Year 3

This term we will be working on the following topics:

English    

Our focus texts will be Fadya and the Song of the River, George’s Marvellous Medicine, and the short film Marshmallows. While exploring these texts we will learn to extend our sentences using a wide variety of conjunctions. We will create longer narratives using a range of tenses, including the Present Perfect Form and direct speech using inverted commas. We will also ensure there is clarity and cohesion within our paragraphs with the appropriate use of nouns and pronouns. We will create characters, settings and plots using descriptive devices efficiently, such as noun phrases and prepositions.

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

During 'Guided Reading' we will be using a wide range of texts: Ada Twist Scientist, Wind in the Willows, The Dot and Moth to justify answers, opinions and arguments. Further to this, we will develop 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 NCETM materials and guidance. We will be covering column subtraction, measurement and fractions. 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 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables.

 

Science       

We will be studying two science topics this term. In Light, we will recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by a solid object. We will find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change. We will also recognise that we need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light. Finally, we will notice that light reflects from surfaces.

This will be followed by Forces and Magnets, where we will be able to observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others. We will 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.

 

History        

In our Bronze Age River Civilisations topic, we will be learning about what makes a civilisation, what does a civilisation need to grow and succeed, what was the greatest achievement of the Sumerians, what was the greatest achievement of the Indus and what was the greatest achievement of the Shang Dynasty and what do these civilisations have in common.

 

Geography  

We will identify water stores and processes in the Water Cycle. We will describe the three courses of a river and also name the physical features of a river. We will describe different ways a river is used, and we will list some of the problems around rivers.       

                                        

Art     

In our Art and Design lessons, we will be looking at formal elements of art and will be exploring two of the formal elements of art: shape and tone; children find shapes in everyday objects; use shapes as guidelines to draw accurately from observation; create form and shape using wire and practice shading neatly and from light to dark.

 

Music            

This term, Year 3 will be looking at two pieces of music about rivers: The Blue Danube, a waltz by Strauss and then Symphonic Poem Vltava by Smetana. We will be learning about texture, dynamics, duration and tempo, using this within composition and music technology.

Recorders will run alongside this topic and we will continue to build on what we learnt last term.

 

Computing  

During our Desktop Publishing unit, we will become familiar with the terms ‘text’ and ‘images’ and understand that they can be used to communicate messages. We will start to add text and images to create our own pieces of work using desktop publishing software.

In our Data and Information unit, we will develop our understanding of what a branching database is and how to create one.

 

Physical Education (PE) 

During our PE sessions we will continue to develop our skills in the area of tennis and cricket with professional coaches. After the February half-term break, Year 3 will be having weekly swimming lessons.

 

French          

We will be continuing to learn French through French phonics, pronunciation, understanding and vocabulary through the topics Playground Games and French Classroom.

 

Religious Education (RE)           

Our topics in RE are Why Water is Symbolic, and What Happens if we do Wrong? The children will be able to identify similarities and differences between different religions and worldviews, and make links between Abrahamic religions.  

 

Personal, Social, Health, Economic / Relationships & Sex Education (PSHE/RSE)   Our topics this term are: 

• Belonging to a Community: We will discuss the reasons for rules and laws in wider society as well as the importance of abiding by the law and what might happen if the rules and laws are broken.
• Media Literacy & Digital Resilience: We will learn how the internet can be used positively for leisure, for school and for work to recognise that images and information online can be altered or adapted and the reasons why this happens. We will discuss how to make safe, reliable choices from search results.
• Money and Work: We will also learn about jobs that people may have from different sectors, e.g. teachers, business people, charity workers and to challenge stereotypes through examples of role models in different fields of work, e.g. women in STEM.

Reminders:

• Your child should read for at least 10 minutes every day. Across the week, this should be a combination of independent reading and reading to an adult. 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 into school every day.
• Your child will have PE on Tuesday and Thursday. The children should come to school in their PE kit on these days.
• Your child needs to bring in a water bottle every day.
• The weather is often cold at this time of year and the children will go out to play if there is light rain. It is important that your child has a waterproof coat, gloves, hat and a scarf.
• 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. 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.

Tuesday 28^th January - 'Everyone Belongs' Evening 5pm to 6:30pm 

Friday 7^th February - NSPCC Number Day

Thursday 27^th February - First swimming session for Year 3

17^th to 21^st February - Half-term break

Thursday 6^th March - World Book Day 

6^th to 11^th March - Book Fair 

Monday 10th March - Nasturtium Class visit to Woodlands Farm

Tuesday 11^th March - Road Safety workshop

Monday 24th March - Nigella Class visit to Woodlands Farm 

Monday 31^st March - Open Evening 3:30pm-7:00pm

Wednesday 2^nd April - Open Evening 3:30pm-6:00pm

Monday 7^th to 21^st April - Easter break

Tuesday 22^nd April - Summer Term begins