Dear parents/carers,

Welcome to Year 3! We are looking forward to working with you and your children this year! The children have already settled into Year 3 well and are enjoying the new ‘grown up’ routines.

English

Year 3 will be working starting with a film study, focusing on explanation and instructions. They will also be studying the book ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes. After half term the children will be working on Diaries (Diary of a Killer cat) and Poems from around the world.

They will continue to develop their SPAG skills – Nouns, pronouns, consonants and vowels, past tense.

Maths

To begin the term, we will be looking at number systems with a focus on place value, addition and subtraction.  We will be using a variety of equipment to help children build their practical mathematical skills to support problem solving and calculations. The children will also be developing their mathematical vocabulary to develop reasoning tasks. To assist with children’s mathematical development, please encourage them to handle real money and understand the value of coins and notes along with reading analogue and digital time in a 12hr and 24hr format.  Continue to practise the times tables. We will be focusing on the 3, 4,6 and 8 times table this year, alongside revising the 2,5 and 10 times tables.

History and Geography

We begin the year with a history topic – Ancient Egypt. We will be focusing on the achievements of the earliest civilisation and using our skills of research. In geography we will be exploring climate zones and learning lots of geographical vocabulary and applying this to our class work.

Science

Throughout the Autumn term we will be looking at the area of Science ‘Light & Shadow’ followed by ‘Forces’. For light and shadow, we will be exploring reflection, the need for light to be able to see and much more. In forces we will look at how things move on different surfaces and the effects of magnets on different material.

Computing

This year in computing we will be starting off learning how to de-bug using ‘We are bugs’. Running alongside this we will continue to focus on staying safe online.

Art and DT

In art we will be developing our sketching skills and getting creative with a range of material through our Egyptian topic. Through DT we will be looking at, designing and making Shadufs to support our Egyptian learning.

RE

In RE we be looking at how people express a commitment to a religion or worldview in different ways – we will start with looking at Rites of Passage.

PSHE

Our PSHE learning will lead us to think about mental health, Families and Friendships – what makes a family and features of family life. Safe Relationships – personal boundaries, safely responding to others and the impact of hurtful behaviour. Respecting Ourselves and Others – recognising respectful behaviour, the importance of self-respect and courtesy & being polite.

Music

In Music we will be developing the skills of listening and appraising, musical activities and perform and review.

Physical Education

The children will have swimming on a Monday for the first half term at Grange paddocks.

PE lessons will be on Tuesday afternoon. After half term, PE lessons will be on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Please ensure your child has their PE kit in school every day. We are fortunate enough to sometimes get extra PE sessions and we do not want children missing out on these. Please also ensure that girls wearing tights have spare socks for PE. Hair must be always tied back. Please make sure earrings are not worn on these days or children are able to remove them.

French

This year, children will begin to learn French at Clavering.  We know that a lot of them are very excited about this! They will be starting with the topic ‘Bonjour, ca va?’ .

Homework

Each week your child will have a learning task in their Learning Log book. This will either be linked to English, Maths, Topic or Science. This task should take 20/30 minutes. This is set on a Friday and should be returned the following Wednesday (to allow marking time!)

Spellings- These are being sent home on a half termly basis. Your child must learn the weekly words for their weekly test. Children have been grouped, based on a diagnostic test. Tests are on a Friday morning.

Times Tables- It is SO important all children are practicing their times tables. This should be done as often as possible.

Reading- Year 3 have reading challenges which can completed once they have finished reading their book. These can be done in the back of their reading journal at home or during quiet reading time in school. They can earn bronze, silver or gold certificates – this will be explained to them in class.  Please hear your child read as often as possible at home and record this in their journal. Books and reading journals need to be in school every day.

Books- We would strongly advise covering all books that go between school and home (Learning Logs and Reading journals) to make them more durable.

Snack– Please remember all children must bring a morning snack from home. In KS2 the class earn fruit points, there is then a competition amongst all classes to see which have the most points each week.

Water bottles – Please send a full water bottle in with your child every day.

If you have any questions or concerns at any time, please email us via the office and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,

Miss Crosby and Mrs Webb