Horsforth Newlaithes

Year 3

Autumn Term

 

Year 3 Newsletter Autumn 2024

We have come to the end of our first half term in Year 3 and it has been a busy one! We are really proud of how well all the children have settled into Year 3 and are looking forward to lots more exciting learning opportunities next half term. It is always a fun-filled and exciting time in the run up to Christmas!

This Half Term

In maths, our focus on place value enabled the children to secure their understanding of the value of digits up to 1,000. They worked on finding 1, 10 and 100 more or less than a number. We used number lines to estimate where a number would fit between 0 and 1,000 before moving on to using efficient methods for addition and subtraction.

In our writing, the children enjoyed reading ‘The True Story of the Three Little Pigs’. They did a great job exploring this story and then wrote some wonderful fairy tales of their own. After that, the children had a shock when they arrived in our classroom to find that it had been invaded by trolls! We became troll experts and wrote an information text which we planned using subheadings. Your child may be able to tell you where trolls like to go on holiday or what trolls get up to for fun! Can they remember some adverbs they used to open sentences?

‘Krindlekrax’ was our first class novel and the children have really enjoyed reading it. They have used their whole class reading sessions this week to complete a project of their choice which has included character descriptions and pictures, poems and exploring key themes. Our next novel, ‘The Stolen Spear’, will kick start our new history topic on the Stone Age. 

We have had a lot of fun in science this half term as we explored ‘rocks and soils’. The children have been fascinated by exploring the properties and uses of different rocks. A particularly engaging lesson for the children was learning about the life of a famous fossil hunter, Mary Anning.

We hope you enjoyed seeing the children’s artwork gallery when you visited for PCEs. They loved exploring the work of Mackenzie Thorpe. Throughout this unit, children have refined their skills on colour mixing and use of watercolours for backgrounds, as well as sketching and colouring.

In geography, we have focused on the UK. We were impressed by the children’s knowledge of the countries that make up the UK and their capital cities. We discussed similarities and differences, sorted physical and human features and talked about different kinds of settlements. We then enjoyed using maps and atlases to find some major rivers within the UK before zooming in on rivers in Yorkshire. Can your child remember any using the mnemonic, “sunwacd?”

Orienteering has been a hit with the children and it has been wonderful to see them working in effective partnerships to use a map of the school grounds to find the checkpoints. Their other PE sessions have been focussed on football skills and small game activities.

We have really enjoyed our French lessons where the children have learnt some colours, numbers and basic greetings. These sessions are full of songs and games and the children are doing so well taking risks by attempting new vocabulary. Can they tell you any French colours?

In music, we have developed our understanding of the key musical terms ‘tempo’ and ‘pitch’. We have listened and appraised new songs, had fun learning and performing them. We have started to use instruments within these sessions too.

Coming up in Autumn 2:

This is always a very busy and exciting half term; we have lots to get through before Christmas!

English: “The Stolen Spear” will be our whole class reader for the first half term. We shall be continuing our unit based on our previous class reader ‘Krindlekrax’. Following this, we will be exploring and learning how to write seasonal poems.

Maths:  We will be continuing our learning on addition and subtraction before looking at multiplication and division.

Science: ‘Forces and magnetism’ will be our science topic this half term.

History: We shall start by looking at the Stone Age. This will be launched through our exciting Stone Age workshop.

DT: We will be focusing on designing and making our own shell structures.

PSHE: Our focus will be on ‘Celebrating Differences’.

RE: We will explore the question – ‘How do Jewish people use stories to remember God’s covenant?’

ICT: Learning to use simple ‘coding’.

Music: We will be preparing for our Christmas carol concert.

French: We will learn the vocabulary associated with calendars and celebrations.

PE: We will complete units on dance, ball skills and games.

Important Reminders

If you need to contact us, please use the following emails:

mulberry@stf.newlaithes.co.uk

juniper@stf.newlaithes.co.uk

 

  • Don’t forget to check the homework slip each week for homework and weekly reminders.
  • Please make sure that homework books are handed in by Tuesday morning at the latest each week.
  • PE Days will be Tuesday and Friday for Mulberry and Tuesday and Wednesday for Juniper.
  • Please continue with your daily 10 minute reads at home. This really does make all the difference.
  • Remember to use TTRS and hit the button the practise x2, x5, x10 and x3
  • Children should have a named water bottle in school daily and a coat – particularly in the changeable weather we are having. Remind your children to stay off the grass and stick to paths around school to avoid muddy feet coming into school.
  • Please make sure reading books and bookmarks are kept in their plastic wallets and are in school daily.

 

Key Dates

Tuesday 5th November - Stone Age day

Fri 22nd Nov - PTA disco

Wed 4th Dec - Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Dinner Day

Friday 6th December - PTA Christmas Fair 3.30 - 5.30

Thurs 12th Dec - KS2 Church Rehearsal

Tuesday 17th December - KS2 Christmas Concert at St Margaret’s Church 6pm

Wed 18th Dec - Y3/ Y4 Christmas parties in the afternoon

Friday 20th December – Enrichment morning/Break up for Christmas

Additional Information