Year 3 2023 - 2024
Miss Frayne
Welcome to Year 3 during the Summer Term!
Class Saint: St Bernadette
Dear Year 3 Parents and Carers,
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with friends and family, welcome back to school and the final term of year three! I am not sure where the time has gone but I hope this term brings us all lots of sunshine.
Our curriculum this term
Religion
Our Religious Education topics will be ‘Celebrating Easter and the Pentecost’ and ‘Being a Christian’. During our ‘Celebrating Easter and the Pentecost’ topic the children will explore how the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus and learn that Jesus appeared to some of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. In our ‘Being a Christian’ topic, the children will begin to understand the importance of prayer and what being a Christian involves. They will learn what Jesus teaches about helping others and how St Paul had to learn to be a Christian.
Maths
In maths, we will continue to work through the Power Maths scheme. The units we will be focusing on during the summer term are measurement (capacity), fractions (part 2), money, time, angles and properties of shape and statistics. Children will continue to learn their times tables for our weekly tests.
English
In English, we will be focussing on the texts ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker and ‘Zeraffa Giraffa’ by Dianne Hofmeyr. Now that many of the children are becoming confident decoders, the reading focus begins to shift in Year 3, and concentrates more on developing comprehension skills. Our shared texts will also inspire writing in a range of genres including, narratives, poetry, and instructional text types. In addition, discrete grammar, spelling and handwriting lessons will also be taught.
History
This term, for our main topic, the children will be investigating their local area, and will consider which buildings are of significance and should be preserved. They will conduct their own research, using sources including recommended websites, history books, street directories and census returns. We will hopefully go on a walk around the local area to look at local listed buildings in Alsager.
Geography
In this unit, children will learn about the coast of the British Isles. The children will consider some of the advantages and disadvantages of living by the coast, and how much of the UK’s coast has changed from a focus on fishing to one on tourism. Throughout the unit they will also be introduced to a few contrasting coasts around the world, and associated environmental issues, extending their coastal and locational knowledge, and encouraging critical thinking and presenting an argument.
Science
In Science, our two topics will be ‘Plants’ and ‘Light’. Through these topics, the children will develop their scientific enquiry skills, making observations, predictions, and conclusions.
In our ‘Plants’ topic, the children will identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants and explore the requirements of plants for life and growth. In our ‘Light’ topic, the children will recognise that they need light to see things and that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes. Children will also investigate how shadows are formed.
Computing
This term the children will be learning about branching databases, simulations, graphing and PowerPoint presentations.
Art and Design
On our journey to become growing artists, the children will be focusing on craft and design specifically looking at fabric of nature. I will also be running a drawing club on a Tuesday after-school.
DT
After May half-term the children will be learning all about the digital world in particularly ‘wearable technology’.
Music and MFL
The children's music lessons will cover the themes of ‘sporting anthems’ and ‘meet and greet’. They will also continue with their French specialist lessons.
PE and Swimming
PE this term will continue to be on a MONDAY. Please ensure your child has their kit in school on this day and that it is clearly labelled. The children will be doing athletics and striking and fielding outside. Swimming will be every week for the whole term on a THURSDAY afternoon. They will need to bring their swimming kit into school with them.
Homework
All homework tasks are intended to benefit your child’s learning, by consolidating work done in school, and encouraging them to work more independently. Each Friday, I will update the Year 3 page on the school website to provide details of the homework set each week.
In Year 3, your child’s homework will include:
- Daily reading;
- Spellings (tested on Wednesday and uploaded on Wednesday)
- Times tables (tested on Friday) practise on Times Tables Rockstars;
- One Maths or English task per week (set on a Friday and due in on the following Friday)
When will my child be heard to read?
Your child will read with an adult once every two weeks. The day may change, so please could you ensure your child has their reading book and yellow reading record in school every day. Once they have finished their book, your child is welcome to change their book on any day of the week, provided their record has been signed.
Please do not hesitate to contact me directly, with a query or concern, by emailing Ofrayne@stgabriels.cheshire.sch.uk I will endeavour to respond at the earliest opportunity, but since this email address cannot be monitored whilst I am teaching, if your concern is of an urgent nature, you may need to telephone the school office or email admin@stgabriels.cheshire.sch.uk
If you want to report your child's absence, please contact the office directly.
Kind regards,
Miss Frayne
