Year 3

To access our full curriculum planning, please click this link:

https://www.langdaleprimary.co.uk/curriculum-intent-implementation-and-impact/

Welcome to Year 3 2020 - 21!

The teachers in Year 3 are:

Miss Hall (3H)

 Miss Dunn (3D) 

The Teaching Assistant in Year 3 is Mrs. Capper 

Our termly topics are as follows:

Autumn Term: Staffordshire Superstars - What is unique about me and where I live?

Spring Term: Meet the Flintstones - Stone Age to Iron Age

Summer Term: Romans - Rotten or Righteous?  Did the Romans make Britain great?

Science: The curriculum areas covered in Y3 are:

Autumn term - Animals including Humans: skeletons, bones, muscles and diet

Spring term - Forces and Magnets; Rocks and Soils

Summer term - Helping Plants Grow Well; Light and Shadows

Organisation of the curriculum: Mornings are given to the teaching and learning of skills in English (reading; writing; spelling; punctuation and grammar; speaking and listening) and Mathematics. Through the Creative Curriculum approach, we aim to introduce the children to a very wide range of knowledge, skills  and understanding by making as many cross-curricular links through our topics as possible. For example, after investigating different rocks and their formation in Science, the children learn about volcanoes and earthquakes in Geography and also find out about historic cataclysmic events such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They follow an extended unit in English based on the text 'Escape from Pompeii,' which helps provide a rich background context to the 'Romans in Britain' focus in History, as well as having the opportunity to create an exploding volcano in Design and Technology, and perform volcano mimes and dances.  

Reading, Phonics and Spelling: These are taught in groups organised around the children's needs. Reading diaries should be signed by an adult three times a week and can earn the children points on the Reading Rocket chart. The signature will inform the teacher that you have listened to your child read at home - the reading can be their Accelerated Reader (AR) book, their class library book or their group Guided Reading text. Additional information about reading can be found at the end of General Information.

Homework: In addition to regular reading, your child will have 2 homework tasks per week which consist of a set of spellings that follow a phonic focus or spelling pattern, and a focus Times Table with its related division facts. Spelling lists will be posted on Google Classroom each Monday (paper copies will be provided for children without access to Google Classroom) and a new times table list, if appropriate, will be stuck into the front of your child's Homework book on a Monday morning. This gives your child the whole week to practise spellings and times tables at home, as well as in school. The children will be tested on their spellings and tables the following Monday and this is recorded in the back of the Homework book so that parents can keep track of how their child is faring. The children self-mark their own spellings and tables tests in red pen: this gives the children instant feedback and involves them actively in the learning process, encouraging them to assess their own strengths and identify the areas on which they need to work next.

Tables facts need to be recalled very quickly rather than worked out: your child may not necessarily move on to a new times table each week, but will probably need to repeat a set of number facts until their speedy mental recall develops securely. The aim is for a response time of 7 seconds or less. In Y3, the main focus is learning the 4, 8, 3 and 6 times tables, in addition to the 2s, 5s and 10s from KS1. Many children will also securely reach the 9s, while some will go further and complete all or most of their tables facts up to the 12 times table. Related division facts also need to be learned and are a tricky challenge. Log on to Top Marks Hit the Button, and Times Tables Rockstars, for lots of fun practising against the clock! Hit the Button is also a very good tool for practising doubles, halves and other number facts.

In addition, your child will be asked to do one homework task each term in researching, creating and presenting a project linked to a particular area of learning. Information regarding the first project, about a family tree, will be sent out in due course. 

PE: 

        PE will take place on Wednesday afternoons. All the children should come dressed for the day in their PE kits, so warm joggers and a fleecy hoodie are ideal for the chilly weather as we will do PE outside as much as possible. Please make sure that all trainers fit and, if your child has lace-up trainers, please spend some time teaching them how to tie their own laces. This is a key life skill and needs a lot of practice!

Classroom equipment:

· Children need to bring a water bottle filled with fresh water every day.

· Inhalers should be clearly labelled and will be kept in the classroom.

· All reading, AR and Guided Reading books should be brought to school every day.

· All reading diaries need to be brought in on a Monday but will not be returned home until later in the week for safety reasons in the current health crisis.

Routines and expectations: You may find that some routines and expectations are different from KS1; this is because we aim to start building greater independence in Year 3. However, we think that it is very important that all children are still released to an adult by a staff member at the end of the day for safety reasons. This will be through the main school entrance for the foreseeable future.

We would ask that all important messages and information are emailed or phoned through to office since face-to-face discussions with parents are not part of our daily routine at the present time. Please note that forgotten items will not be accepted and passed on by the office, so help your child check that they have everything with them that they need for the day.  

Expectations of behaviour remain high. There are several ways that you will know when your child’s behaviour is good: they will receive certificates from the class teacher or Head teacher or they may receive special stickers

and class rewards. The school follows the 'Good to be Green' behaviour system, whereby children earn Golden Time through their good behaviour all week and join in with chosen activities on a Friday afternoon. However there are also Warnings and Consequence cards for repeated misbehaviour: afternoon 'Golden Breaks,' and fortnightly Friday afternoon Golden Time, may be lost and cannot be redeemed in order to reinforce the consequences of making poor choices. In the case of repeated undesirable behaviour by a child, the class teacher contact parents to discuss issues and formulate a way forward to best address the situation. 

             Wow Starter to introduce our next History topic -   the Bronze Age

   The children were challenged to find and solve a set of clues which sent them all around the school grounds to collect a range of artefacts. These artefacts which would provide them with little snippets of information about the next 'Age' in our journey through prehistoric times in Britain - the Bronze Age. The children not only found some items made of bronze, which they predicted, but they also collected a strange pottery cup called a 'beaker', as well as other pottery items and some earrings made from gold. The children were very puzzled to find familiar stone and bone tools along the way, which they recognised from previous learning about the Stone Age.

   The purpose of this activity was to intrigue the children with a historical mystery . . .  who were the strangely-named 'Beaker people' with their oddly-shaped cups, and what did they have to do with bringing new bronze skills (and precious gold) to ancient Britain? Additionally, the task was designed to help the children appreciate that periods of History do not have clear boundaries but overlap: during the Bronze Age, people didn't suddenly stop using familiar materials such as stone, bone and simple clay items from earlier times. So who had the skills to make bronze, what was it used for and how did all this affect prehistoric life and society? All will be revealed whilst considering our Big Question during this topic is, 'Why were some people rich and others poor in the Bronze Age?'

   Take a look at the photos of us during our History Mystery Morning!

                    Stonehenge Art

In History, the children have been learning about the truly fascinating stone circles known as Stonehenge in Wiltshire. This iconic structure, whose first phase of construction even predates the Great Pyramids of Egypt, was developed over a very long period of time during the late Neolithic Era of the Stone Age and has been the focus of much speculation and study for hundreds of years in Britain. In the 17th century, scholars thought that Stonehenge was created by the Romans; in fact, by the time the Romans invaded Britain, the monument was already ancient! The children were also amazed to learn that many of the largest stones were transported all the way from Wales, and their developing skills as historians led them to ask many questions along the lines of the 'Why did they . . . ?' and 'How did they . . . ?' variety. To reflect their understanding of the significance to ancient Britons of the summer solstice (which is believed to be central to the siting of Stonehenge and it's alignment with the sun at dawn), the children created artwork showing the familiar standing stones - made by paper tearing - silhouetted against a stunning sunrise paint wash. The results are fantastic and are creating an eye-catching display in school.

                              Stone Age cookery with Stella

Y3 has been very lucky to have a cookery session with Stella, who works for the school's catering company and loves to spend time promoting healthy eating and positive attitudes among our children. Using a Stone Age theme, the children helped Stella prepare 'Stone Age soup' (albeit with modern day implements!) The children had lots of opportunites to learn how to prepare vegetables using knives safely - then finally to sample the soup! Everyone tried some, even if it was only the smallest taste, but lots of the children actually cleared their bowls and, like Oliver Twist, asked if they could have some more! Take a look at the photos - just like Ready Steady Cook!

Gladstone Pottery Museum Trip

As part of our Local History project about the Pottery Industry, Y3 visited Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton to experience at first-hand what a traditional pot bank was like. The museum offers a fascinating insight into the history of Stoke-on-Trent, famous the world over for the quality of its pottery.

The Gladstone China Works, as it was known, was not a famous manufacturer like Doultons, Wedgwood, Minton, Beswick, Spode and others. However, it was typical of hundreds of other similar factories in the area making everyday ceramics for the mass market.

The Gladstone Works opened as a museum in 1974, the buildings we visited today having been saved from demolition at the last minute in 1970 when the factory doors finally closed - some ten years after its coal-fired bottle ovens were last operational.

The children had a wonderful day at Gladstone Pottery, finding out how bone china tableware was made in original workshops, going inside the giant bottle ovens, seeing how pots were 'thrown' and marvelling at the speed with which skilled craftswomen could make delicate clay flowers and decorations! We also gained an insight into how hard life would have been in those far-off days, finding out about the gruelling nature of the work - even for young children who were employed in physically demanding jobs for very long hours such as mould runners. Suddenly, having to go to school every day didn't seem like such a bad option!

The highlight for many children (apart from visiting the museum shop!) was having the chance to design and make a product - either a plate inspired by the famous local paintress, Clarice Cliff, or a clay character mask. 

Take a look at our photos - fantastic memories of our brilliant day!