Year 3

Welcome to Year 3!

Welcome back to Year 3! We hope you have enjoyed the Christmas break, making invaluable memories with your families, and we wish you a healthy and prosperous New Year!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the first term teaching your child and I am looking forward to the Spring term – helping your child to grow academically and emotionally, whilst building up their confidence and resilience. Mr Kenealy and Miss France, our Learning Support Assistants, are also very excited to work with your child and yourselves.

On this website page, you will find out about our learning that will take place this term in Year 3. We know your child will enjoy every step of our learning as much as we will and we wish them every success in the year ahead! I feel honoured and privileged to be part of The Holy Spirit family and to work with such amazing children and families.

English

In English we will be exploring the novel, ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes. We will use this text to explore a range of different text types and develop our understanding of different grammatical features. We will be focusing on the writing process of different genres.

Mathematics

This term we will continue to develop our knowledge of multiplication and division. Building on from last term, we will learn more about the written methods to solve 2-digit multiplication and division problems. Children may wish to develop their Mental Maths skills at home by continuing to work on:

• Simple 2-digit mental addition and subtraction skills, using numbers up to 20
• Times table knowledge and recall

Religious Education

Our ‘Come and See’ theme for the first 4 weeks is the Local Church and Year 3 will be focusing on the Community – Journeys. We will be exploring the Journey with Christ and sharing his way of life by exploring the journey through a year and revealing the Christian family’s journey with Jesus through the Church’s year.

Science

In Science, this term, we will be learning all about ‘Rocks.’ In this unit, we will discover the different types of rocks and how they are formed and compare and group rocks based on appearance and simple properties. Also, we will learn how fossils are formed and about the contribution of Mary Anning to the field of palaeontology. Furthermore, we will understand how soil is formed and then investigate the permeability of different types of soil.

Attendance and Punctuality

It is extremely important that your child attends school and is on time every day so they do not miss out on important learning. Excellent attendance and punctuality is the key for our children’s success. Please help your child to strive for excellent attendance.

Uniform and PE Kit

Please ensure your child has the correct full school uniform every day and PE kits are worn to school every Monday and Thursday. Please remember to put your child’s name on every piece of uniform, PE kit and coat.

Topic: Rocks, Relics and Rumbles.

In the ‘Rocks, Relics and Rumbles’ project, your child will learn about the features and characteristics of the Earth’s layers, including a detailed exploration of volcanic, tectonic and seismic activity.

Useful websites

DKfindout! – Earth’s Layers – Inside the Earth
Britannica Kids – Plate tectonics
DKfindout! – Rocks and Minerals
National Geographic Kids – Mary Anning Facts!
DKfindout! – How Tectonic Plates Move
BBC Bitesize – Latitude and Longitude
DKfindout! – Earthquake Facts

Reading at home

A little reminder: Children are expected to bring their reading books into school every day so they can be heard read at any time. We appreciate that it is not always possible to read every night with your child, but we do ask that you make every effort to read at least 3 times per week with them, and make a comment in their reading records. Reading at home doesn’t always mean their school reading books; it could be anything from a newspaper, magazine, kindle books or instructions of a board game.

Water Bottles

Don’t forget to bring water bottles in every day – it is important for your child to stay hydrated throughout the day. Please put a label on all bottles and wash them every evening. Please remember to bring water bottles into school on a daily basis.

We hope you have found this information useful. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! We hope your children enjoy all our learning this term.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Parkinson, Mr Kenealy and Miss France