Year 3: Aspen & holly
Welcome to Year 3!
Year 3 is the first stage of Key Stage Two and we are so excited to help you learn lots of new and exciting things!
We have three school rules:
-Be Ready
-Be Respectful
-Be Safe
Aspen
Did you know ....
Aspen trees are a deciduous tree and aspen leaves are shed once a year during autumn. Their lifespan is up to 150 years, although a few have been known to survive for over 200 years!
Holly
Did you know ...
A Holly bush can be male or female - if there are red berries on it, it is female!
Meet the Year 3 Team!
Miss Buckley - Aspen Class Teacher
Miss Kaye - Holly Class Teacher
Miss Plucker - HLTA and 1:1 Support
Miss Kitchings - 1:1 Support
Miss Beattie - 1:1 Support
Important Information
The School Day
The class register will be taken at 8:45am and learning will begin immediately after this. It is vital that pupils are on time to school so that they do not miss any important learning. Children start with morning arithmetic practise.
Pupils are to be collected from school at 3:15pm
Attendance
Attendance every day is crucial. Each lesson follows the previous day, so missing one day may put the children behind for days.
PE
In Spring 1, PE is taught on a Tuesday and Thursday.
Please send your child to school wearing their PE kit. For more information on uniform, please click - Uniform
In PE, we use 'Beyond the Physical' scheme of work to support teaching of PE.
Homework
Homework is given out on a Friday and due the following Friday. Homework will be focused on the maths unit we are currently learning in class. Additionally, will receive a SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) mat to ensure the children have frequent practise to help them build their skills as writers and build their confidence.
Water
It is important to keep hydrated throughout the school day so please bring a bottle of water to school with your name on it every day. The children can fill these up at the tap as needed.
Reading
It is crucial that your child reads every night at home with an adult who asks them questions. While the children are now mostly able to read without help, questions will help them develop their comprehension skills. There are questions in each reading record to help you direct the questions you ask them.
Times Tables
The children have all been given Times Tables Rockstars logins. They should be encouraged to play for a short time every day.
Key Dates: Spring 1
First day back at school - Monday 6th January 2025
Break up - Friday 14th February 2025
Teaching & Learning: Autumn 2
English
At Brambles, we use the 'Write Stuff' scheme of work, created by Jane Considine.
Your child may have spoken to you about chotting! This is a mixture of chatting and jotting- where we brainstorm great vocabulary before using it to create some wonderful sentences.
Our writing targets this year are taken from the national curriculum.
This half term, we will be studying Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit to write a narrative in past tense. We will also be studying a non fiction text exploring skeletons and muscles to write a non-chronological report.
Guided Reading
This half term, we will be studying 'The Science of Natural Disasters: The Devastating Truth about Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis' by Alex Woolf. We will use this book to help us with our reading domains.
Maths
At Brambles, we use 'White Rose Maths' scheme of work. This half term we are studying Multiplication and Division and Length and Perimeter.
Recommended for Home Learning: The White Rose 1-minute maths app is a FREE app available on Apple, Android and Kindle app stores that gives children a quick 1-minute practice session on the fundamental skills of mathematics. Doing 1 minute’s practice a day through the app will have a HUGE boost on your child’s confidence and ability in maths.
The app is aimed at building confidence in the number facts children were taught in KS1. When children find Maths hard in KS2 it is often because they don’t have enough confidence in their quick mental maths and practice of the most basic calculations to achieve speedy recall is a huge confidence boost and frees up more brainpower to focus on the trickier parts of the questions.
Your child can choose the topic they want to try. They then answer a unique series of questions (so it’s a different set of questions every time). If they’re struggling with a question, a ‘Hint’ button will give a helpful clue by showing the question in a different but familiar way. When the one minute is up, they’ll see their score – how many they got right over how many they were able to attempt in the 1 minute time.
The benefits of this app are:
- It provides excellent practice – and no distractions.
- A clear, intuitive process that children pick up straight away.
- No login or internet access needed. Just download and play.
- Enjoyable and motivating… How many can they get correct in one minute?
- Brilliant for building number fluency and confidence.
- It’s FREE!
Science
In science this half term, we are studying 'Forces and Magnets'. We have a bespoke curriculum for Science at Brambles.
History
Our Geography topic this half term is 'Rome wasn't built in a day'.
DT
Our DT topic this half term is 'Electronic world' where the children will be designing and creating their own electronic posters!
RE
In RE we are exploring the enquiry 'How do the 5 pillars help Muslims to lead a good life?'. RE is taught using the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus.
PSHE
In PSHE, we will be using My Happy Mind.
Music
This half term, we will be learning Glockenspiel Stage 2 and learning basic instrumental skills.
Home Learning Menu
Each half term, the children will be given a Home Learning Menu. These are some ideas and projects you can get involved with which are linked to the learning children will be doing in class this half term. You can choose to do as many of the activities as you wish!
Spring 1 Home Learning Menu:
Links to try at home
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