Welcome to Year 3!

We are so excited to welcome you to Year 3 for a fantastic year of learning, discovery, and fun! In Year 3, you'll explore new topics, develop your skills, and make wonderful memories with your friends. Our classroom is a place where curiosity and creativity thrive, and we can't wait to see you grow and shine.

We are also thinking of Miss Powell, who has gone off to enjoy a well‑deserved maternity leave. We send her all our love and best wishes.

We’re thrilled to continue our exciting adventure together as we begin a brand‑new chapter in Year 3. 

Spring 2 Weekly Timetable 

Each day, the children will focus on the core subjects in the morning – Writing, Whole Class Reading, Maths, Spelling and Times Tables.  Foundation subjects are spread out throughout the week. 

Important sessions to note:

Monday - Singing, PE with Mrs Taylor and Homework will be sent home

Tuesday - Class Prayer

Wednesday - Gospel Assembly

Thursday - Class Prayer, Homework due in, Spelling and Arithmetic Tests

Friday - Praise Assembly, PE with Coach Danny, Music with Mrs Allen

Please remember to have your PE kit in school every day. Children need to be in full school uniform, and will get changed at school, prior to the lesson. 

 

Homework

Homework will be set and sent home on a Monday and should be returned by a Thursday.

Children should spend 20 minutes on each piece of weekly homework. Children do not need to complete all their homework in one go. Little and often throughout the week is key! 

English and Maths homework will be sent on a 3-week rotation, unless there is a particular 'Themed' homework that week.  We have been providing a homework club twice a week, which has been a real success. Please contact the school office if you would like your child to attend. 

English Homework - reading or writing (one piece on a three-week rotation)

Maths Homework - consolidation of the week and / or timetables (one piece on a three-week rotation)

Themed homework - if there is a significant event happening, we will use homework as a chance to explore these, instead of English or Maths.

Times Tables Rockstars and Spelling Frame - all children have personal logins. Children need to practise every day in preparation for their arithmetic and spelling tests on a Thursday. (Daily for 10 minutes)

Reading - children need to read every day and have their reading diary signed. (Daily for 10 minutes)

 

What will we learn during Spring 2 ?

Writing

In our literacy lessons, we will be exploring the following texts:

My Strong Mind by Niels Van Hove (Non-fiction – a story about developing mental strength)

Flood by Alvaro F Villa (Narrative - Tragedy)

The children will develop their writing skills through sentence-stacking lessons and build up to an independent writing task. 

Grammar, punctuation and spelling - KS2 English - BBC Bitesize

SpellingFrame 

 

Reading

During our guided reading lessons this half-term, Year 3 will be reading and analysing the following:

Smile by Spike Milligan (Poetry) 

The Secrets of Stonehenge (Non-fiction - information)

Our lessons will focus on reading fluency, understanding word meanings in context, summarising and answering retrieval questions. We will also focus on building independent inference skills to delve deeper into the different themes, characters and events in each of the texts. 

 

For our class novel lessons, the children have voted to continue to read the whole text on The Twits by Roald Dahl (Fiction - Comedy).​

Maths

In Maths, we will study Fractions and Mass and Capacity.

We continue to use White Rose Maths, firstly developing the children's fluency and building on the application of mathematical knowledge to deepen their understanding, master concepts and apply what they have learnt to a range of problem-solving and reasoning. 

 

Videos to support key methods in maths

(To be added)

 

Times Tables 

The children have dedicated time twice a week to learn and practise times tables to ensure they are increasing in accuracy and speed. This needs to be supported daily at home for at least 10 minutes. 

Times Tables Rock Stars (ttrockstars.com) 

 

RE - Desert to Garden

In this branch, the children will explore Desert to Garden and learn that Christians believe we belong to a community where we help and share. They will hear the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand and learn how it shows God’s love. The children will explore the Last Supper and how it links to the Eucharist at Mass today, understanding Holy Communion as receiving Jesus in the form of bread. They will also learn that Mass has special prayers, signs and actions that express Christian beliefs like remembering and giving thanks. Finally, they will discover that Holy Week is celebrated in different ways around the world.

 

Science - Plants

 

The children will be exploring the following:

• How roots absorb water and how stems transport it to the leaves.
• How water evaporates from leaves and pulls more water up the stem.
• What plants need to grow and how these needs vary between species.
• The role of flowers in making seeds.
• The different ways seeds can be dispersed, including by water, movement, animals or bursting.

 

We are also looking forward to our trip to Ness Gardens!

 

Geography - Settlements

The children will be learning about the following:

• What ‘nomadic’ means and that some people around the world still live this way.
• That most people live in settlements, which can be small or large.
• The four main types of settlements: hamlets, villages, towns and cities.
• What population density is and what it tells us.
• Why early settlements were built near water and needed protection.
• What large modern settlements need, such as transport links and services.

 

Art - Sculpture 

In Art, the children will explore the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti and his work.

The children will explore the following:

• Recognise and describe Giacometti’s tall, thin, textured figures.
• Use simple art vocabulary for shape, proportion, balance and expression.
• Bend, twist and join wire safely to make a basic armature.
• Shape and wrap foil to build form, strength and texture.
• Explore how pose and body language show movement or emotion.
• Design and construct a stable 3D wire-and-foil figure.
• Make creative choices about height, gesture and expression.
• Reflect on their sculpture, explaining decisions and successes.

   

 

 

Physical Education

In both football and golf. They will develop control, coordination and accuracy, learning how to pass, dribble and shoot in football, as well as how to hold a club, aim and strike the ball safely in golf. Across both sports, they will build teamwork, spatial awareness and confidence in using different types of movement.

 

Computing

Data and Information – Branching Databases

The children will learn how to sort and classify information using branching databases. They will begin by creating simple yes/no questions and identifying useful attributes for grouping objects. They will then build and structure their own branching databases, learning why clear organisation is important. Finally, the children will plan their own database and use their skills to independently create a dinosaur identification tool.