Welcome to Year 3’s Class Webpage!
Please scroll down for our weekly blog and useful documents!


This will be updated weekly with information about children's learning, updates and resources.

As with all other year groups throughout the school, Year 3 has two classes: 3W and 3B. Mr O'Dwyer will be teaching 3W whilst Mr Langton (Mon - Wed) and Mrs Hill (Wed - Fri) will share 3B. We are very lucky indeed to be supported by Mrs Hodkinson who will be based in 3W during the mornings and Mrs Young who will support 3B. Mrs Young will also support both classes during the afternoons, leading interventions.

We realise the transition from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 can be very daunting for children as well as parents. Whilst we endeavour to ensure consistency in teaching and learning, there are fundamental differences to the school day which you need to be aware of. These are all detailed in the PowerPoint below "Information for Parents" and we would strongly advise taking the time to look through this. Learning in School This will largely mirror and build on prior learning in Key Stage 1. We will continue to have a topic focus for the wider curriculum and this term's topic addresses the question "Did cavemen spearhead the way to modern life?" This will primarily be a History-based topic but will incorporate other subjects such as Art, DT and Science.

Children will receive weekly RE lessons which follow the Cornwall Agreed Syllabus. Reading Reading continues to be the foundation for all learning in Key Stage 2. As such we encourage you to listen to your child read at home as often as possible. This will ensure that they continue to develop fluency, vocabulary and comprehension which are all vital components of being a good reader. All children will be listened to at least once a week every week throughout the year and we will keep detailed notes in school for assessment purposes. For this reason, staff will not record a comment in your child's Reading Record but they will initial to show that they have read with them. Please ensure that your child comes to school with their Reading Packet every day. In addition to developing skills for reading, children will have weekly visits to the School Library in order to help them develop their love for reading. Children will be able to borrow any book they wish to. If you have any concerns about your child's reading or would like more information, please feel free to speak to your child's teacher.

Home Learning

As learning at home has been proven to improve children's progress by an average of at least two months, we realise this is a really important opportunity not only to ensure progress but also to provide parents with a link to their child's learning. There will be a weekly piece of homework given; this will alternate between English and Maths and will link directly with either learning that has happened in class or work that will soon happen. Spelling is increasingly important throughout Key Stage 2 and so we will be monitoring progress weekly. Please take the time to help your child learn their spellings at home; a variety of creative ways will be provided on the spelling sheet which will be sent home weekly following the lesson. A copy will also be posted on the website as we are very aware paper copies tend to go missing! Spellings will be differentiate according to your child's ability and if you are unsure about which spellings your child should learn, please speak to a member of staff who will happily advise. At the end of Year 4, children will be required to take part in statutory Times Tables Assessments and so we begin helping the children to learn their tables straight away in Year 3. It is amazing that with all the technology we have in the world today, learning tables by rote is by far the best way to ensure fluency and accuracy. The great thing about this is that you can learn them anywhere at any time; in the car, on a walk, in the shower...! In addition to this, we will be issuing a termly "Topic Homework Grid" which will focus on the wider curriculum and link directly to our topic (not just English and Maths). We value creativity and welcome any home-learning the children complete. This will always be celebrated and we very much look forward to some wonderful creations. Please keep an eye on this webpage for homework updates.

Important Days

Monday: PE and Library. Please ensure your child comes to school in their PE kit. Library books will be changed on Mondays as required.
Thursday: Spelling test and lesson. New words given.
Friday: Weekly homework (Maths/English focus).

We very much look forward to working with you throughout the year to ensure that each and every child learns, thrives and excels.

Best wishes, The Year 3 Team,

I am sure that you all have some very tired but very happy children!  We have absolutely loved our swimming lessons this week and have all made so much progress!  A big thank you to the leisure centre for accommodating us and helping us all to be much better swimmers - something that is so important, especially where we are lucky enough to live.

Homework
This week's homework (posted below) is about "fronted adverbials" which is new learning for the children but something that they will use and develop throughout Key Stage 2.  As fronted adverbials can be used in many different ways (when, where, how, how often, how much) we will focus on different "jobs" for the next few weeks.  As always, please ask if you or your child are unsure of anything as we understand that few of us were taught this when we were at school! 

• remain in our Year 3 bubble at all times
• keep the number of children in corridors to an absolute minimum which at the moment means that only those who are having a school dinner can access the corridor, escorted by an adult (wearing a mask) and only at their allocated time.
• hold virtual assemblies via Teams
• ensure children wash their hands before play, after play, before lunch and after lunch.
• clean tables down at every playtime.
• keep doors and windows open: this may mean that some children get chilly.  If this is the case, they are more than welcome to wear extra layers underneath their school uniform.
• use the outside space as much as possible.
• ensure adults will always wear a mask when leaving the classroom and will always wash their hands before returning to the classroom.

A rather productive week in Year 3:

The fun continued this week; the children developed their cave-painting skills, thinking very carefully about line and colour.  We even  stained the painting with tea to make our paintings look ancient.

In English, the children have really enjoyed writing their own versions of Stone Age Boy; we definitely have some budding authors amongst us.

Swimming
A reminder that we are swimming every afternoon next week.  We have spoken to the children today about this and have suggested they bring in an additional snack as they may get rather hungry.  Similarly, we will encourage lots of drinking throughout the day in order to help keep up children's fluid intake so please ensure named water bottles are sent in with your child.  We are really looking forward to this and know the children will have a great time.

No PE on Monday (our PE is our swimming sessions) so normal uniform on Monday please.

Home Learning
We have been super impressed with all the reading that is taking place at home - please remember to send your child in with their reading books every day as reading is a big focus for us.

Well done to all those children who have been practising learning spellings at home; we have seen some amazing progress!  This week's spellings are posted below.

After some gremlins in the system, maths homework is now posted below!  The general maths homework for nearly all children is the PDF document (Maths 24.09.21).  The Maths Mastery is for those children who are working above Age-Related Expectations.  The children should know who they are but as always, if you are in any doubt, please contact your child's class teacher who will be more than happy to help.

We hope you have an enjoyable weekend and we look forward to lots more fun next week.

Best wishes,
The Year 3 Team