Year 3
Welcome to the Advent Term in Year 3!
I hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to life in Year 3 and Key Stage Two! Our school theme is inspired by a quote from Romans 12:5 ‘One World, One Family – We are One Body in Christ’ St. Paul teaches us that we are united and equal, connected by our shared faith in Christ. This year and beyond, we will show solidarity and care for this one world and global family that we are a part of.
This Term, our Big Question comes from our R.E. topic Branch One ‘Creation and Covenant’ …‘How does caring for the world help change the world for the better? ’ We will be exploring the beautiful story of creation and thinking about what it means to be made in the image of God, with every person valued equally. We will consider how we can be good stewards of our wonderful world and reflect on the ways we can care for creation and for one another. We will also enjoy exploring the Psalms and Pope Francis’ message about living in a loving relationship with God, each other and the world around us.
After half-term, we move to Branch Two ‘Prophecy and Promise’ and the Big Question will be… ‘How do Mary and Joseph show trust in God? We will explore why Sunday is a special and holy day for Christians, linking this to the story of Creation and the importance of rest. We will learn more about how Catholics celebrate Mass, including the prayers, signs and actions we use, with a particular focus on listening to God’s Word. We will also explore the story of Joseph and the angels, discovering how Joseph trusted God and how the angels shared God’s message about the birth of Jesus. Our ’Other Faith’ this term will be Judaism.
Our learning journey together will be an exciting, risk-taking, challenging but most of all, a fun one. We will use a range of high quality texts, information books, film and music to inspire and motivate us! We will be examining and analysing various texts in English, and using imaginative models of writing to inspire us to create our own. To help enhance our Speaking and Listening skills we will participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role-play, improvisations and the occasional heated debate.
We will be examining and analysing many different types of texts in English, and using good models of writing as well as video and poetry to inspire us to create our own. We are going to be reading some exciting stories this term! Our Whole Class Reads are ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ by Oliver Jeffers, ‘The Tunnel’ and ‘Hansel and Gretel’ by Anthony Browne, the fantastic ‘Stone Age Boy’ by Satoshi Kitamura. Other books include the beautifully written ‘Stone girl, Bone girl’ by Laurence Anholt and ‘The Pebble in My Pocket: A History of Our Earth’ by Meredith Hooper,
In Year 3, we will discover all about The Stone Age and through History and Geography, deepen our understanding of timelines and changes in Britain, from hunter-gatherers to early farmers. We will Identify, compare and contrast the different countries in the UK, name and locate counties and cities and understand the human impact on the UK over time.
This term we will focus on ‘Place Value’ and ’Addition and Subtraction’ really mastering our knowledge of numbers. We will reinforce and extend our Maths through data collection, measuring and investigations! We are going to revise number bonds and multiplication facts in order to improve fluency!
Year 3 must know their 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 8x and 10x by the end of the year. The children will be given their passwords for the websites Times Tables Rock Stars and Mathletics to support them in this area.
In Science we will be studying ‘Rocks and Fossils’ and ‘Nutrition and Skeletons’ so plenty of investigative work to be undertaken.
Music will be improving our performance skills and repeat a rhythm on one or two notes on a tuned instrument in the context of a Call and Response. In Computing we will learn how to stay safe online and use programming skills to create work related to our topic. In P.E. we will learn Multi-sports with Gordon and Mrs Al-Sarraj wil be teaching the class Yoga. In Art, in we will explore prehistoric art, recreating the style of cave artists using charcoal and natural pigments . Next half-term, the children will put their work in Science and Geography to a more practical use in Design and Technology by investigating seasonal food in the UK and applying their understanding to create a seasonal food tart.
How you can help
There will be reading, spellings and Maths homework every week. There could be follow-up research in other areas if appropriate. Please check the weekly homework sheet, which the children will receive every Monday, and encourage your child to complete the tasks set on time. Use the green Homework diary to sign and communicate with school any queries. Try to practice multiplication facts and number bonds daily, this can be done using their TTRS/Numbots login. Remember, little and often is the best way to learn. Every child should read daily and have the opportunity to discuss what they’ve read in order to check their understanding. Reading diaries need to be signed and brought into school every day.
Please ensure your child has their P.E. kit (black shorts, plain white T-shirt and trainers or plimsolls) in school on Mondays. PE kit should stay in school all week and can be taken home for washing on Friday. During colder weather, children can wear a dark-coloured tracksuit over their kit. Your child also needs a painting apron/old shirt in school to protect their uniform during art lessons. This should remain on their peg in their bag all week.
Please check the Year 3 Web page for updates and recommended websites. We’re also on Facebook and X (follow the links from the top of the Home page)
If you have any spare time and feel you could offer some specialist skills to enhance our learning this term, maybe you have some woodwork skills, are an expert baker or would be able to chat to the children about your job. I’d love to hear from you! If you have any queries please feel free to ask.
Thank you for your support, such exciting times ahead!
Mrs Byrne and Mrs Al-Sarraj
Educational Visit Stone Age Day at Bestwood Education Centre.
We will travel back in time to learn in a fun and engaging way, recognising changes in Britain from the present day back to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. We will learn what early Man needed to survive: Build shelters and find out what they ate back in prehistoric Britain. We will also build Stonehenge and discuss worshipping the Sun. We will get creative and tell our latest hunting story using cave painting and make our own clay pot.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Wednesday 9th September – Mass of Welcome at 2:00pm
Monday 5th October Stone Age Day at Bestwood
Wednesday 20th September Parent Open Evening
Friday 18th September Youth Mental Health Day
Wednesday 14th October : Whole School Harvest Mass
Friday 16th October – INSET Day
HALF-TERM 19th –30th October
Monday 2nd November – Children return to school
Wednesday 11th November 11.00 am: Remembrance Liturgy
Monday 16th November Anti-bullying Week
Friday 20th November INSET DAY
Wednesday 9th December Y3 Christmas Nativity Celebration 2pm
Tuesday 15th December Christmas Jumper Day and Carols around the Christmas Tree 2pm
Wed 16th December 2pm: Advent Mass
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS 21st Dec– 2nd Jan 2026
