Welcome to Year 3’s Class Page!

Spring 2 HALF-TERM

English - English lessons take place every day and are interlinked with our weekly topic, guided reading and grammar lessons. This half-term we will be making links to our Extreme Earth topic by exploring related texts such as Pebble in My Pocket, The Street Beneath My Feet and Fossil Girl. Through these books children will learn about punctuation, grammar and a wide range of adventurous vocabulary. They will then have opportunities to independently apply these skills in writing and oracy-based tasks. Towards the end of the half term we will engaging in Easter themed English lessons to get into the festive spirit.

Reading - Reading takes place every day in school in a variety of ways: whole-class guided reading sessions, individual reading, subject lessons and our daily home time story session. With daily guided reading sessions that focus on a weekly text, our pupils are able to explore a wide range of text types throughout the academic year. The children will develop their reading speed, expression abilities and general comprehension skills through a range of retrieval, vocabulary and inference based activities. All of the fundamental reading skills are of high priority, but ensuring your child enjoys reading is the main thing that matters! #ReadingRocks

Please encourage your child to read as often as possible outside of school. If you need any recommendations, please ask. Lovereading4kids.co.uk is a wonderful website for recommendations, but we have a vast selection in school. Remember, comprehension and an appreciation of what you have read is of equal importance to speed and fluency. It is so important that each and every child has an enjoyment of reading. There is a book for everyone! If you're not sure what your child should be reading next, please come and ask.

Maths - Children engage with daily mathematic lessons and added challenges. Each morning the children complete a '10 a day' fluency sheet to consolidate and refresh their skills / previous learning. During this half-term the focus will be exploring fractions before moving onto our final unit of measurement.

Science - Science lessons take place every Wednesday afternoon. The children will be learning about our extreme earth and all about rocks. We will be conducting our own experiments, exploring/testing different types of rocks and we will even be making our own chocolate rocks!

Geography - Our current topic is 'Extreme Earth', we will be focussing on volcanos, tornados, tsunamis and earthquakes. This makes strong links to learning in English and Science. The children will be exploring concepts such as natural disasters and how they can impact human life and the environment.

Art & Design – Our current topic is spring based art based around artists such as Beatrix Potter who created Blue Peter. We will be looking at drawing techniques, tones and springtime landscapes to create our own seasonal art.

R.E - This half-term we will be continuing to explore Christianity, with our theme being salvation and our enquiry question ‘What is good about good Friday?’.
PSHE – Our next PSHE unit is ‘Healthy Me’ where we will be exploring things that we can do to keep our bodies and minds happy and healthy.

P.E - Physical education lessons are every TUESDAY morning, so don't forget to bring the correct kit, ready for this day. This is a white T-Shirt, black shorts and a pair of black pumps. It would be ideal if this kit was clearly labelled and kept securely in a labelled P.E. bag, so that any misplaced items can be returned quickly. Have a pair of track pants and something warmer available as we will be outside as often as possible.

3S = Have an extra PE session on a TUESDAY morning for this half-term only.
3M = Have an extra PE session on a MONDAY afternoon for this half-term only.

Homework - Reading will be the children's main activity that is expected outside of the classroom. If the right book is found, this should not seem like hard work!
Weekly spellings and maths homework will be handed out every Friday. We ask for this to be completed and handed in by the following Friday morning.

Bedrock and Purple Mash will host extra weekly activities, please ask for any login details if you are unsure. We encourage the children to login into TTRockstars at home to increase their general fluency. Of course, any additional research or work is richly encouraged and will only benefit your child's progress throughout the year.
If you have any questions or queries, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment or speak to us during drop-off and pick-up times!

Miss Shakeshaft & Mrs Mainprize :)

Reminders:
• Bring a fresh bottle of water every day.
• Bring your reading book and reading record every day.
• Toast and milk can be ordered for the half-term on Parent Pay. If you are unsure how to use Parent Pay, please contact the school office.
• PE lessons are every Tuesday morning.
• Maths homework and spellings are handed out every Friday and collected the following Friday morning.