Year 3J 2023 - 2024

Autumn 2

Welcome back to our second Autumn half term! The children are now settled into Key Stage 2 and we hope they are ready for a fast paced half term lasting nearly eight weeks!

In Maths, we will be focussing on Place Value, applying mental strategies to work out calculations for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Please could you make sure the children are practising their times tables at home. They have been given logins for the website/app Times Table Rockstars and they can use this to secure their understanding of this very important knowledge. In class we are focusing on the 4x, 8x and 3x tables, the children should be secure in the 2s, 5s and 10s from Year 2.

In English, we will be exploring Adventures Stories by reading Stone Age Boy and Stig of the Dump. Moving on from adventure stories, will be looking at poetry and some nonfiction texts concentrating on the format and features of both.

In RE, we will be moving on to our topic ‘Christmas – God is with Us’ this surrounds the topic of the birth of Jesus and the Christmas story. We will be focusing on God’s presence and how it can impact people’s lives as well as what instances we feel God’s presence and what emotions/challenges it helps us with.

Our new Science topic this term is Light. We will be looking at different kinds of light sources and how they are incorporated into our everyday lives. We will be expanding our knowledge in Science by visiting the Catalyst in Widnes; an exciting trip we are very much looking forward to!  You will have received a letter about this at the end of the previous half term.

We have also begun our History topic, what was life like during the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages? The children will come to know how these 3 periods in History have played an important role in today’s world.  The children will learn how people discovered the metal Bronze and how it was utilised during this era in time. Then moving into the Iron Age and the changes that came about during this time period.

The computing topic is We Are Bug Fixers, we will be looking at how to resolve computing errors known as bugs in programs. In DT, we will be looking at different kinds of sandwich and how they fit into a well-balanced. They will then design, create and evaluate their own sandwich.

Your children will receive spellings to learn every week (on a Monday) alongside a weekly piece of homework (taken home on a Friday) relating to that week’s work. Please can you encourage your children to read at home as much as possible. This is vital to their success at school and will benefit them greatly. Even if it is only a small amount every day. There has been a great effort so far on reading but we can still do more! Our main focus for this academic year is the children’s handwriting so could you please make sure the children are continuously practising this when completing their homework.

All the best,

The Year 3 Team

Autumn 1

Welcome back to school and most importantly welcome to Year 3!

We are delighted to be back and excited to be with the children once again. We could not wait to start this new school year!

A big part of this year will be the transition from Infants to Juniors. There is a big step up in the work and expectations of the children but together we will support them as they settle into a different way of working. We appreciate any support from parents and please don’t hesitate to contact the school if you have any concerns regarding your child.

This term in RE will see a focus of prophets surrounding our “Called by God” topic. This is very exciting and contains lots of stories from the Bible, with a reflective theme of repent, forgiveness and quests. Each RE lesson will contain a time for reflection where the children will be encouraged to consider their thoughts and actions in daily life and how to further improve these in order to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We will also be starting our Harvest topic and begin to look at the Old Testament stories from the Bible.

Maths and English will continue just like last year with 1 lesson of each per day. In addition to this, we will spend extra time on handwriting and guided reading. Please can you encourage your children to read at home as much as possible. This is vital to their success at school and will benefit them greatly. Even if it is only a small amount every day.

The Science topic this term is Rocks and Soils –. The children will learn to identify the different types of rocks, how they are used and why.

This half term we will begin with Geography, looking at where we are in the world and how we would go about finding ourselves using a mix of digital and traditional methods.

Computing will see more advanced skills such as programming being taught and will give the children a good experience of how computing works.  The children will be using a programme called ‘Scratch’ to create and develop programmes

The focus this term in Art will be sketching. The children will learn how to cross hatch and stipple in Art. This new skill will help them when they sketch drawings of people.

Your children will receive spellings to learn on a Monday to be tested the following Monday.  There will also be a  weekly piece of homework relating to that week’s work sent out on a Friday to be brought back at the latest by Wednesday. We very much appreciate your support in ensuring homework is completed.  Please ensure your child reads with you every night. Not only is this an enjoyable task it also enhances their writing skills.

All the best,

The Year 3 Team