Year 3

This term we will be working on the following topics:

English      

Our focus texts will Stone Age Boy, Ocean meets Sky, The Kapok Tree and Pirates Next Door. While exploring these texts, we will learn to extend our sentences using a wide variety of conjunctions. We will create narratives using a range of tenses. We will create characters, settings and plots using descriptive devices efficiently, such as expanded noun phases and fronted adverbials.

When assessing the effectiveness of our writing, we will suggest improvements to spellings and punctuation as well as the correct use of grammar. We will also propose changes to our vocabulary to make our writing more interesting and engaging.

We will be doing Guided Reading lessons three times a week and Reading For Pleasure every day. When reading, we will be discussing new vocabulary, use stem sentences to explain our understanding of a text, and we will justify our answers, opinions and arguments. Further to this, we will discuss our understanding by predicting what might happen next from details stated and implied. We will also draw inferences and justify them using accurate evidence from the text.

 

Maths        

We will be teaching maths using the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM)  materials and guidance. We will be covering adding and subtracting across 10, numbers to 1000, right angles, securing mental calculations and column addition in the autumn term. The children will be presented with various contexts, representations and manipulatives to support their mathematical learning. We will apply this knowledge to solving word problems, using bar modelling and part-part whole models as a key representation.

We will also be working on practising and learning our 2, 5, 10, 3, 4 and 8 times tables.

 

Science       

We will be studying the science topic ‘Rocks and Soils’ this term. We will be grouping and comparing rocks according to appearance and texture, learning how rocks are formed, discussing what rocks are used for and how weathering can change rocks over time. We will be planning, carrying out investigations, recording and making conclusions. In the second half-term, we will be studying Plants; learning about how plants are formed and labelling the reproductive parts of a plant.

 

History        

In History, we will look at the Stone Age. We will learn about what life was like in Palaeolithic Britain, what was similar and what was different about the Mesolithic period and the Palaeolithic period and know how and why Neolithic people built huge monuments. We will also be learning about the changes from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

 

Art & Design            

In our Art lessons we will be reflecting upon the purpose of cave art paintings and introducing a sense of proportion when drawing an animal. We will be scaling up drawings in charcoal, creating tones and textures, experimenting with natural materials to make paint, exploring the colours and effects that can be created.

 

Music       

In Music this term, we will be working on notation and duration, through continuing last year's lessons with recorders. There will be a focus on ensemble playing and music reading. We will be singing and working towards a performance for the school's Harvest Festival and then prepare for our Christmas performances.

Recorders are needed every Wednesday. They can be brought in each week or can be left in school for these sessions.

 

Computing

This term we will be learning about networks and computer systems. We will be explaining that digital devices accept inputs, explaining that digital devices produce outputs and following a process.

 

Design Technology (DT)            

In our DT topic this term we will be discussing that fruits and vegetables grow in different countries based on their climates, understanding that ‘seasonal’ fruits and vegetables are those that grow in a given season and taste best then, learn that eating seasonal fruit and vegetables has a positive effect on the environment, designing our own tart recipe using seasonal ingredients, understand the basic rules of food hygiene and safety, and follow the instructions within a recipe.

 

Physical Education (PE)      

We will be having Tennis lessons with a professional coach where we will learn ball and racket control skills,  play as a team and learn how to be competitive in a healthy manner. Additionally, we will learn how to play basketball and learn game strategies.

               

French       

We will be learning key vocabulary and phrases through the following topics: Bonjour and En Classe.         

 

Religious Education (RE)             

In our lessons we will be learning about ‘what makes us human?’ and the children will interpret and use art to express beliefs about spirituality, inner self and the soul. We will also learn about ‘where do we get our morals from?’ and children will think about how people decide what it means to live a good life, as well as to reflect on their own opinions about what is right and wrong.

 

Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) and Relationships & Sex Education (RSE)

Our topics this term are: Families and Friendships, Safe Relationships and Respecting Ourselves and Others.

We will discuss what makes a family and the features of family life, personal boundaries, safely responding to others and the impact of hurtful behaviour, recognising respectful behaviour, the importance of self-respect, courtesy and being polite.

 

Reminders:

Your child should read to an adult for 15 minutes three times a week and independently every day. It is also important that an adult reads to your child regularly. Please talk to your child about the book and check their understanding by asking questions about events and the characters’ actions. Please also explain new or unfamiliar vocabulary. Their bookbag should come to school every day.

Your child will have PE on Tuesday and Thursday. Their PE kit should stay in school in a named draw-string bag. Please make sure your child has an outdoor PE kit consisting of jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt.

Your child needs to bring a water bottle every day.

We are a Healthy School. Please do not put sweets or chocolate bars in your child’s packed lunch. Please do not send in sweets or other treats when it is your child’s birthday. If you want to celebrate your child’s birthday with their classmates, you could buy the class a book, send in a healthy snack such as boxes of raisins or buy stationery such as a pencil, but due to the impact on the environment, we ask you not to send in plastic toys.

If your child is absent from school, please contact the school office: 020 8850 5486 and leave a message detailing why your child is absent. If your child has had an upset stomach, they can return to school when they are better. Please try to book medical appointments outside the school day and note that family holidays will not be authorised.

If you have any questions or wish to raise a concern, please contact the class teacher in the first instance. Please use the email addresses above.

Wednesday 4th September - first day of the Autumn term

Wednesday 11th September - Welcome Meeting for parents and carers (3:25pm / 3:45pm / 4:05pm)

Monday 30th September to Wednesday 2nd October - Book Fair

Tuesday 15th October - Harvest Festival (pm)

Wednesday 16th October - Harvest Festival (am)

Monday 21st October - School photographer (individual and sibling photos)

Friday 25th October - Inset Day (school closed)

Monday 28th October to Friday 1st November - half-term break

Wednesday 20th November - Flu vaccinations

Friday 20th December - last day of the Autumn term