Welcome back to the final term of Year 3.

We have so much learning still to cover in summer term; from plants and animals in Science to more French vocabulary to outside PE lessons and much more across the curriculum.

An updated newsletter is available for summer term too, so please take a look.

PE days are still Wednesday and Thursday and will now be all outdoors. Please ensure correct kit is provided.

Many thanks for your continued support. We look forward to sharing your child's learning with you throughout summer term. 

Mrs Murphy and Mrs Hemmings

Update - 8th September

Today, Lime class had their first gymnastics lesson of the half term. They remembered lots of different balances and shapes from previous learning and also tried lots of new ones!

Below are the photos taken as the children rotated around the different mats with various balances and shapes on each mat. 

The children will continue to build on these and build them up into a routine later in the half term. 

Update - 12th September

Today, Lime class had their school visit to Butser Ancient Farm, linked to our History unit of work around Stone Age to Iron Age. Joe, our guide for the day, was fantastic and very knowledgeable, asking the children lots of questions and providing lots of facts.

We got to look inside several different types of houses, discuss how they were made and the materials available. The children participated in pottery making, chalk carving and an archaeological dig to find artefacts.

I hope the children have come home talking about the visit and were enthused and excited. We will continue to build on this lesson throughout our History lessons this term.

Thank you to everyone involved in supporting the trip. 

Update: 29th September

Today the children in Years 3, 4 and 5 had the opportunity to attend a scooter and skateboard workshop. Alex, a skateboard teacher, taught the children about being safe on scooters and skateboards, wearing the correct safety equipment and how to correctly hold and balance on both.

The children absolutely loved riding and learning tricks on the scooters and skateboards.

Below are some pictures from Year 3's session this morning.

It was lovely to see all the children engaged and everybody tried everything!

Update - 16th October

In Science, Year 3 have been learning all about magnets, magnetism and conducting several investigations using magnets.

Below are a selection of photos taken during our investigations. The children so far have investigated magnetic and non magnetic metals, the distance at which magnets attract or repel and last week they stacked magnets to create patterns using the poles on a magnet.

Key vocabulary the children have learnt this half term:

attract               repel              non-contact force              magnetism             exert

poles                North                 South                             distance                 magnetic

Update - 21st October

Today in DT, Lime class experienced lots of different foods and used their senses and to describe the taste, smell and texture. 

A variety of foods were tried and tasted, discussing each time the type of taste and vocabulary we could use.

Words like soft, dry, chewy, sharp, strong, bitter, sour, sweet, salty, spicy and soggy were all used!

Below are some pictures from their taste testing session.

Update - 3rd November

On Wednesday, Year 3 were transported back to the Stone Age to experience the way in which people created art. We focused on cave paintings and looked at evidence found by archaeologists in caves from around the world linked to the Neolithic period.

We closed all the blinds and covered the windows with paper. All lights were turned off and the children used 'fire light' (LED candles) to immerse themselves fully into cave life.

Here are there pictures during the lesson and their finished products.

Update - 8th November

Today in Science, Year 3 learnt about the 3 main types of natural rock. 

Sedimentary, Metamorphic and Igneous.

They learnt about how each are formed and the similarities and differences between each one.

They then got to make each type using starburst sweets to represent the sediments.

Here are the pictures. The lava/magma was heated in the microwave by me to show the heating process. The children all got to touch and feel the igneous rock once it had cooled.

Update - 18th November

Today, Year 3 got to practise some kitchen skills in preparation for making our soup for our DT unit this half term. 

The skills were:

peeling vegetables

chopping safely

measuring using scales, jugs and spoons

All children understood how to keep safe and used the equipment correctly. 

Below are some in action photos to show the children utilising those skills ready for soup making!

Update - 1st December

In French, Year 3 have been learning commands and instructions to use in the classroom.

They have learnt:

lisez = read                                                rangez vos affairez = tidy up

parlez = speak                                           travaillez en paires = work in pairs

regardez = look                                         en rang = line up

touchez = touch                                        levez vous = stand up

ecrivez = write                                           asseyez vous = sit down

ecoutez = listen                                        levez le main = put your hand up

dessinez = draw                                       venez au tapis = come to the carpet

repetez = repeat                                      ouvres vos livres = open your books

We have also created actions to help us remember the instructions. I am using them in place of English instructions wherever possible also so that the children embed them outside of the French lessons.

Update - 2nd December

In Gymnastics, Year 3 have had Charlotte from CM sports teaching them about using gymnastic balances and shapes to build routines using equipment.

They have used benches, horses, climbing ladders and mats to create routines and demonstrate balances and shapes in a variety of ways.

Below are some pictures from a recent lesson.

Update - 9th December

Year 3 made their tomato soup as part of their DT food unit of work today.

They safely used the chopping skills we had learnt to prepare the vegetables. 

Everybody tasted it - some needed slightly more persuasion! We then evaluated how it tasted and if we would change or improve the recipe for next time.

Below are some pictures of the preparation - and of course, the reactions to tasting it!

(Personally, it was too watery for me! I love a thick soup! But the flavour was lovely!)

Update - 9th January

Today in Science, we finished our Rocks and Soils unit of work with an investigation about different soils absorbing water.

We put 5 different soils into bottles, added water, shook and left for the afternoon to see what would happen.

Peat separated the most - with some soil still at the bottom, water in the middle and some absorbed, and peat soil left at the top.

Others changed colour very obviously and some soil settled at the top, almost floating.

Below are our results. We will keep the bottles for a few days and re-evaluate our findings. 

Update - 8th February

Today, year 3 completed their dance unit on natural disasters. Each week they created a dance motif using improvisation to represent volcanoes, tornados, tsunamis and earthquakes.

This week, they chose 3 disasters and combined movements from all to create one final routine.

The videos are below for you to see how creative they were and how well they worked in a team. 

Update - 9th February

Today the class made their coin purses for their sewing unit of DT. They have been practising blanket and running stitches in class, have designed their product and compared different materials and fastenings throughout the unit of work.

The children showed perseverance as lots found sewing quite tricky! Once the two edges were sewn, lots of children felt more confident sewing the sides up and turning the purse inside out. 

We will continue to add embellishments and evaluate our final products. For now, here are their purses completely sewn, minus cord!

Update - 10th February

Today, the whole school celebrated Art Day and spent the day learning about Joseph William Turner, a famous artist who created landscape paintings.

The children in year 3 learnt about different brush strokes, how to use water colours, mixing, washes and blending to create similar landscapes to Turner's. 

They had several practice pieces and used all their learnt skills to create a final piece, as seen in the photos below. Children then walked around the school to view the other classes and parents were invited in at the end of the day to share the work too.

The children in year 3 worked really hard on blending and using appropriate colours for sky, sea, land and the finer details in the foreground and background. We discussed perspective and sizing of details depending on their position in the painting. 

Update - 3rd March

In History, we have been learning all about the Romans. Today, we learnt how to be a Roman soldier, how they lived in barracks in forts and the armour and weapons they needed.

We also got to be Roman soldiers and march in formation to given instructions.

Below are some pictures of how regiment and obedient Year 3 were!

Update - 6th March

Today in Science year 3 investigated what happens to light when it hits different materials. 

Our key Rucstall words to use to describe the materials were - transparent, translucent, opaque and reflective.

Below are some pictures of the children testing out the materials with a torch.

Update - 15th March

Today, Lime Class got to design and make their clay flowers for our Art sculpture unit of work. They have taken home their practice pieces and we are keeping the flowers here to paint and evaluate before Easter.

Here are the pictures of their flowers. I will update with painted pictures soon.

Update - 30th March

The children have completed their clay flower sculptures this week.

They have added paint to their flowers to give a more realistic effect.

Update - 24th April

Today in Science, year 3 have started potting up broad bean plants in order to complete their first plants investigation of the half term.

Different groups are looking at different variables - water, light and air and if changing the variables can affect the growth of a plant.

Below are some pictures from the potting up!

Update - 5th May

Yesterday, Year 3 and 4 were fortunate to have a visitor from a local church come into school to talk about our current RE unit of work - sacred places and Christianity.

Caroline, from St. Mary's Church, told us a bit about what sacred meant and whether the church, bible and other features within the building were sacred.

Caroline allowed the children to ask her some questions and they had some fantastic sensible questions, below is a selection. Caroline answered them in detail and with clear explanations, which hopefully will aid and assist the children's RE learning further across this unit of work and future units of work too.

Update - 17th May

In Science, the children have been investigating the needs of plants to grow and experimenting by changing the amount of water, light and air broad beans need to grow healthily. 

Here are the pictures of the results for each group. The children discussed their findings and how accurate and fair the test was. They also discussed reasons why certain beans grew or didn't grow in the particular ways. 

Update - 17th May

This week in Science, year 3 looked at water transportation. They know that water is vital for plants to grow and using dyed water, they dissected flowers to demonstrate how the roots and stem transport the water up the plant, to the leaves and up to the flower head. 

We used blue food dye just to help see the water transportation clearer.

Here are the results! They were astounded by how quick my very thirsty carnations (accidentally left them on the side for 4 days) turned blue!

Update - 26th May

This week, Year 3 completed their DT unit of work on building bridges. Key skills practised and used were:

• Safety around a saw and correct technique when sawing.
• Measuring wood and other materials accurately
• Adding design and detail to the bridges

The children worked in small groups which enabled everybody to have lots of turns with sawing, being the safety spotter and measuring too. The groups worked hard and cooperated well to ensure their bridge was built successfully.

Below are some pictures of the process and the finished 4 bridges (each group made half a bridge and we secured them together to create full suspension bridges)