Home Classes Welcome to year 3 - elder and juniper classes

Welcome to Year 3 - Elder and Juniper Classes

Teachers:

Miss Straw

Teacher: Elder Class

My name is Miss Straw and I am so excited to start my teaching journey at Sandown after finishing my degree in Primary Education at the University of Brighton. Outside of school I enjoy long walks with my puppy called Billie, and rides in the forest on my horse called George. I also enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and family.

Miss Siotto

Teacher: Juniper Class

• Half Italian and can speak Italian • Love to travel- lived and taught in 5 continents • Trying to roller skate • Like to sea swim • Will dance at any opportunity • Like being outdoors and going for long walks • Favourite animal is a flamingo • Could eat crisps all day

TAs:

Mrs Gurr

TA:

Mrs Lewin

TA:

After what has been a strange and challenging time for many, we are now looking forward to the new busy year ahead of us. We have lots of interesting and engaging topics for the children to enjoy, including:

Do You Believe in Magic?
Rocking All Over the World
Let There Be Light
Just Around the River Bend
Watch Me Grow
The Mummy Returns

Parent meetings will be arranged throughout the year to set your child’s targets and discuss their progress. If you would like to speak to us at any other time, please feel free to message us on Class Dojo.

Have a look at the tabs below to see what we have been learning about in each term as well as for details of our latest Home Learning Challenge and our termly Topic Leaflet.

TERM 1

We have had a fantastic start to Year 3. The children have quickly adjusted to the new routines in Year 3.

In English, we have been reading Roald Dahl’s ‘The Magic Finger’. We have explored the story through role-play and used it to inspire our own diaries and narratives. The children have also enjoyed celebrating ‘Poetry Day’ and Storytelling Week. We hope they are feeling inspired now to write their own stories!

In Maths, we have extensively learnt about Place Value and how to use the column method for addition and subtraction. The children are now much more secure following these methods.

In Science, the children have explored the human body focussing on types of skeletons, muscles and joints. The children have enjoyed learning about different types of skeletons and the importance and keeping our bodies healthy. The children have learnt about living things, including how animals can be carnivores, herbivores or omnivores, needing food, water, air, shelter and space. The children have learnt about keeping our bodies healthy and the different food groups. The children have enjoyed predicting and investigating the fattiness of various foods.

During History this term, the children have begun to explore the Stone Age. To begin the day the children had a go at cave painting. They drew pictures they imagined might have been in the walls such as hunters, animals and sceneries. They had a brilliant day. The children have been using an enquiry approach to discover how life changed throughout the Stone Age. They loved dressing up for Stone Age day. In Maths, the children created their own symbols to create numbers! The children learnt a Stone Age version of ‘We Will Rock You’! In the afternoon we went into the woods. The children made fantastic necklaces using clay and flax string creating teeth, bones, leaves. They learnt how to make fire with flint and weave natural materials to make a wall.

In Art this term, we have been looking at lines and texture. The children have been looking at how to draw with increasing accuracy. We have been looking at the artist Andy Goldsworthy to inspire our artwork. The children have really enjoyed creating their own work inspired by Andy using the fantastic outdoor environment available to us.

As you can see, we have had a busy but exciting start to the year, with lots of new things planned for the next Term.

TERM 2

What a busy, fun filled term! The children have now settled in to Year 3 and are working hard every day to ‘Be the Best’ they can be.

In English, we have been reading Ug by Raymond Briggs. We have explored the story through role-play and used it to inspire our own diaries. The children particularly enjoyed creating instructions for their very own Stone Age stew. There were some VERY disgusting ideas! The children have also been learning about headings and subheadings. They have enjoyed group work to create posters based on animals and have then created their very own non-chronological report based on a woolly mammoth.

In Maths, the children have been focussing on securing their knowledge of the 2,5 and 10 times table and started learning their 3,4 and 8 times table. The children enjoy completing their number bond tests both at home and at school. The children have made fantastic progress and have been very proud of themselves when they moved onto another level.

In Science, the children have been learning about Animal Nutrition and the Skeletal System. The children are now becoming fantastic independent scientists. They have learnt about the different parts of the body including, joints, bones, muscles. At the end of this Term the children investigated the question ‘Do longer body parts have more joints?’

In History, the children have discovered that the Stone Age ended because people discovered how to make bronze. The children have been learning about how the descovery of Bronze changed how people lived. The children then learnt about the Iron Age and how the Celts shared their knowledge of Iron with others. This created blacksmiths which created new farming tools and meant that Iron Age people had more free time and could work in other jobs.

In Geography, the children have been learning the topic ‘One Planet, Our world’. The children have learnt how to map read to find different countries on the map. We created the world identifying the different layers, the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core. We learnt how earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains form when the tectonic plates move.

This term we have seen more children than ever earning their Independence Watch! To earn their watch, the children have to model independence at home and school and bring home learning in on time. They also need to tell the time to o’clock, half past, quarter past, and quarter to.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holidays and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2023!

TERM 3

Year 3 have had an excellent start to 2023! The children have continued to work their socks off and are making brilliant progress in their learning. They have greatly impressed their teachers with their developing narrative and letter writing skills in English. In Maths we have focused our learning on telling the time and are beginning to explore measurement.

In Science the children have been learning about contact and non-contact forces, including friction and magnetism. They investigate frictional and magnetic forces, and identify parts of a magnet and magnetic materials.

In Geography the children have been learning about the features and characteristics of Earth’s layers, including a detailed exploration of volcanos and how the tectonic plates move and what effects they can have. We started the term of with a visitor from a rock and mineral expert. The children learnt about the different rock types (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic); what rocks are made of; and also a little bit about how they are formed. They also learnt about some crystals that can be found in the rocks.

In Art this term the children have learnt about the genre of figure drawing. They have studied the figure drawings and urban landscapes of the artist LS Lowry and create wonderful pieces of artwork in his style to show scenes from the playground. I’m sure you will agree that we have some wonderful artists in the making!

In RE the children have been learning about the religion Islam and how Muslims worship. They have been looking at what a mosque is and what happens during Ramadam.

In PE this term we have been focusing on the cognitive cog. The children have been learning their dynamic balancing on a line and ball skills coordination. The children practiced this by walking along a line as a three legged race. The children found it very challenging but also great fun!

We will be continuing to learn about lots of these topics in Term 4 with lots of other exciting topics as well including creating cam mechanisms. We are looking forward to an exciting new Term together.