Trip to Magna

This term, Year 3 had the opportunity to visit Magna. Children used maps to navigate around the four pavilions; Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Children were amazed by the fire tornado and explored how natural activity can change landscapes. Additionally, Year 3 attended a forces workshop at Magna. Children were able to investigate and explore the power of forces using water, fire, rockets and water cannons! 

Visitors from Gambia

We have loved reading One Plastic Bag as part of our Reading for Meaning lessons this half term. Children took to the hot seat to proudly represent the recycling women of Gambia who turned plastic bags into purses. We learned a lot about their experiences and the importance of recycling to keep our environment clean. Everyone felt very inspired by the true story of Isatou Ceesay. 

Music fun!

Children in Year 3 are enjoying their music lessons this half term; learning how to play the glockenspiel. Children have been busy practising how to hold their glockenspiel beaters correctly. Children have been playing different rhythms and following along a single line stave notation.

English

This term, children in Year 3 have been reading the fable story, Fox. Children have been inferring meaning from the text using illustrations to explore characters appearance and thoughts. Children have been using to range of expanded noun phrases and conjunctions to further expand their ideas. Children will be writing their own fable narratives to retell the story this half term. 

Year 3 have also been doing character building activities in their lessons to help us imagine the feelings and actions of the characters we are studying. Here we can be seen forming a conscience alley for our main character to walk through. Children from each side gave the character arguments for and against the point.

Library Adventure journey

Year 3 have begun their Library Adventure journey. Children used their imagination to design their very own book activities, book covers and spooky characters. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Dewsbury Library. 

Remembrance Day

To celebrate Remembrance Day, Year 3 wrote acrostic poems to explain what remembrance day means to them. Children also visited Dewsbury Town Centre Memorial Garden to remember all those we have lost.

Diwali dance!

Diwali is known as the festive of light. In this year's Diwali assembly, Year 3 performed a spectacular dance to highlight the importance of celebrating others through respect and collaboration. 

Next half term, children will begin to explore the topic of Our Changing World. The activities aim to extend children’s knowledge on this topic. Please ensure that your child is selecting at least three of these activities to complete over the holidays.

Highlighted tasks are part of the Carlton Graduate Programme and will be judged for prizes. Parents and carers are allowed to support their children with these activities.

Practicing their 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 times tables will also be beneficial for your child. Please encourage your child to log in to TT Rock Stars to help them with this.

We are excited to see the amazing pieces of work that your child will create.

International Artist Day!

Year 3 got inventive crafting their artist outfits. Children were inspired by Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and themselves because everyone is an artist!

Year 3's artist for the day was Felrath Hines. Children researched and recreated his artwork using watercolour paints and wax crayons. 

The Iron Man

Children in Year 3 are thoroughly engaged with the book 'The Iron Man' written by Ted Hughes. Children are confidently taking turns to read the book with expression and are enthusiastically incorporating drama to enhance the vibrancy of illustrations from the book. We love making great use of our classroom's reading corner! 

Black History Month Showcase!

This year’s theme of “Reclaiming Narratives” marks a significant shift towards using authentic black voices to shine a brighter light on real stories, allegories and history, while correcting inaccurate narratives of black history and culture.

Our class focus for Black History Month was Phillis Wheatley; an African-American poet who was one of the first to have her work acknowledged and published. 

Year 3's Black History Month Showcase was spectacular! A fantastic effort from all the children and parents. 

English

Children in Year 3 have been fascinated by the book 'The Iron Man' written by Ted Hughes. Children have used their creative writing skills to write their own narratives about a potential threat coming to Earth! Children have successfully used a range of noun phrases, fronted adverbials and similes in their writing. 

Moreover, Year 3 have used their imagination to plan a trap to capture the dangerous Iron Man. Children have written a clear explanation text to the Town Mayor detailing exactly what needs to be done to protect us all from the Iron Man! 

Stone Age to the Iron Age

To celebrate the end of our Iron Age topic, we studied jewellery and ornaments from the era. Children designed their own brooches using crosses, spirals, knots and swirls. Children then created their own 3D version using clay.

Reading for Meaning

As a class, we have enjoyed reading two books this half term; Gregory Cool and Stone Age Boy during our Reading for Meaning lessons. Children have developed their vocabulary, reading comprehension and drama skills. Year 3 have been fantastic at role playing the different characters in the books, having fun freeze-framing key events from the stories. 

Black History Month

Inspired by Black Lives Matter and Black History Month, there is a new campaign for Black History Month 2024 called “Reclaiming Narratives”. This year’s Black History Month in October is more important than ever. It’s not just a month to celebrate the continued achievements and contributions of Black people to the UK and around the world. It’s also a time for continued action to tackle racism, reclaim Black history, and ensure Black history is represented and celebrated all year round.

To celebrate the start of Black History Month, Year 3 recreated artwork inspired by Loïs Mailou Jones. Loïs Mailou Jones was an African-American artist and educator. Children enjoyed studying her artwork, exploring  her abstract style and use of geometric shapes. 

Staying Healthy!

Children in Year 3 enjoyed the fantastic workshop delivered by the Health and Wellbeing Academy from the University of Huddersfield. Children in Year 3 explored the benefits of healthy eating, staying active and the importance of good sleeping habits. Children were surprised by the amount of sugar found in some of their favourite foods! 

History

Year 3 travelled back in time to the Stone Age as we transformed the classroom into a cave. Children created their own cave art using clay and included symbols that were found in caves from 13000 BC.

Science

Year 3 have been experimenting with different materials in our science lessons to see which materials are magnetic and which are not. To our surprise, we discovered that a £1 coin is in fact not magnetic!

Children in Year 3 have also been busy planning and conducting a range of experiments to investigate which magnet is the strongest. Children have had fun using different magnets and were amazed to feel the force of magnets repelling. 

Bushcraft!

Year 3 enjoyed the afternoon outside; exploring the school grounds and visiting the forest school. Children enhanced their understanding of the world around them by examining the seasonal changes Autumn presents. Children celebrated the season of Autumn by creating leaf rubbings using the leaves they collected on their walk. 

Maths

In maths, we have have been using different concrete resources to help us partition numbers into hundreds, tens and ones. Children used a range of resources such as, tens frames, counters and dienes to support their learning. Children have been using these resources to add and subtract numbers. 

First Aid Ready!

Year 3 had a fantastic morning learning all about how to respond to first aid emergencies. Children learnt how to effectively assess first aid situations using the DR ABC method. 

D - Danger 

R - Response

A - Airway

B - Breathing 

C - Circulation 

• Some fantastic work produced by year 3 around the country of term; Italy. How amazing does the Leaning Tower of Pisa look? Well done to everyone that took part!

• Year 3 are thoroughly enjoying their music lessons. This half term, we are focusing on improving our ukulele skills and getting to grips with playing different chords independently.  

• It may all seem like fun and games but playing bingo as part of our PSHCE lessons has helped us to get to know one another better and has also helped our new starters to make friends and see what they have in common with some of the other children. 

• Upholding the value of kindness by spreading love and sharing with our friends in the classroom. What a lovely way to start the new academic year.

• Our word of the week this week is 'senseless'. Children are enjoying our new word of the week board where they can stick on their own fantastic sentences and demonstrate their understanding of the word. 

• As part of our learning in Geography, year 3 have been looking at where our produce comes from and we have been exploring the term 'food miles'. We have used the internet to help us research what foods are produced in different parts of the U.K. 

• Children took to the hot seat to proudly represent the recycling women of Gambia who turned plastic bags into purses. We loved reading One Plastic Bag as part of our Reading for Meaning lessons and everyone felt very inspired by the true story of Isatou Ceesay

• Meet our fantastic and dedicated team of pals. Our planet pals will help us look after the environment, our peace pals are there for anyone who needs a friend and our pedagogy pals will be working as mini teachers helping those who may be struggling with their work. Well done for securing such important roles!

• Who knew noughts and crosses could be educational? Year 3 loved playing against each other to turn boring sentences into interesting and informative ones using a range of different writing features. 

• Thank you to our extremely generous children (and parents) for donating food items as part of our harvest celebrations. Year 3 children are beginning to fill their window sill with all the food ready to donate to the less fortunate.

• Our pedagogy pals have been taking their jobs very seriously and have successfully managed to teach their first lesson independently. What a fantastic achievement. 

• Take a look at some of the informative and colourful posters that children have created in small groups all about Harvest. We have had an amazing time creating our own harvest poems and reflecting on the things that we are thankful for.

• Our focus for Black History Month is Phillis Wheatley, a young black poet who was one of the first to have her work acknowledged and published. We recreated some artwork using the grid method based on an image of her.

• Adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers can be hard but when you get your head around the column method, adding and subtracting even the biggest numbers seems possible. Well done to all the year 3's for doing so well with learning the column method for adding and subtracting.

• For mental health day, year 3 had a visitor from Kirklees council who spoke to us about managing low self esteem. We spoke about situations that we might find ourselves in and helpful ways in which we could overcome them.

• In Art, we looked at different styles of crosshatching that we can use to show light and dark areas. 

• Drama, drama and more drama! The look on our faces says it all! We thoroughly enjoyed getting into the character of Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox and the 4 small foxes from Fantastic Mr. Fox when they were stuck in the tunnel thinking of an escape route from the farmers. 

• The children watched the film 'The Prince of Egypt' to help them understand why Prophet Moses was so important to Judaism. 

• Year 3 have been experimenting with different materials in our science lessons to see which are magnetic and which are not. To our surprise, we discovered that a £1 coin is in fact not magnetic!

• Jack the hand puppet has been helping us with expressing our emotions during our French lessons. We now know how to ask others how they are feeling and how to provide appropriate responses to the question. 

• Autumn 2 Holiday Homework

• Stone Age houses fit for a king! Children did a fantastic job creating stone age houses and complete settlements using a wide range of resources and materials. 

• Using clay and craft knives, year 3 have been creating cave art including symbols that were found in caves from 13000 BC. 

• Year 3 have been doing character building activities in their English lessons to help us imagine the feelings and actions of the characters we are studying. Here we can be seen forming a conscience alley for our main character to walk through. Children from each side would give the character arguments for and against the point. 

• Linking our Topic work on the Stone Age, children have been performing the poem 'A journey through the Stone Age' in their Reading for Meaning lessons.

• Our science lesson was very practical and we were able to study a wide range of rocks under a microscope. We looked closely and worked in teams to identify the different characteristics that the rocks had. 

• The 4th of December marks international Cheetah day. Year 3 researched why these magnificent big cats are now endangered and what can be done to help protect their existence. 

• Year 3 have been busy creating their own fitness routines in small groups. You can see our instructor is doing a fantastic job at demonstrating how to squat to the rest of the group. 

• Year 3 visited Murton Park to experience a full day as Neolithic farmers. We went hunting for wild animals, created clay plots, looked at artifacts from the Stone Age and even wore Stone Age clothing. We all enjoyed the hands on experience of working on the farm and now have a better understanding of what life was like during the Stone Age.

• Children thoroughly enjoyed reading The Ice Palace by Robert Swindells. In this reading lesson, we used drama to summarise our understanding of a scene from the book. 

• We spent our English lesson carefully reading through Rhythm of the Rain which is our new vehicle text this half term. We studied the water cycle and followed the journey that Issacs small jar of water takes from one part of the world to another. 

• Children bought the setting description of a waterfall to life by acting it out and and mirroring the mood of the ever changing river.

• In RE, children are exploring the concept of spirituality. We tried different spiritual activities such as mindful colouring and meditation. To their surprise, a lot of he children found the activities extremely calming and a time where they were able to self reflect and destress.  

• After much anticipation and excitement, children were finally able to open their refugee identity box. We talked about the importance of the box and its contents and we thought of questions that we could ask our refugee when they visit our school. 

• Year 3 were very excited to finally get to meet their partners from Thornhill. We spent the whole day getting to know each other, playing games, having lunch and discussing our Carry my Story journeys. 

• The temperature in the hall was rising as the Montagues and Capulets came face to face! We had  fantastic Shakespeare drama session with Jo Stokes focusing on Romeo and Juliet. 

• To celebrate Earth day, year 3 created art work linked to the effects of plastic pollution on sea animals. We worked in groups and looked at how plastic waste is harmful for sea animals and we can do to help protect them. 

• Year 3 had an amazing time hosting our parents in the classroom whilst we had our English lesson. The parents were very impressed with the learning take place in school and thoroughly enjoyed working alongside their children. 

• As part of our P4C lesson, year 3 have been focusing on the importance of displaying emotion and how we can express this. We took to the forest school to use natural resources to create faces which showcased different emotions. 

• Year 3 have been learning about different Gods and Goddesses during our History lessons on Ancient Egypt. Children were amazed to know that there were over 2000 Gods and Goddesses that the Egyptians worshipped!

• After much anticipation, year 3 finally had their visit from the Carry my Story refugee! We had a question and answer session with Lesia and she spent some time with us going through her experiences living in Ukraine during the war. The children were amazed by her story and couldn't stop talking about the visit afterwards.