have also worked on their teamwork skills during their Team Building topic.

In year 3, we started the term off with Digital Safety. The children have learnt how to stay safe online and who we can trust. We then moved onto learning new skills in Microsoft Word. The children can change the font size and style and insert a picture from the internet.  

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and help them to learn their times tables. Have a nice one week holiday 3C and I shall see you all on Tuesday 7th November 2023.

Just a reminder that Monday 6th November 2023 is a teacher training day.

I cannot believe our first half term in Year 3 is over already! Where has the time gone?

3D have had an excellent half term and I am already looking forward to seeing them progress further during the year.

We have been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by one of our favourite authors, Roald Dahl, throughout this half term. If you haven't already enjoyed this text, it features a young boy called Charlie Bucket and four other children, who find golden tickets inside Wonka chocolate bars. The tickets are invitations to tour Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory. During the tour, the four other children reap the consequences of their negative traits and are removed from the tour one-by-one and forever changed. This adventurous text has had us on the edge of our seats every day. 

During our reading lessons, we have been focusing on a range of reading skills using non-fiction, fiction and poetry extracts. We have looked at famous people through the ages based on our Science and History topics and learnt a lot of information while clarifying, retrieving, summarising, predicting and inferring. It has also been a great chance for us to learn new vocabulary that we can use in our writing.

In English, we have recapped spelling rules and look at a range of GPS tasks to support our writing. We have spent this half term exploring setting and character descriptions, linked to our class text. I have been blown away by the skills of retrieval and choice of effective vocab to create a descriptive paragraph, that has been edited and improved over the last few weeks. 

Maths has had a huge focus on place value and being able to recap methods already learnt during Year 2. We have continued to improve our rapid recall of the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and are beginning to introduce the 3, 4 and 8 times tables. Our fluency skills are improving each day and we will continue to test and recap on these skills weekly.

Our History topic of British History (Would you prefer to live in the Stone Age, Bronze Age or Iron Age?) has has been very interesting, and we have gained a range of skills as historians. We  looked at a range of sources to determine their reliability and have also been able to understand the impact on life in Britain today. 

Rocks and Soil has been our topic in Science this half term. We linked a lot of our new learning to prior knowledge in previous year groups and we have planned and conducted a range of investigations. We were able to investigate the permeability of rocks and soils and we also made fossils in our Outdoor Learning session.

We have also been improving our skills in Music, Spanish, RE, PE and much more. Please continue to check out our Twitter for further information of what we have been getting up to. 

Thank you for all of your support since we returned to school in September, it is very much appreciated.

We hope you have a lovely break and look forward to welcoming you back in November.

Mrs Danks xxx

What a fantastic start to the year!

In English we have begun with a descriptive paragraph. We have been looking at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, not only at the factory, but also at the characters within. We have been specifically looking at adjectives and how we can use them to successfully describe our characters. The children have worked amazingly hard on this and have produced some excellent writing.

At the beginning of this term we looked back at place value, how we represent numbers and what the value would be. Since completing that we have begun to work on addition and subtraction. With particular focus on the key methods.

In Science, we have been looking at rocks and soils. We have been looking at which rocks were permeable and which soils would be good for a farmer to use for soil.      

 The children have been focussing on prehistoric art during our Art topic this term. We have researched materials that would have been used prehistorically, (grass, berries, flowers, branches and rocks) to show how limited colour was. We then also made a cave painting ourselves by painting our hands with two colours, orange and green. This looks amazing. 

PE we have been learning about gymnastics, we have been practising balances, rolls and jumps and ensuring that they are done safely and confidently. Towards the end we also took some of those moves onto the equipment.  

In our Computing lessons, the children have worked on what digital safety is, what it looks like and who they can talk to regarding any concerns they may have. We then moved onto Word, the children have been practising changes fonts, including sizes and colours. We have also added images into our writing. 

This has been a great start to the year the children have been working extremely hard. I am proud of what we have achieved.

Enjoy your well-deserved break.

It is so lovely to see our pupils back after the 6 weeks holiday. We are really pleased to see you all! 

Year 3 is important for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.  We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.   If you have any questions related to the reopening of school, please see the ‘Noticeboard’ area on the school website. 

This half term we will be learning about: 

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• Phonics – children will reviewing their phonic knowledge and will continue to develop their sound recognition skills daily  

• Sentence structures and types  

• Use of basic punctuation , . ! ? “ 

• Using descriptive language/expanded noun phrases  

• Word classes e.g. nouns, adjectives and adverbs 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation  

Reading records will be issued to each child over the coming weeks. Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. 

Maths

We will begin by looking at number and place value. We will be learning about: 

• Reading and writing numbers in digits and words  

• Place value and identifying the digits in a 3 digit number  

• Sequencing and ordering numbers  

• Mental and written methods for addition and subtraction, including introducing the column method  

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too.  

Science

Our first Science topic is Rocks, Fossils and Soils. We will be learning about: 

• How fossils are made  

• How soils are made  

• Looking at the properties of different rocks and investigating them  

• Classifying and testing permeability and durability 

Foundation subjects

• History – Stone Age and Iron Age 

• Art - Prehistoric Painting 

• Geography – Volcanoes 

• Design and Technology – Levers and Linkages      

Computing 

This term we will be learning about Digital safety. We will begin by completing computer safety agreements. Children will learn about posting online and the how to be responsible. They will become more familiar with when to talk to someone if you have a problem online. 

P.E./Sports: Team building and Gymnastics 

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E. 

We will be learning about sharing and being generous - linking it to Islam and Christianity. We will also be looking at the festival of Harvest.  

Learning at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Times tables can be a bit of a stumbling block, and the only way forward is regular practice to improve speed and out-of-sequence recall.

Please support your child by hearing them read and encouraging them to read independently as often as possible, they may also like to take a look at our Virtual Library. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

Follow us on Twitter!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on Twitter.  Click a button below to find your child's class on Twitter.

Where has this year gone? I am really proud of all the work and effort the children have put in this half term and this whole year.

At the start of the term, the children planned and wrote an informative about their school which they then presented as a leaflet. Following our class text this term of Beaver Towers, the children have had the opportunity to write a descriptive piece based on the kite from the story and a character description of the witch from the story. The children have worked really hard on all pieces of writing ensuring they include their writing targets and grammar features such as similes, metaphors and expanded noun phrases. 

At the start of this term, the children continued with their time topic in Maths before moving onto statistics. The children looked at how to draw and interpret pictograms and bar charts. Towards the end of the term, we revisited all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and reminded ourselves of the key methods. 

In Science, the children started a new topic of Light. They were able to explore shadows, how shadows are formed and what would happen when a light source is moved further away or closer to the object.

The children have really enjoyed their D and T topic in Foundation Curriculum where they were able to make their own purse/wallet. The children began the topic by learning how to thread a needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread. We then focused on two types of stitching: simple and blanket. The children used their designs to help them create their purse/wallet.

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Football and Rounders. The children have learnt different passes in football and have learnt how to throw and hit a ball in rounders.  

In our Computing lessons, the children have been able to create their own game using the programme 2DIY3D. They were able to program their game whereby the coins equalled points once collected. They used their debugging skills to help them fix any issues they encountered in their game before allowing a friend to play it.  

Once again, the children have worked really hard this whole year and I am extremely proud of them. Have a well-deserved break.

What an incredible year we had in Year 3! It has been such a pleasure to have taught you this year. I am so proud of every single one of you and it is truly amazing to see how far you have all come. Your behaviour and positive attitude towards learning has really excelled this year and you have shown super resilience at all times. Your determination and enthusiasm will be missed and I hope you take these characteristics with you to your next class in year 4 as you will continue to flourish. 

In Maths, we have been looking at a range of different skills and getting even better at them. We learnt about time again and we learn to tell the time to 5 minutes past and to the hour.  We have really enjoyed developing our understanding of word problems and using our understanding of tally charts and pictograms. We have all tried really hard to learn our times tables and it has been so fun chanting different time tables as a whole class. 

This half term in English, we have been using all of our different skills to carry out a range of tasks. We enjoyed reading Beaver Towers and even worked extremely hard completing character descriptions of the witch Oyin. The writing this year has been so incredible and we have developed using expanded noun phrases, similes and even tried using personification in our writing. We also completed short narratives and I was so impressed with the quality of writing and how much effort you have put in. It was important we included a range of emotions and considered how the character might feel. 

In Science, we have developed our working scientifically skills. We carried out a number of investigations and enjoyed learning about light and how shadows are formed. 

In our D&T lessons we have created bendy bags to store and protect our money. We have practised a blanket stitch, running stitch and a backstitch to complete our end product. As a class we evaluated our end product and included what went well and what could we improve? 

Finally, we made a healthy snack as part of our food topic. We had so much fun this year. 

Well done 3A! You have had a great year and I have enjoyed working with you all. I hope you all have a great summer holiday and I hope you continue to work hard and thrive in Year 4. 

Wishing you all the best,

Mr Ahmed

What a year it has been and now it is over. This year has flown by so fast and now we are ready to step up to Year 4. I am so proud of all the achievements, progression and success stories this year. 

In English we have written descriptions, created narratives and written for different audiences. Reading has progressed well, with children being more fluent and aware of certain pronunciations of words. In writing, the use of different vocabulary has been very impressive. 

In Maths, we have worked ever so hard on looking at the different areas of measure, fractions, angles, shape and statistics. We have recapped on our arithmetic methods too, to make sure we are ready for Year 4.

In D&T, we have learnt different methods of sewing and even created a product to take home. We also completed a workshop which focused on making a healthy meal/sandwich.

In PSHE we have ascertained what dreams and goals we have, thinking about what we would like to achieve next year. 

In PE we enjoyed participating in Sports Day and everyone did a fantastic job. We also improved our football skills and rounders knowledge in the respective lessons.

Saying bye will be a tough one this year as it always is for me. I feel that we have formed a special bond as a class and I will look back fondly on our time.

All the best mi amigos,

Mr G.

Summer 2 has happened so quickly! It has been a good one, with lots of laughs and enjoyment!

In Maths this term we have looked at statistics. We were able to interpret bar charts and pictograms as well as have a go at drawing our own. We enjoyed collecting data and displaying it.

In English we have read 'Beaver Towers', we have also used this to explore a wide variety of writing styles. 3M have worked hard on their GPS skills, especially when using punctuation such as capital letters, full stops and question marks.

In D&T, we were able to practise our sewing skills, using a simple stitch and a blanket stitch to create a small purse. 

In History, we have been looking at the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. We have identified how things have changed over time and we decided which era we would prefer to live in and why.

In Science we have recapped the year 3 curriculum by doing various experiments and creating knowledge organisers.

In PE this term we have focussed on Football and Rounders. 3M have worked hard on their skillset and this can be seen when they play matches. They have also been working on their team work skills.

It has been a pleasure to teach 3M this year. I will truly miss them. 

All the best in Year 4,

Miss Mac x

Sadly we are so close to the end of the year but  thank you for all of your support this year. We appreciate any parental support and any contributions you have made to your child's education. This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Developing spelling of prefixes suffixes.

• Spelling strategies to develop more confidence in spelling.

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres, including writing a play script, a narrative, character description and a setting description 

• Check our writing for cohesion by editing regularly  

• Continue to focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) 

• Starting our new class text: Beaver Towers.

• Continue developing their: retrieval, vocabulary and inference skills 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. This can contribute towards the ’50 Nights of Reading’ challenge. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. 

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value.  We will then revise our skills taught this year.  We will be learning about:

• Reading and telling the time to the nearest hour, half past and minute intervals 

• Drawing the time to the nearest hour, half past and minute intervals 

• Recapping our knowledge of shape, including their properties and angles 

• Developing our reasoning and problem solving skills  

• Interpreting a range of charts, including: bar, pictograms and tally charts 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term. 

Science

We will be focusing on working scientifically.  We will: 

• Finish off our light topic looking at the formation of shadows and how they changed.

• Set up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests

• Make careful observations and, where appropriate, take accurate measurements using a range of equipment

• Gather, record, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions

• Use results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions

Foundation subjects

Our Foundation topics this term are: Volcanoes and mountains, sewing and food.  We will be learning about:

• Assessing Earthquakes and their effects, 

• Assessing rocks around our school grounds.

• How to sew and create a functional product.

• The design of a product for an intended consumer.

• Food safety and the use of equipment 

• Designing, making and evaluating a product based on a design  

• Generating and classifying ideas 

Computing

This term we will be learning about Digital Creativity and Digital Wellbeing.  We will see how well someone is able to anticipate difficulties through using technology, understand how they will make them feel, and find ways to deal with it.

PE/Sports: Rounders and Football

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about being courageous, confident, being hopeful and visionary - linking it to different religions. We will also focus on changes that we may go through in life in our PSHE lessons. In our Citizenship lessons, we will focus on taking responsibility for our actions. 

Learning at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Summer 2 Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

I can’t believe we are nearly at the end of the year and your time in 3A! You have continued to amaze me with your brilliance, determination, and enthusiasm for your learning. I am proud of every single one of you. 

In Maths, we have started to revise our learning on areas we need to work on. We looked at division and multiplication again to secure our understanding of the Grid method and the Additive chunking method. We found it a challenge but never gave up. We even covered fractions, including: finding fractions of a number, adding and subtracting fractions and shading them. We enjoyed our learning on money too and used real coins to support our learning. Now, we are enjoying learning about time. 

In English, we have finished reading Varjak Paw and have started our new one text: Stitch Head. We really enjoyed basing some of our work on Varjak Paw and what a twist at the end of the book! We wrote some amazing pieces, including: a diary entry and a non-chronological report. 

In Science, we have been learning about all things light. We learnt lots of interesting facts about how we need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light. We have carried out a number of investigations on: shadows, reflections and how we can protect our eyes from the sun using a range of materials. 

In Geography we learnt that the Earth is constructed in layers and pupils are able to describe the layers of the Earth. We also learnt about how mountains are formed and plotting them on a world map. Identifying patterns with plate boundaries and where mountains are found.

Keep up the hard work 3A! You have worked extremally hard and shown such dedication, resilience, and positivity. Enjoy your half term break and make sure you rest. I can’t believe we will be in our last term soon. 

Mr Ahmed

I cannot believe of how little time I have left with 3C. The children have worked extremely this half term.

In English, the children have explored more writing opportunities based on their class text called Varjak and Stitch Head. They have written an email, a letter and had the chance to plan a debate with their peers. We have looked at non-fiction texts in our reading skills session. The children have continued to develop their retrieval, inference and vocabulary skills. 

At the start of this term in maths, the children revisited fractions and learnt new skills in this topic. The children can add and subtract fractions when the denominators are the same and they are able to find fractions of amount. We then moved on to money. The children became familiar with coin recognition and how to find change from a certain amount. 

In Science, the children have continued with their plants topic. The children explore what would happen to a plant when a key factor is taken away from them. They have also looked at pollination and fertilisation.  

The children have really enjoyed their Art topic in Foundation Curriculum. The children had the opportunity to design and construct their own sculptures. They were then able to evaluate their own models. Towards the end of the topic, the children started their new Geography topic called Volcanoes. They have understood why a volcano erupts and how.  

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Basketball and cricket. The children have learnt different passes in basketball and have learnt how to throw and hit a ball in cricket.  

The children have been focusing on how the skill debugging in Computing. The children are becoming confident at finding the problem and then fixing it. 

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and help them to learn their times tables.

Have a nice break 3C and I shall see you on Monday 5th June 2023.

Summer 1 has flown by and we are nearing the end of the year! It has been jam packed with fun and we are looking forward to the final term.

In Maths this term we have looked at money and time whilst keeping our timetables learning going. We are all making improvements and trying to make as much progress as possible.

In English we have finished reading Varjak Paw, which we loved, and focused on a new text called ‘Stitch Head’. It is a different genre of book but does have some similarities. We have based a lot of our writing and reading activities upon it. In the final week we looked at a wordless book called Flotsam which really got our brains going!

In Geography we looked at mountains and volcanoes. This was really interesting as we learn how they were formed and more about our planet Earth We also completed a sculpture topic in art and made some impressive sculptures. Check them out on twitter!

In Science we have finished off our learning about light and shadows. We are going to begin looking at a range of experiments testing our abilities to work scientifically.

In PE this term we have focused on cricket. We have improved bowling technique, batting, fielding and an overall understanding of the game. We really enjoyed playing the games at the end of the topic and have shown tons of progress!

We are really looking forward to getting back and progressing our learning in the final term. There will only be a few weeks left but we need to enjoy them while we still have them!

Asta luego, take care,

Mr. G and 3G

I cannot believe how long we have left, 3M. Summer 1 has flown by in just a blink of an eye. 

In English we have finished reading Varjak Paw, which we loved, and focused on a new text called ‘Stitch Head’. We have focused a lot on different writing genres this term including an email and a letter. We have continued with enhancing our retrieval, inference and vocabulary skills in our reading skills sessions.  

In Maths this term we recapped on our fractions topics and learnt how to add and subtract fractions with the same denominators. In our money topic, we learnt about coin recognition, adding and subtracting money and finding change. 3M have also been learning how to tell the time to 5 minutes and the nearest minute. 

In Science we have finished off our plant topic and have started looking at light and shadow which will continue into Summer 2 before looking at a range of experiments testing our abilities to work scientifically. 

In our Foundation subject, 3M started the term off with art where they created a sculpture. In Geography we looked at mountains and volcanoes. This was really interesting as we learnt the different names of the volcanoes and the layers of the Earth.

In PE this term we have focused on basketball and cricket. We looked at passing techniques in basketball and we have improved our bowling technique, batting, fielding and an overall understanding of the game.

Have a well deserved break 3M and see you all after your one week break on Monday 5th June 2023. Please continue practising your timestables.

Thank you for your continued support this term. All of the extra work you do counts, so it is much appreciated.

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘School noticeboard’ area on the school website here.

This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Phonics/GPS – children will continue to look at  the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme but also to begin to look at spelling patterns. 

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres, including writing a newspaper report, set of instructions, non – chronological report and a diary entry 

• Check our writing for cohesion by editing regularly  

• Develop understanding of direct and indirect speech

• Continue to focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) 

• Finishing our class text: Varjak Paw and then starting our new text: Stitch Head 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters

• Continue developing their: retrieval, vocabulary and inference skills 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. This can contribute towards the ’50 Nights of Reading’ challenge. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. Please also visit our Virtual Library for books online. 

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value before focusing on statistics.  We will then revise our skills taught this year. 

We will be learning about:

• Measure in different forms.

• Fractions and money.

• Developing our reasoning and problem solving skills  

• Revising our written methods of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term. 

Science

Our Science topic is Light. We will be learning about:

• Recognising that we need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light 

• How light is reflected from surfaces 

• Recognising that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect our eyes 

Art

Our topic this term is sculptures and collage.

• We will finish our collage art creations in the style of Derek Gores.

• We will build a range of sculptures using card.

Computing

This term we will be learning about Computer Science using software called 2sequence.

• We will sequence and compose a piece of music using software.

PE/Sports: Basketball and Cricket

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about honesty, how to make good decisions, and how to set a positive example for others - linking it to different religions. 

In addition, we will be learning about the importance of Eid and other celebrations.  We will also focus on dreams and goals in our PSHE lessons. In our Citizenship lessons, we will focus on taking responsibility for our actions. 

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Summer 1 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Year 3 Team

Well done to 3A on all the hard work they’ve put into this term. 

In English, 3A have really been their class text ‘Varkaj Paw’. They have had the opportunity to write a narrative based on Varjak’s mission and have also written a newspaper report. 3A have continued with their inference and retrieval skills in their reading skills sessions.

The children have been learning about length and measure in their maths lessons. They are able to convert mm to cm to m. They have also been learning about fractions. A couple of things the children have studied so far are counting fractions on a number line and equivalent fractions.

The children have been studying about plants in their Science lessons. They have understood the functions of a root and stem and have also observed how water travels up a stem as part of their observation over time investigation. 

3A have now come to the end of their Egyptians topic for history and have learnt so many facts. They have understood the greatest achievements of the Egyptians through different lessons. 3A have been exploring a new artist (Derek Gores) in their art lessons.

This term, 3A have been learning new skills in their tennis and athletics lessons in PE. 

A big well done again to 3A. Have a well deserved break.

I can’t believe another term is over. 3C have worked extremely hard in all their subjects this half term.

3C have been reading a new class text called Varjak Paw. They have been enjoying the plot so far and have enjoyed the writing opportunities relating to this text. The children have written a narrative based on Varjaks mission in the outside world and a newspaper report on the vanishing cats. They have also been building on their retrieval and inference skills based on fiction and non-fiction texts.

In Maths this term, the children have been learning about length and measure and also fractions. The children can confidently measure objects in metres, centimetres and millimetres. In fractions, 3C have understood the difference between unit and non-unit fractions.

As part of our plants topic in Science, 3C have been understanding the functions of roots and stems. The children really enjoyed observing over time how water travels up a stem. We did this by placing a celery stick in some red dyed water. 

The children have now come to the end of their history topic of Egyptians. They have explored different topics to help understand the greatest achievements of the Egyptians. In our art topic, the children have been focusing on the work of an artist called Derek Gores.

This term in PE, 3C have been leaning new skills in tennis and athletics. The children know how to use a backhand to hit a ball (tennis) and can throw a javelin with accuracy (athletics).

3C have been using the Scratch program to help with their programming and debugging skills. 

Have a well deserved 2 week break 3C and I shall see you all Monday 17th April. Please continue to read and learning your Timestable at home.

Spring 2 hasn't been that long but we have been ever so impressed with the pupil's efforts.

In English we have enjoyed reading Varjak Paw and thrust ourselves in to the world of cats. The pupils have covered many genres  including a short narrative and a biography. The children really enjoyed thinking deeper about the text to create our own short narrative. We will be continuing to read Varjak Paw after the holidays before moving on to another great book!

In Maths, the children have been looking more closely at fractions and measure. They have worked on equivalents, non and unit fractions and began looking at mass. We have also kept up our work on timetables and lots of the pupils have improved their scores which is just fantastic.

During our Plants topic, the children have learnt about seed dispersal and the requirements needed for a plant to survive. We looked at the functions of a plant and how water is transported from the roots to the rest of the plant.

We have just completed our Tennis lessons in PE and not long started our athletics lessons in preparation for Sports day. The children have developed forehand and backhand shops whilst trying to concentrate on control and the amount of power required,

As part of our Egyptian topics, the children have learnt how to write their names in hieroglyphics. We have also learnt about mummification and how the afterlife was so important to that civilization. In 3G, we have mummified a tomato and we will see what has happened to it at the end of the academic year. Not to forget Professor McGinty will be returning later in the year to wow the children with some more fantastic information about the Egyptians

Please enjoy your time off, whatever your doing! Don't forget to keep reading and working on those timetables.

2 terms down, only 1 to go!

In Maths, we have been looking at fractions. We have focussed on equivalent fractions using bar models and number lines. We have also started looking at mass and capacity.

In English, we have been reading Varjak Paw and we have also celebrated world poetry day. The children created their own version of a poem that was written by our own Mr Gunter. They were able to create their own stanzas using rhyming couplets.

In Science, we have been looking at plants and have been able to identify the functions of different parts of a plant. We have conducted investigations to find out more about how plants transport nutrients up the stem.

In History, we have continued learning about the Ancient Egyptians. We have explored the lives of Egyptian people and looked at the importance of their achievements such as the pyramids and their belief systems.

In PE, we have been practising tennis skills. The children have been able to demonstrate accurate grip and stances. They have enjoyed playing games and having competitions.

In Computing, we have been exploring programming skills for our scratch topic. The children have been able to animate a sprite, add a background and debug any errors.

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and encourage them to use TTRS when practising their times tables - also ask them what songs they have been learning to help encourage this. 

Also please check when forest school dates are and make sure children come in in appropriate clothing – these will be changing after Easter.

Have a lovely holiday over Easter!

We are really pleased to welcome back our pupils after the half-term holiday. We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2. 

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. 

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘School noticeboard’ area on the school website here.

This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres, including writing a balanced argument, newspaper report and a narrative 

• Use a range of sentence types and openers 

• Develop our understanding of tense 

• Focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters

• Continue developing their: retrieval, vocabulary and inference skills 

• Phonics – children will look at alternative sounds as part of the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme 

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills and apply these sounds into their spellings and writing 

• Phonics- children will apply these sounds into their spellings and writing 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. 

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value before focusing fractions. We will be learning about:

• Understand the denominators of unit and non-unit fractions

• Compare and order unit and non-fractions fractions.

• Count in fractions on a number line

• Equivalent fractions on a number line

• Equivalent fractions as bar models

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term. 

Science

Our Science topic is Plants.  We will be learning about:

• Identifying and describing the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers

• Exploring the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and space) and how they vary from plant to plant

• Investigating the way in which water is transported within plants

• Exploring the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal

Foundation Curriculum

Our Foundation Curriculum topic this term is: History - Ancient Egyptians (continued) and Art - Gores.  We will be learning about:

• Comparing periods of history with our life today – History 

• Evaluating the usefulness of different sources – History 

• Collecting images and information independently in a sketchbook – Art 

• Using different media to achieve variations in line, texture, tone, colour shape and pattern - Art 

Computing

This term we will be learning about:

• Algorithms and debugging in Scratch

• How to control a Sprite and create a background.

P.E./Sports: Tennis and Athletics

On the days of P.E. lessons or after school sports clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E.

The children will be focusing on equality and protection, pilgrimage to Amritsar, charity work (sewa) and Vaisakhi in Sikhism.

P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about being healthy.

• To understand the importance of being fit and healthy.

• To understand how to make a healthy choice.

• To identify the people and places I need to keep safe from.

• To appreciate what my body does for me.

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Spring 2 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Parents Evening

If you haven't booked an appointment already, we would like to invite you to attend our Parents Evenings, taking place on the following dates:

• Wednesday 8th March 3.40pm - 6.50pm

• Thursday 9th March 3.40pm - 5.30pm

Click here for further information and to book.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

I can’t believe we are half way through the year 3A!  What a term it has been! I have been really impressed with how you have embedded our school values into your learning and this has shown in the progress you have made.  

In Maths, we revised three of our four operations before moving onto division. We looked at grouping, sharing, dividing using the number line. We found division quite challenging, but we showed super resilience and never gave up. We then moved onto length and perimeter and enjoyed learning about metres, centimetres, and millimetres.  

In English, we started our new class text: Hetty Feather. We have really enjoyed reading this narrative so far as it linked in with our Victorians topic. We have written some amazing pieces, including diary entries and recounts. In our Reading lessons, we have clarified challenging vocabulary, summarised what has happened and even predicted what might happen next. We have also focused on the skills of retrieval, vocabulary and inference.  

In Science, we have been learning about animals, including humans. We identified that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat. We also identified that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement. 

For topic we completed our Art unit on William Morris and made our own wallpapers. We then moved onto our D&T focus, Levers and Linkages, and made our own lever mechanism in a book. We had so much fun as we got to design our book, experiment with the different types of levers and then create our final product. We are now looking at the Ancient Egyptians and we even looked at some artefacts, learnt about the Nile River and Rosetta Stone.  

I am so pleased with your effort and behaviour 3A! I am really excited to see what spring 2 brings. I hope you all have a well-deserved break.  

Over and out, Mr Ahmed.

Where has this term gone, I cannot believe a half a year has gone already with 3C. All children have worked really hard this term.

At the start of the term in English, the children focused their English writing on the class text called Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson. We looked at feelings of characters and used this to help write a character description and a diary entry. For the passed three week, we have been looking at poetry. The children have had the opportunity to write their own poems.

In Maths, the children continued working on Multiplication and Division skills. The children used the part whole model (partitioning) to help work out 2-digits multiplied by 1-digit and 2-digits divided by 1-digit. We have now moved on to our measurement (length and perimeter) topic, where the children have been measuring lengths in metres, centimetres and millimetres. 

As part of our Animals Including Humans topic in Science, the children have been understanding the diets of humans and animals and the skeletons of a human and different animals. The children enjoyed being paleontologists and working out which animals the skulls belonged to. They also looked at how the muscles in our upper arms work.

In our Foundation Curriculum topic, the children have been studying History in Ancient Egyptians. The children have understood the importance of the River Nile and the lifestyle of children and adults in the Egyptian period. We will be continuing with this topic in the next half term. It was great to see all the parents at our History workshop.

The children have been learning new skills on PowerPoint in our Computing lessons. The children can change the background, insert a hyperlink and insert an audio.

The two topics the children focused on P.E. this term are Handball and Hockey. 

Have a well deserved break 3C.

Spring has just flown by and taken us to the half ways stage We have had been very fortunate to win so many certificates this term and even collected the attendance trophy for Autumn 2 which we were very happy about!

In Maths this term we have recapped on multiplication methods to make sure that we are secure and even progressed on to division and fractions. We have also focused our learning on length and perimeter which was most enjoyable.

In English we have focused on a new text called ‘Hetty Feather’. It is a very emotive text and we have based a lot of our writing and reading activities upon it. We have also looked at possessive apostrophes, conjunctions and prepositions too! Our reading is improving and many of the children in 3G are getting their 50 nights challenge reward.

In foundation we have started to look at the Egyptians, focusing on the civilisation and the importance's during that time, timelines and particular traditions. We are really looking forward to the visit from Professor McGinty!

In Science we have started to learn about animals including humans. We have looked at the human body and even created a human skeleton using Aiden and we even created moving skeletons using split pins.

In PE this term we have focused on hockey and handball. We have improved dribbling, passing and turns in hockey. We really enjoyed playing the games at the end of the topic especially in handball as 3G became very competitive

We are really looking forward to the next term even though it is shorter. 

Adios mi amigos, take care,

Mr. G

We're half way through Year 3!

In Maths, we have been looking at length and measuring, we have been able to convert between mm, cm and m! We have been also been practising our 3, 4 and 8 times table. The children love to play times table rock stars and use songs to help with their practising.

In English, we have been reading Hetty Feather by Jaqueline Wilson and we have looked at a couple of poems too. The children have written recounts and poems - these were brilliant. They have also made terrific progress with their handwriting and presentation.

In Science, we have been looking at 'animals including humans' where were learnt about animals diets and also our skeletons and muscles.

In History, we have discovered some fascinating facts about the Ancient Egyptians - we have learnt about their achievements and the Egyptian civilization that settled next to the River Nile..

In PE, we have been playing handball and hockey. As a class we have been playing team games and have encouraged each other to be more determined when working as a team.

In Computing, we have covered basic skills of creating a power point - we have been able to add hyperlinks and audio to make them more interesting.

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and encourage them to use TTRS when practising their times tables - also ask them what songs they have been learning to help encourage this. Also please check when forest school dates are and make sure children come in in appropriate clothing.

Rest up and enjoy the week!

We hope you have had a wonderful festive holiday and are really pleased to welcome you back. As always, we thank you for your continued support. Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.  

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘School noticeboard’ area on the school website. 

This half term we will be learning about: 

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas: 

• Phonics – children will look at new spelling rules, including the plural form and further homophones.   

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills daily through synthesis and segmentation and the recap of different phases 

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres  

• Use a range of sentence types and openers  

• Develop our understanding of figurative language, including similes and metaphors  

• Focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling)  

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters 

• Continue developing their retrieval and vocabulary skills  

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed.  

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value, addition and subtraction before focusing more multiplication and division.  We will be learning about: 

• Multiplying 2-digit numbers by 1-digit number with and without exchange

• Use arrays and visual diagrams to support our learning of multiplication   

• Use concrete apparatus to help us with the grid method before applying the skills independently  

• Introduce division by grouping and sharing  

• Solve division problems with additive chunking   

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term.  

Science

Our Science topic is Animals, including humans. We will be learning about: 

• Identifying that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition 

• Knowing that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat.  

• Identifying that humans and some animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement. 

Foundation Curriculum

Our Foundation Curriculum topics this term are: William Morris - Art (continued from last term), Levers and Linkages – D&T and Egypt - History. We will be learning about: 

• Experimenting with a range of mediums: pencil, paint and pastels  

• Practising different features of his art in their sketch books  

• Using what the children have learnt to create their final artistic piece  

• The history of Egypt  

• The process of mummification 

• How the Egyptians communicated through hieroglyphics  

• Looking at a range of existing products that use different levers  

• Designing, creating and evaluating a product with a lever  

Computing

This term we will be learning about:

• We will recap our leaning on PowerPoint and create a presentation.  

Children will learn how to use the basic functions of PowerPoint, including adding texts, pictures, backgrounds and word art. They will then add animations and sounds.  

PE/Sports: Handball and Hockey 

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E. 

We will be learning about being fair, just, loyal and steadfast - linking it to Islam and Sikhism.  

In addition, we will be learning about the Chinese New Year and focus on dream and goals in our PSHE lessons. Our half termly UNICEF Article will be Article 4. We will be learning about the benefits of migration and focus on famous British people who migrated from other places. 

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Spring 1 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Thank you for your continued support.  

Year 3 Team 

What a remarkable end to the term 3A! You have worked extremely hard during this term and have shown such resilience and determination. You should all be proud of your achievements so far. 

The progress you have made during this Autumn term is wonderful to witness and you must keep it up now. You have received numerous stickers for our class sticker charter from other teachers, because you have been trying your best and working as a team.  

In Maths, we have been introduced to new methods, including column addition and subtraction and even the grid method. We have found these new methods a challenge at first, however we strived forward and had a go. We applied the method to word problems and even some reasoning questions. We recapped place value and will continue to look at multiplication and then move onto division.

In English, we started our new class text: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We have really enjoyed reading this text so far and wrote some amazing pieces, including an evening bulletin, setting description and a diary entry.  We have applied a range of skills in our lessons and will continue to do so throughout the year.  

In Science, we have been learning about forces and magnets. We have learnt lots of interesting facts about the forces around us, including friction and gravity. We investigated magnetic attraction and repulsion and have worked scientifically to plan lots of fun investigations.  

For our history topic we have learnt all about the Victorians through secondary resources and actual artefacts from the past. 3A absolutely loved the trip to Black Country Museum and we learnt about how live was like during the Victoria era, we found out how schools have changed over time, compared the lives of rich and poor Victorians, and even found out interesting facts about inventions during that period.  

Outstanding work and behaviour 3A! You have continued to impress me with your hard work, and I have enjoyed watching you all blossom. I hope you all have a great festive holiday and 

I look forward to seeing you in January.  

Take care,  Mr Ahmed

I am really proud of how hard the children have worked this half term. 

In English, the children have continued with their writing pieces based on Charlie on the Chocolate Factory. They have written a diary entry and speech conversation between Grandpa Joe and Charlie. The children have even designed their own chocolate bar, they came up fantastic ideas. We have looked at non-fiction texts in our reading skills session still focusing on retrieval and vocabulary. 

The children have been focusing on multiplication and division this term. We have looked at 3, 4 and 8 times-tables. Each lesson has been broken down in steps in order for the children to access each skill more easily. The children have used counters and base 10 manipulatives to understand sharing and grouping.

In Science, the children have been exploring Forces and Magnet. We have done a lot of comparative testing’s of magnets where the children looked at which materials are magnetic and non-magnetic. The children also looked at which material friction worked best on. 

The children have really enjoyed their History topic in Foundation Curriculum. We have looked at the Victorians. The children learnt many facts about schooling, childhood, adulthood and the industrial revolution in the Victorian topic. The children really enjoyed their trip to the Black Country Museum and were able to relay their knowledge to the staff at the museum. 

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Tri Golf and Dance. The children learnt how to hold a putter and chipper correctly and were able to hit the ball accurately. 

We have now completed our Word processing in Computing. The children have learnt many skills such as changing font size and colour, adding bullet points and copying and pasting a picture from google. 

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and help them to learn their times tables.

Have a nice Christmas 3C and I shall see you on Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Goodbye 2022 and welcome 2023! What a long term it has been!

We have firmly settled in to the groove in Year 3 and feel well at home. The children have made great starts to their journey through KS2 and are ready for more in 2023.

In English we have focused on a range of texts and predominantly looked at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We have used it to develop our reading skills, created diary entries, and developed our knowledge of direct speech, amongst other things too! We have really enjoyed reading this classic by Roald Dahl and it has made our English lessons so much more fun. 

During Maths we have begun to focus on using different methods to understand more complex problems. We have looked at methods for nearly all four operations and looked at them more in depth to broaden our knowledge surrounding the four operations. We have had a big push on our time tables and we are becoming better, faster and stronger!

In History we enjoyed learning about the Victorians and even had the chance to go to the Black Country Museum and even received a visit from a fully-fledged Quaker. We have looked at artefacts that dated from the Victorian era and surmised what they could have been used for, became detectives and looked at pictures from the past, compared life to our own and what life was like for the different classes. Finally to end our topic we moved on to art and learnt about the art developed by William Morris. We have even learnt how to create prints just like William Morris!

Science has been fantastic and we've shown a good understanding of magnets and forces. We have planned and performed experiments, made predictions about what may happen using our knowledge and logic and even evaluated why such things happen. In PE we really enjoyed doing dance and thoroughly enjoyed tri-golf with some outstanding performances.

Mr G and 3G wish a happy holidays and if you are celebrating, a Merry Xmas too! Make sure you take care whatever you are doing, have a nice beak and have a lovely time with your families over the holiday!

P.S. Don't forget that lots of reading and timetables work will really help!

Take care Mr G and 3G!

It has been a great end to the first term in 3M!

In Maths, we have focused on the four operations, especially multiplication. We have been learning our 3, 4 and 8 times table. The children love to play times table rock stars and are have made tremendous progress when practising.

In English, we have read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The children have written diary entries and setting descriptions - these were fantastic. They have also focused on some key skills - handwriting, spelling and punctuation.

In Science, we have been experimenting with forces and magnets, the children are able to seek patterns and to observe experiments.

In History, we have covered the Victorians - which I have loved teaching them! They are very curious and ask lots of great questions to develop their enquiry skills. They have used a range of primary and secondary sources to compare life in Victorian Bournville to now.

In PE, we have been dancing our hearts out, learning some key skills of keeping to a beat and sharpening our moves as well as dancing in unison and performing in small groups.

In Computing, we have covered basic skills of word processing and began looking at algorithms and how they are used.

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and encourage them to use TTRS when practising their times tables. Also please check when forest school dates are and make sure children come in in appropriate clothing.

Have a great holiday and Merry Christmas!

We are really pleased to welcome back our pupils after the half-term holiday. We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2. 

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. 

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘School noticeboard’ area on the school website.

This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Phonics – children will continue to look at suffixes/prefixes and new spelling rules, including ly, ment and ness 

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills daily through synthesis and segmentation and the recap of different phases

• Sentence types, including questions and exclamation sentences 

• Use of basic punctuation , . ! ? “

• Using descriptive language, such as: expanded noun phrases and use of the five senses 

• Word classes e.g. nouns, adjectives and verbs and identifying them in a sentence 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters

• Developing their retrieval and vocabulary skills 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. 

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on addition and subtraction before moving onto multiplication and division. We will be learning about:

• Learning the multiples of 2, 5 and 10.

• Sharing and grouping 

• Multiply and divide by 3, 4 and 8 

• Mental and written methods for multiplication and division, including introducing grid method through concrete apparatus.

• Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. 

Science

Our Science topic is Forces and Magnets. We will be learning about:

• Compare how things move on different surfaces

• Notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance

• Observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others

• Compare and grouping together a variety of everyday materials 

• Describe magnets as having two poles

• Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing

Foundation Curriculum

Our Foundation Curriculum topics this term are: Victorians and the artist William Morris. We will be learning about:

• The past through artefacts 

• The life of a Victorian 

• Looking at the period and comparing it to others 

• Researching the life of William Morris and looking at his works

• Experimenting with a range of mediums: pencil, paint and pastels 

• Practising different features of his art in their sketch books 

• Using what the children have learnt to create their final artistic piece 

Computing

This term we will be learning about word processing and how to stay safe online.

• We will learn how to change font styles, colour and size

• We will learn insert numbering and bullet points

• We will learn how to highlight pieces of text

• Children will learn how to keep their personal information private. 

• They will understand who they can trust and what to do if they have a problem online.

PE/Sports: Tri Golf and Dance

On the days of P.E. lessons or Sports Clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit or clothing appropriate for P.E. instead of their school uniform. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so school sweatshirts/cardigans should be worn over P.E. t-shirts. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too.  

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson. This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered. Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

P.E. Kit reminder

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils in Years 1-6 should come to school in their P.E. kit.

Indoor and outdoor P.E. lessons (during warm weather):

• Plain white t-shirt.

• Plain black/grey shorts (or leggings if required).

• Black pumps/plimsoles (slip-on or velcro) or appropriate trainers (suitable for sport, not fashion trainers).

Outdoor P.E. lessons (during cold weather):

• Plain white t-shirt.

• Plain black/grey tracksuit bottoms (normal fit, not 'flared') or leggings.

• School sweatshirts/cardigans to be worn over P.E. t-shirt.

The following items are not appropriate:

• Football (or other sports) kits or tops.

• Hoodies or non-school sweatshirts.

• Coloured t-shirts or t-shirts with slogans or pictures on.

• Coloured shorts or shorts with patterns or pictures on.

ALL P.E. KIT MUST BE LABELLED WITH YOUR CHILD'S NAME AND CLASS

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about creating unity and harmony - linking it to Islam and Christianity. 

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Autumn 2 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Christmas Fayre

Yardley Fundraisers (our PTFA) are pleased to announce that our Christmas Fayre will return this year!  It will take place on Friday 2nd December 2022, 4.30pm-7.00pm.

Please visit our Christmas Fayre page here for full details of the event, including:

• Details of what to expect at our fayre

• Details of our ‘Bring a Donation’ non-uniform day

• Raffle and tombola donations

• Information for people interested in having a stall

Year 3 will be there with a stall, we hope to see you there too!

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

Can't believe the first term is already over! It's been a long term but we have had so much fun in 3A already.

It's been tough making the transition from Year 2 to Year 3 but we are all progressing very well. We’ve had weeks packed full of exciting, interesting and new lessons which have tested us mentally and developed our knowledge. Also we have recapped on basic skills to ensure we have the foundations to make the next steps in Year 3.

We've looked at a range of topics in English such as: sentence types, expanded noun phrases, word classes and comprehension amongst other things too. Some of the progress has been fantastic and we need to now continue to focus on our handwriting skills and read as much as possible. 

During Maths we have consolidated and then developed our place value knowledge. We've continued our learning from Year 2 while using new methods for addition and looked at different representations in place value. We've used concrete apparatus, pictorial methods and represented numbers in different ways. We have even moved on to three-digit numbers which 3A aced.

In Art we enjoyed learning about art and in particular portraits, where we looked at different styles and created our own abstract art! We then moved on to our second topic which is ‘Our local area’. We have begun to look at maps and make comparisons based on different periods of time, and even took a trip around Yardley looking at human and physical features. Children enjoyed visiting their local area. 

Science has been fantastic and we've shown a good understanding of rocks and soils. Focusing on their properties and performing tests to assess their properties. We've conducted experiments, evaluated the results and thought about scientific problems using a scientific approach.

We all can't wait to get back after the holiday and produce some more fantastic work! We all wish everyone a safe holiday and...

P.S. Don't forget that lots of reading and time tables work will really help!

Take care and rest Mr Ahmed and 3A!

It has been an incredible first half term to the academic year. 

In English, the children have focused on basic grammar skills to help with writing for Autumn 2. This term we have looked at verbs and imperative verbs to support our writing of instructions. The children have also recapped on nouns and expanded noun phrases to aid them in writing a setting description. In reading skills, the children have started to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which will continue after the holidays. 

We have recapped skills based on place value. The children have been able to partition numbers to understand the value of each digit which has supported them in column addition and subtraction. The children have really enjoyed using base 10 and counters to help with their understanding of regrouping and exchanging. 

In Science, the children have been exploring Rocks and Soils. We have done a lot of comparative testing’s of rocks where the children looked at which rocks are permeable and impermeable. The children also looked at how to separate soils and see the layers. 

The children have really enjoyed their Geography topic in Foundation Curriculum. We have looked at features of Our Local Area. The children picked out human and physical features of the area and used maps and atlases to explore the oceans and continents. The children took a walk down Church Road to look at how land has been used over time. 

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Gymnastics. The children learnt different rolls, jumps and balance and then used these skills to create a routine. 

We have now completed our Digital Safety topic in Computing. The children have learnt how to stay safe online and who we can trust. 

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and help them to learn their times tables.

Have a nice one week holiday 3C and I shall see you on Monday 31st October.

What a great start to the year it has been! It's definitely flown by!

It's been a great transition so far from Year 2 to Year 3.. We’ve had weeks packed full of exciting, interesting and new lessons which have tested us mentally and developed our knowledge. 

We've looked at a range of topics in English such as: word classes, expanded noun phrases, determiners and conjunctions amongst other things too. 3G are earning many presentation stickers  and the effort is clear to be seen.

During Maths we have consolidated and then developed our place value knowledge. We've continued our learning from Year 2 while using new methods for addition and looked at different representations in place value. We've used concrete apparatus, pictorial methods and represented numbers in different ways. We have deepened our thinking with a range of questions to support our learning.

In Art we enjoyed learning about portraits, where we looked at different styles and created our own abstract art! We then moved on to our second topic which is ‘Our local area’. We have begun to look at maps and make comparisons based on different periods of time, and even took a trip around Yardley looking at human and physical features.

Science has been fantastic and we've shown a good understanding of rocks and soils. Focusing on their properties and performing tests to assess their properties. We've conducted experiments, evaluated the results and thought about scientific problems using a scientific approach.

It has been a great start and long may it continue!

 P.S. Don't forget that lots of reading and time tables work will really help!

Take care Mr G.

It's been a great start to the year in 3M, everyone has settled in so well. 

In Maths, we have been focusing on place value. The children have made a fantastic start with this topic and have demonstrated a great understanding of what has been covered. We have also started looking at addition and subtraction.

In English, we have been reading 'HodgeHeg' and we have just started 'Charlie and the Chocolate factory'. The children have worked hard on their sentences and have created some fantastic setting descriptions.

In Science, we have been learning about sound and how we hear. They have shown great interest in finding out more about how sound waves are made.

In Art, we were able to create self portraits in the style of Picasso. And in Geography, we have been looking at 'Our Local Area' and we have been comparing the geographical and environmental issues. 

The children have worked hard in P.E., first we worked on our teambuilding skills - this helped us understand one of the schools main values #teamwork. We have also completed our gymnastics topic - learning different balances, jumps and rolls.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store!

All the best!

We are really pleased to welcome back our pupils after the 6 weeks holiday. Year 3 is important for children as it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2.   We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.   If you have any questions related to the reopening of school, please see the ‘Noticeboard’ area on the school website.

This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Phonics – children will reviewing their phonic knowledge

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills daily 

• Sentence structures and types 

• Use of basic punctuation , . ! ? “

• Using descriptive language/expanded noun phrases 

• Word classes e.g. nouns, adjectives and adverbs

• Handwriting — correct letter formation 

Reading planners will have been issued to each child. Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning.

Maths

We will begin by looking at number and place value. We will be learning about:

• Reading and writing numbers in digits and words 

• Place value and identifying the digits in a 3 digit number 

• Sequencing and ordering numbers 

• Mental and written methods for addition and subtraction, including introducing the column method 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. 

Science

Our first Science topic is Rocks, fossils and soils. We will be learning about:

• How fossils are made 

• How soils are made 

• Looking at the properties of different rocks and investigating them 

• Classifying and testing permeability and durability

Foundation

Geography - Our local area

• How Yardley has changed over time 

• Looking at OS map symbols 

• Physical and human features in Yardley and Birmingham

• Looking at the different types of houses 

Art - Portraits

• Experimenting with a range of mediums: pencil, paint and pastels 

• Looking at the works of artists: Van Gogh, Picasso and Di Vinci  

• Practising different features of faces e.g. - eyes, mouth in sketch books

• Using what the children have learnt to create a self-portrait in their chosen style – realistic or abstract     

Computing

This term we will be learning about Digital safety. We will begin by completing computer safety agreements. Children will learn about posting online and the how to be responsible. They will become more familiar with when to talk to someone if you have a problem online.

P.E./Sports: Team building and Gymnastics

On the days of P.E. lessons or Sports Clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit instead of their school uniform. Children should wear black/grey shorts (or leggings if required) with a plain, white t-shirt. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so school sweatshirts/cardigans should be worn over P.E. t-shirts. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about sharing and being generous - linking it to Islam and Christianity. We will also be looking at the festival of Harvest. 

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Autumn 1 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

I cannot believe it is the end of academic year already. It has been an amazing year with 3C. I am so proud of all the achievements, progression and success stories this year. It has been wonderful to get back to teaching a class for a whole year and I am glad I have got the opportunity to spend that time with 3C.

In English we have written in different styles, creating narratives, diary entries and even play-scripts. Some of the sentences and vocabulary used has been wonderful to see. In reading we have focused a lot on improving our inference skills and using evidence from the text to support our answers. The children have really enjoyed reading Beaver Towers as part of our class text and Diary of a Wimpy Kid as part of our Yardley Loves Reading time.  

In Maths we have worked ever so hard on looking at the different areas of measure, fractions, angles, money and statistics. We have learned more complex methods of arithmetic too. I have been so impressed with how 3C has improved their knowledge of timetables. The children have work really hard on reading the time. They have looked at telling the time to 5 minute intervals and even 1 minute intervals. 

In Art we have had lots of fun learning about an artist called Derek Gores and we had a go at creating our very own piece of art based upon animals. Some of the work created was mind blowing! We really got involved and created our own versions of a range of animals. We finally moved on to our D&T topic about pneumatics. In this topic we have investigated pneumatics, recreated them and made some of our own functional products with a working mechanism. The children also learnt how to cut fruit and vegetables correctly and made a cheese salad wraps in Food Technology. 

In PE, the children worked really well on the teamwork skills for their teambuilding and rounders topic. For rounders, the children learnt how to throw and catch a ball and also learnt to make contact with a ball using a rounders bat. 

3C have been a real pleasure to teach and I am going to miss them very much. I wish them all the luck for Year 4 and I shall see you on the playground during tuck. 

Have a well-deserved holiday and keep safe.

Take care.

How has the year gone so fast? It has been a whirlwind of a year but every moment spent together has been fantastic. I am so proud of all the achievements, progression and success stories this year. It has been wonderful to get back to teaching a class for a whole year and I am glad I have got the opportunity to spend that time with 3G.

In English we have written in different styles, creating narratives, diary entries and even play-scripts. Some of the sentences and vocabulary used has been wonderful to see. In reading we have focused a lot on improving our reading skills, not only our recognition of words but diving deeper and answering questions too. 

In Maths we have worked ever so hard on looking at the different areas of measure, fractions, angles, money and statistics. We have learned more complex methods of arithmetic too. I have been so impressed with how 3G has improved their knowledge of timetables. Finally we also really enjoyed Money day this year.

In Art we have had lots of fun learning about an artist called Derek Gores and we had a go at creating our very own piece of art based upon animals. Some of the work created was mind blowing! We really got involved and created our own versions of a range of animals. We finally moved on to our D&T topic about pneumatics. In this topic we have investigated pneumatics, recreated them and made some of our own functional products with a working mechanism.

In PSHE we have ascertained what dreams and goals we have, thinking about what we would like to achieve next year. In PE with learning about rounders and athletics. I have been super impressed over the last few terms at the application of techniques within PE lessons.

As every year is, it will be really hard for me to see you move on as I have enjoyed every moment with you all. I look forward to seeing you move on to Year 4 and flourishing as you have already done this year.

With a heavy heart, all the best,

Mr G.

What a year we have had! I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to get to know and teach each of the children in 3O this year.

We have covered a range of areas in maths this half term such as angles, money and statistics. It has been great to see the children applying their previous knowledge to some tougher questions and consolidating their arithmetic skills. I have been impressed with the children’s knowledge of statistics and analysing data from graphs. They have shown determination this half term to improve their times table knowledge.

In English we have learnt and used a range of different writing styles including, diary entries, play scripts and narratives. I have seen the children explore different vocabulary and use different sentence types to engage the reader. The children should be very proud of the fantasy stories they have created, they worked incredibly hard on them. We have read books such as Stitch Head and Beaver Towers this half term which the children have enjoyed. They have shown their competency in reading this half term by developing their retrieval and inference skills even further. 

We have been very busy in PE this half term, learning the skills needed to play rounders as well as working on our team building skills to work together. The children have shown great respect during PSHE lessons where we have discussed our dreams and goals for the future. 

There have been some fun topics this half term. 

In D&T we learnt what pneumatics are and even created some of our own monsters that used the pneumatics we had learnt about. The children put a lot of time into designing their product and used their teamwork skills to build their monsters with a partner. In Art we have been looking at the work of Derek Gores. It was great to see the children get creative when recreating his work with animals of their choice. 

I am so immensely proud of each and every member of 3O. It has been an absolute pleasure to teach you all. It is always hard to leave a class but I know you will all be amazing next year. 

Wishing you all the very best, 

Miss O.

What a fantastic year we have had in Year 3! I am so proud of every single one of you and it is truly amazing to see how far you have all come. Your behaviour and positive attitude has really shone this year and you have shown super resilience at all times. Your determination and enthusiasm will be missed and I hope you take these characteristics with you to your next class as you will continue to flourish. 

In Maths, we have been looking at a range of different skills and getting even better at them. We have really enjoyed developing our understanding of word problems and using our understanding of the 4 operations to solve them. We have all tried really hard to learn our times tables and can’t wait to impress Miss Fielding.

This half term in English, we have been using all of our different skills to carry out a range of tasks. Our favourite was when we watched a short animation clip called ‘Something Fishy’. We were challenged to write a narrative based on the clip and they were brilliant to read. I was so impressed with the quality of writing and how much effort you have put in. It was important we included a range of emotions and considered how the character might feel. 

In Science, we have developed our working scientifically skills. We carried out a number of investigations, including: testing for cohesion and surface tension and effects of exercise on our heart rate. We made sensible predictions, clear observations and interpreted our results. 

In our Foundation curriculum, we made our Moving Monsters using pneumatics. We were able to design, make and then evaluate our products. Finally, we made a healthy snack as part of our food topic. We had so much fun this year. 

Well done 3S! You have had a great year and I have enjoyed working with you all. I hope you all have a great summer holiday and I look forward to seeing you in Year 4. Keep up the amazing and hard work and as I always say – SMASH IT!

Over and out, Mr Shah!

The Year 3 staff would like to say a massive thank you for your continued support. We are nearly at the end of the year and we really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘School noticeboard’ area here on the school website.

This half term we will be learning about:

English:

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Phonics – children will continue to look at alternative sounds as part of the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme 

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills and apply these sounds into their spellings and writing 

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres, including writing a play script, a narrative, character description and a setting description 

• Check our writing for cohesion by editing regularly  

• Continue to focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) 

• Finishing our class text: Stitch Head and then starting our new text: Beaver Towers 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters

• Continue developing their: retrieval, vocabulary and inference skills 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. This can contribute towards the ’50 Nights of Reading’ challenge. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. 

Maths:

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value.  We will then revise our skills taught this year. 

We will be learning about:

• Reading and telling the time to the nearest hour, half past and minute intervals 

• Drawing the time to the nearest hour, half past and minute intervals 

• Recapping our knowledge of shape, including their properties and angles 

• Developing our reasoning and problem solving skills  

• Recapping our knowledge of measure, including: calculating perimeter, understanding mass, length and volume/capacity 

• Interpreting a range of charts, including: bar, pictograms and tally charts 

• Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term. 

Science:

We will be focusing on working scientifically.  We will: 

• Set up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests

• Make careful observations and, where appropriate, take accurate measurements using a range of equipment

• Gather, record, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions

• Use results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions

YPC:

Our YPC topics this term are: Pneumatics and Food. 

We will be learning about:

• How simple pneumatic mechanisms work

• The purpose of pneumatics 

• Constructing our own functional pneumatic with a range of resources 

• Food safety and the use of equipment 

• Designing, making and evaluating a product based on a design  

• Generating and classifying ideas 

Computing:

This term we will be learning about Digital Creativity and Digital Wellbeing. 

• We will design our own musical sequence using 2Sequence 

• We will see how well someone is able to anticipate difficulties through using technology, understand how they will make them feel, and find ways to deal with it.

PE/Sports: Rounders and Team building 

On the days of P.E. lessons or Sports Clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit or clothing appropriate for P.E. instead of their school uniform. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so a hoodie/jacket and joggers are recommended. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about being courageous, confident, being hopeful and visionary - linking it to different religions. We will also focus on changes that we may go through in life in our PSHE lessons. In our Citizenship lessons, we will focus on taking responsibility for our actions. 

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates.

The ‘Summer 2 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

A short half term, but it has been incredible half term.  

In English, the children finished reading Varjak Paw. They absolutely loved the plot and different writing genres that went along with this text such as writing a newspaper. We have started reading Stitch Head by Guy Bass and have focused on retrieval based questions from this text. 

We have recapped skills based on multiplication (grid method) and division (additive chunking). The children have focused on their 3, 4 and 8 times table to help with recalling multiplication facts. The children have also focused on fractions. We have looked at: adding and subtracting fractions, fractions of a number and equivalent fractions.

In Science, the children explored Light. The children used torches to see how light creates a shadow from an object. They looked at different sizes and shapes of an object. They also used a mirror to understand reflection. 

The children have really enjoyed their history topic in YPC. We explored Oceans, Rivers and Plastic. The children took a walk down to River Cole to look at the depth, width and speed of the river and they also got the chance to look at the pollution in and around the river. 

In PE, the children have learnt new skills in Cricket and Athletics. The children learnt how to hold a bat correctly, throw and catch a ball and fielding. In Athletics, they have learnt how to use javelin, discus and shot put. 

We have now completed our Scratch topic in Computing. The children have learnt how to add motions and controls for their sprite. 

Please continue to listen to your children read at home and help them to learn their times tables.

Have a nice one week holiday 3C and I shall see you on Monday 6th June for our last term together.

Summer 1 has, unbelievably, been and gone and we are fast approaching the end of the year! There was a short amount of time that Mr G was away but we worked hard and continued to do so when he was back!

In Maths this term we have recapped on arithmetic methods to make sure that we are secure and even progressed on to money and fractions. We have extended our learning based around the methods and become more efficient using them. 

In English we have finished reading Varjak Paw, which we loved, and focused on a new text called ‘Stitch Head’. It is a different genre of book but does have some similarities. We have based a lot of our writing and reading activities upon it. We have also looked at perfect present tenses, conjunctions and word classes too! In addition we have continued our phonic learning. It is helping us become better readers and spellers already.

In YPC we have to look at the Rivers, and even made a trip down to the River Cole to study its properties and features. We have now moved on to an artist study looking at the work of Derek Gores and when we get back from the holiday we shall create our very own images.

In Science we have finished off our learning about light and shadows. We are going to begin looking at a range of experiments testing our abilities to work scientifically.

In PE this term we have focused on cricket. We have improved bowling technique, batting, fielding and an overall understanding of the game. We really enjoyed playing the games at the end of the topic and have shown tons of progress!

We are really looking forward to getting back and progressing our learning in the final term. There will only be a few weeks left but we need to enjoy them while we still have them!

Adios, take care,

Mr. G and 3G

What a wonderful half term 3O have had!

We have recapped our knowledge of the four operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The children worked incredibly hard during their assessments. We used formal methods such as Column addition and subtraction, as well as additive chunking. Additionally, we have worked on our knowledge and understanding of fractions. The children have shown great positivity this half term.

In English, we finished off Varjak Paw and the children were so engaged and enjoyed the plot twist in the book. Recently we have started to read a new class text, Stitch Head, which the children are enjoying. We have created some fantastic newspaper reports about ‘the vanishings’ and the children really got into the role of reporters. We have focused on inference and retrieval skills during our reading lessons. 

We have enjoyed our science investigations around our topic, Light. It has been great to see the children getting involved and showing enthusiasm for science. They have investigated things such as properties of an object (transparent, translucent and opaque), shadows and reflections. 

In YPC we have been learning about Rivers Oceans and Plastics, seeing the importance of rivers across the world and comparing rivers in the UK. We learnt many things on our trip to the River Cole, including the effect of pollution on rivers. Children noted the amount of litter there is in our environment and thought of their own solutions to problems such as this. 

In PE we have learnt how to hold a bat correctly as well as the importance of fielders and the wicket keeper in Cricket. The children have shown great determination in Athletics, improving their throwing skills in javelin and shot put. The children are excited to continue Athletics after the half term. 

Have a great break. Look forward to seeing you for the final half term. 

Adios!

Miss O!

I can’t believe we are nearly at the end of the year and your time in 3S! You have continued to amaze me with your brilliance, determination and enthusiasm for your learning. I am really proud of every single one of you. We have earned some more rewards on you chart and we are nearly at 100. 

In Maths, we have started to revise our learning on areas we need to work on. We looked at division and multiplication again to secure our understanding of the Grid method and the Additive chunking method. We found it a challenge but never gave up. We even covered fractions, including: finding fractions of a number, adding and subtracting fractions and shading them. We enjoyed our learning on money too and used real coins to support our learning. 

In English, we have finished reading Varjak Paw and have started our new one text: Stitch Head. We really enjoyed basing some of our work on Varjak Paw and what a twist at the end of the book! We wrote some amazing pieces, including: a diary entry, postcard and a non-chronological report. We have also applied a range of skills in our lessons, including varying our sentence types and editing our writing to check for cohesion.

In Science, we have been learning about all things light. We learnt lots of interesting facts about how we need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light. We have carried out a number of investigations on: shadows, reflections and how we can protect our eyes from the sun using a range of materials. 

In Y.P.C, we finished our learning on our topic: Rivers, Oceans and Plastics. We investigated the Water Cycle and how we get our water. We then identified features of a river. We used a range of resources: maps, atlases, satellite images to compare different rivers in the U.K. We had a brilliant afternoon on our fieldwork study based on the River Cole. We got into the river and carried out a range of tasks. 

Super-duper work and positive behaviour 3S! You have continued to impress me with your hard work and I have enjoyed watching you all blossom. I hope you all have a well-deserved break and I look forward to seeing you soon. I can’t believe we will be in the final term. 

Over and out, Mr Shah!

The Year 3 staff would like to say a massive thank you for your continued support. We have approached the summer term in Year 3 and we really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly.  

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘School noticeboard’ area on the school website.

This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Phonics – children will continue to look at alternative sounds as part of the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme 

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills and apply these sounds into their spellings and writing 

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres, including writing a newspaper report, set of instructions, non – chronological report and a diary entry 

• Check our writing for cohesion by editing regularly  

• Develop understanding of direct and indirect speech

• Continue to focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) 

• Finishing our class text: Varjak Paw and then starting our new text: Stitch Head 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters

• Continue developing their: retrieval, vocabulary and inference skills 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practise at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. This can contribute towards the ’50 Nights of Reading’ challenge. Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. Please also visit our Virtual Library for books online. 

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value before focusing on statistics.  We will then revise our skills taught this year. 

We will be learning about:

• Interpreting a range of bar charts and then drawing our own 

• Interpreting a range of pictograms and then drawing our own 

• Interpreting a range of tally charts and then creating our own 

• Developing our reasoning and problem solving skills  

• Revising our written methods of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2. We would be extremely grateful for any practise that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term. 

Science

Our Science topic is Light. We will be learning about:

• Recognising that we need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light 

• How light is reflected from surfaces 

• Recognising that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect our eyes 

YPC

Our YPC topic this term is Rivers, Oceans and Plastics. We will be learning about:

• The features of a river 

• The Water cycle 

• How we get our water 

• Carrying out a river study based on the River Cole

• Identifying a range of rivers using maps and atlases 

• The effects of pollution on the world 

Computing

This term we will be learning about Computer Science using software called Scratch.

• We will design a setting for a game, including the background and maze 

• We will animate characters 

• We will add in different commands to set up the game 

PE/Sports: Cricket and Athletics

On the days of P.E. lessons or Sports Clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit or clothing appropriate for P.E. instead of their school uniform. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so a hoodie/jacket and joggers are recommended. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about honesty, how to make good decisions, and how to set a positive example for others - linking it to different religions. 

In addition, we will be learning about the importance of Eid and other celebrations.  We will also focus on dreams and goals in our PSHE lessons. In our Citizenship lessons, we will focus on taking responsibility for our actions. 

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates. 

The ‘Summer 1 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

I am really impressed with all the hard work 3G has put in this half term. 

3G have really enjoyed reading Hetty Feather and Varjak Paw in our English lessons. They have covered many genres for both texts including a short narrative and a biography. The children really enjoyed learning facts about the circus that related to their balanced argument for Hetty Feather. We will be continuing to read Varjak Paw after the holidays and continuing more writing pieces around this text. 

In Maths, the children have been looking more closely at time. They have worked on reading and writing time to the nearest 5 minutes and 1 minute. They are able to read analogue time correctly using the right vocabulary such as past and to the hour. Towards the end of this half term, the children have been interpreting data from range of different charts such as bar charts and pictograms.

During our Plants topic, the children have learnt about seed dispersal and the requirements needed for a plant to survive. As a class, we investigated whether taking away a variable (soil, sunlight, water, air and space) would make a different to the way a plant grew. The children were surprised by some results.

We have just completed our Basketball and Football lessons in PE. The children have learnt different passing skills to help when taking part in a game.

As part of our Egyptian topics, the children have learnt how to write their names in hieroglyphics. We have also learnt about mummification and how mummification would happen. In 3G, we have mummified a tomato and we will see what has happened to it at the end of the academic year. 

Have a well-deserved break 3G and I shall see you all on Monday 25th April 2022. 

I am so impressed with how hard 3O have worked this term. 

We have begun reading a new class text, Varjak Paw, in English. The book has inspired some great debates in class, including whether cats should be kept indoors. As ever, I am filled with pride to see how much the children enjoy listening to stories, reading and creating their own. I have been particularly impressed with the short narrative the children created based on our class text. We have been working hard on our inference skills during our reading lessons and the children have enjoyed inferring from a picture as well as beginning to infer from different texts. 

In Maths, we investigated perimeter and used a ruler to measure different lengths. We also used different units of measure to look at the weight of different objects. Additionally, we have been learning to tell time to the nearest minute. This is something we have struggled with but the children have shown incredible determination. 

Our Science topic has been all about plants. We have enjoyed our science investigations and learnt that investigations don’t always go the way we think they will. It has been great to see our sunflower seeds growing and develop our understanding of what plants need to grow and survive. 

In YPC we have been learning about the Ancient Egyptians and Pyramids. It has been intriguing to learn the importance of the river Nile to the growth and survival of people in Ancient Egypt. 

P.E has been just as exciting this term. The children have developed their dribbling and shooting skills for Football and Basketball. 

I hope you all take this break to have a good rest. Don’t forget to keep up with your reading and learning your times tables. I’m looking forward to seeing you very soon. 

Hasta luego,

Miss O!

It has been another amazing term! Can’t believe there is only one more term to go. 

In English this term, the children have enjoyed both class texts: Hetty Feather and Varkaj Paw. They have really showed enthusiasm whilst the book is being read to them and this has enhanced on their predicting and summarising skills. From both texts, the children have had the opportunities to plan and deliver a balanced argument about animals. 

The children have worked really hard on reading understanding time. We’ve looked at 5 minute and 1 minutes intervals along with past and to the hour. We have also looked at interpreting data from tables, tally’s, pictograms and bar charts. The children used many different practical equipment to help measure weight and mass.

In Science, the children explored investigated the requirements needed for a plant to grow in our Plants topic. The children were very surprised to see their sunflower growing in tissue paper. They also looked each part of a flowering plant and understood seed dispersal. 

In YPC, the children have been studying about Ancient Egypt. The have learnt many facts about the different Pharaohs and have had the opportunity to research facts about the River Nile. The children learnt about how and why mummification happens and as a class we have tried to mummify a tomato. The children will seen the results at the end of the next half term. 

In PE, the children have learnt new football and basketball skills. They have understood the importance of control and eye coordination as well as teamwork skills.

The children have really enjoyed their programming and debugging topic called 2DIY3D. The children have understand how to debug a game it is not working properly. They can continue with this topic at home via Purple Mash. 

In Forest School, the children have learnt how to make rafts for the River Nile and understood how materials were transported around Egypt.

In Spanish, the children have been introduced to colours and this will continue next term. 

Please continue to listen to your child read and help learn their times tables over the holidays. 

Have a good Easter break 3C and see you back on Monday 25th April 2022.

What an amazing end to the term! Your creativity has been seen immensely and your determination has really shone through. I am extremely proud of every single one of you as your progress this year is evident in your work and your positive attitude. You have earned 70 reward stickers due to your positive behaviour and let’s continue to earn more and try to reach 100. 

In Maths, we looked at measures, time and statistics. We really enjoyed our learning on measures as we used practical apparatus to gain an understanding of mass, length and volume. Our learning on time proved a challenge, however with our resilience, we were able to read and tell the time to different intervals. We used clocks to support our learning. We also enjoyed looking at different graphs, including bar charts and pictograms. 

In English, we completed our class text: Hetty Feather and started our new one: Varjak Paw. We really enjoyed reading Hetty Feather and wrote some amazing pieces, including an informal letter. We have applied a range of skills in our lessons, including developing our sentence structure and editing our writing to check for cohesion. 

In Science, we have been learning about plants. We learnt lots of interesting facts about how they transport water and what conditions they need in order to grow and survive. We also looked at a range of plants around the world and discussed their features. 

In Y.P.C, we completed our levers book and then evaluated our design. We have begun our new topic: Ancient Egyptians and have had lots of fun learning all about the past. We looked at the River Nile, trade, pyramids, hieroglyphics and will finish this topic after half term. We even had a visit from Professor McGinty. 

Super-duper work and behaviour 3S! You have continued to impress me with your hard work and I have enjoyed watching you all blossom. I hope you all have a well-deserved break and I look forward to seeing you soon. I can’t believe we will be in the summer term.  

Over and out, Mr Shah!

We are really pleased to welcome back our pupils after the half-term holiday.  We thank you for your continued support as Year 3 is a very important year for children because it provides the foundation for many of the skills they will learn throughout Key Stage 2. 

We really appreciate any parental support that can be given at home through helping your child with basic number skills (times tables, counting and number bonds) and hearing them read regularly. 

Any important messages and announcements will be displayed on the ‘Noticeboard’ area here on our school website.

This half term we will be learning about:

English

In our English lessons we will be working on the following areas:

• Phonics – children will look at alternative sounds as part of the ELS (Essential Letters and Sounds) programme 

• Phonics- children will continue to develop their sound recognition skills and apply these sounds into their spellings and writing 

• Apply their writing skills to a range of writing genres, including writing a balanced argument, newspaper report and a narrative 

• Use a range of sentence types and openers 

• Develop understanding of tense 

• Continue to focus on GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) 

• Handwriting — correct letter formation and sizing of letters

• Continue developing their: retrieval, vocabulary and inference skills 

Children should be undertaking regular reading practice at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning.  This can contribute towards the ’50 Nights of Reading’ challenge.  Reading planners will be monitored carefully to ensure that they are being completed. 

Maths

We will begin by recapping our learning on number and place value before focusing on shape and measures.  We will be learning about:

• Drawing 2-D shapes and making 3-D shapes using modelling materials 

• Recognising the properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes 

• Identifying horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular and parallel lines

• Identifying a range of angles, including right, acute and obtuse angles 

• Solve division problems with additive chunking  

• Measuring, comparing, adding and subtracting: lengths (m/cm/mm); mass (kg/g); volume/capacity (l/ml)

• Measuring the perimeter of simple 2-D shapes

• Adding and subtracting amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts

• Estimating and reading time with increasing accuracy 

Children are expected to know their 3, 4 and 8 times tables by the end of Year 3 and should already be fluent in their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from Year 2.  We would be extremely grateful for any practice that can be done at home too. We will be focusing on the 3 times table this term. 

Science

Our Science topic is Plants.  We will be learning about:

• Identifying and describing the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers

• Exploring the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and space) and how they vary from plant to plant

• Investigating the way in which water is transported within plants

• Exploring the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal

YPC

Our YPC topic this term is the Ancient Egyptians.  We will be learning about:

• The history of Egypt

• The process of mummification

• How the Egyptians communicated through hieroglyphics

• Comparing life of the Egyptians to the Victorian and present era

• The life of an Egyptian e.g. religion, work and home life

• The Geography of Egypt using maps

Computing

This term we will be learning about Computer Science using software called 2DIY3D.

• We will design a setting for a game 

• We will animate characters 

• We will create an information page to ensure the player knows the rules 

• We will debug a game 

PE/Sports

Football and Basketball.

On the days of P.E. lessons or Sports Clubs, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit or clothing appropriate for P.E. instead of their school uniform. Where possible, we will be conducting P.E. lessons outside so a hoodie/jacket and joggers are recommended. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

Please come to school in appropriate sportswear on your PE days. 

R.E./P.H.S.E.

We will be learning about remembering our roots and being loyal and steadfast - linking it to different religions. 

In addition, we will be learning about the importance of Lent and Easter.  We will also focus on keeping healthy in our PSHE lessons.  Our half termly UNICEF Article will be Article 29 - your education should help you to use and develop your talents and abilities.  It should also help you to learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.  

Work at Home

All classes are on Twitter so please do follow us for updates. 

The ‘Spring 2 Work At Home’ pack will be available to download here soon.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.

We also encourage the use of our Learning Hub as well as websites such as MyMaths and Times Table Rockstars.

Video Parents Evening

If you haven't booked an appointment already, we would like to invite you to attend our Video Parents Evenings, taking place on the following dates:

• Tuesday 15th March 3.40pm - 5.40pm

• Wednesday 16th March 3.40pm - 6.20pm

Visit our Video Parents Evening page here to find out more and to book. 

If you have already booked an appointment, please test that your device will work for your appointment.  Click here to see how to test your appointment.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Year 3 Team

I am really impressed with the work that all children have produced this term. They have worked very hard all term. 

In English, the children have started a new class book called Hetty Feather. They have focused on many different writing genres such as: writing a leaflet and comparing and contrasting characters. The children have also covered a range of reading skills to help build their understanding of a text. 

This term, we have focused on Fractions in Maths. Each skill has been broken down to aid with the children’s learning. We looked at adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominators, recognising, reading and writing fractions and working out fractions of a number. 

In Science, the children have enjoyed their Animals including Humans topic. The children had a closer look at how much sugar is in different types of foods and drinks. We also looked at how to have a balanced diet and the different types of bones in our body.

The children have really enjoyed their Design and Technology topic in YPC. We looked at different types of mechanisms in our Levers and Linkages topic. From this, the children were able to create a moving book. Their work was really impressive. 

In PE, the children have been learning skills in Hockey and Tennis. They understand the rules of the sport and really enjoyed taking part in both topics. 

Have a lovely break 3C and I shall see you on Monday 28th February. Please continue to read at home and learn your times tables.

Congratulations 3O, we have officially made it halfway through the school year. I have been amazed by the enthusiasm you have brought this half term, no doubt you will bring the same energy when we return.

We started our new class text, Hetty Feather, in English. 3O love reading and it has been great to read a story that links to our Victorians topic. We have been able to develop an understanding of the characters in our story and write short pieces from their point of view. Vocabulary and retrieval skills have been a big focus for us in our reading sessions and the children have been working so hard on this.

In Maths, we have recapped previous learning of the four operations, before moving onto division. To begin with, we found additive chunking a challenge however, we showed great determination. More recently, we have learnt about fractions and found using practical resources very helpful to make us see things more clearly. 

Our Science topic has been all about Animals including Humans. We called on our friend Skully (our friendly, miniature, model skeleton), to help us learn the common names of bones in the human body. Skully also supported our understanding of how muscles work so that we can move. We identified the nutrition that we need to keep our bodies healthy and looked at the diets of other animals too.

We got our creative juices flowing as we studied the work of William Morris in YPC. Creating our own wallpaper designs was fun and exciting, it was brilliant to see the children use the skills they had learnt. Recently, our D&T focus has been Levers and Linkages. We designed our own pop up books and used the lever mechanisms to create these designs.

Once again, congratulations on another half term successfully completed. I hope you are all very proud of what you have achieved so far. Don’t forget to keep up with your reading and learning your times tables. I’m looking forward to seeing you all after the break. 

See you soon, Miss O!

I can’t believe we are half way through the year and what a term it has been! I have been really impressed with how you have embedded our school values into your learning and this has shown in the progress you have made. Your enthusiasm and positive behaviour earned you two class rewards and you must keep this up.  

In Maths, we revised three of our four operations before moving onto division. We looked at grouping, sharing, dividing using the number line and finally additive chunking. We found additive chunking a challenge but we showed super resilience and never gave up. We then moved onto fractions and really enjoyed using the concrete apparatus. We were able to order, add, subtract, identify and find the equivalence of a fraction. 

In English, we started our new class text: Hetty Feather. We have really enjoyed reading this narrative so far as it linked in with our Victorians topic. We have written some amazing pieces, including writing from different points of views and even made our own persuasive leaflet. In our Reading lessons, we have clarified challenging vocabulary, summarised what has happened and even predicted what might happen next. We have also focused on the skills of: retrieval, vocabulary and inference. 

In Science, we have been learning about animals, including humans. We identified that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat. We also identified that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.

In Y.P.C, we completed our Art unit on William Morris and made our own wallpapers. We then moved onto our D&T focus, Levers and Linkages, and made our own lever mechanism in a book. We had so much fun as we got to design our book, experiment with the different types of levers and then create our final product.  We also enjoyed our trip to the Black Country Museum. 

Super-duper work and behaviour 3S! I am really excited to what spring 2 brings. I hope you all have a well-deserved break and I look forward to seeing you in spring 2. 

Over and out, Mr Shah!

Spring has, unbelievably, been and gone and we have quickly approached the half-way point! We have had absences here and there but generally we have done really well and earned some certificates in the process!

In Maths this term we have recapped on multiplication methods to make sure that we are secure and even progressed on to division and fractions. We have learnt new methods and enjoyed using them. We really enjoyed numbers day where we focused on time tables and lots of different games.

In English we have finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate factory and focused on a new text called ‘Hetty Feather’. It is a very different text but we have based a lot of our writing and reading activities upon it. We have also looked at subordinate clauses, conjunctions and prepositions too! In addition we have been concentrating on our phonics using a new scheme. It is helping us become better readers and spellers already.

In YPC we have continued to look at the Victorians, in particular William Morris who was a fantastic artist and made some wonderful prints. We really enjoyed the trip to the Black Country Museum.

In Science we have started to learn about animals including humans. We have looked at the human body and even created a human skeleton using Riley to help us place them in the correct position.

In PE this term we have focused on hockey and tennis. We have improved dribbling, passing and turns in hockey. We really enjoyed playing the games at the end of the topic

We are really looking forward to getting back and progressing our learning. 

Adios, hasta luego

Take Care,

Mr. G and 3G