Meet the Year 3 Team!
Mrs Butcher - Teacher 3BM (3 days - Mon/Tues/Wed)
Mrs Masters - Teacher 3BM (2 days Thurs/Fri)
Mrs Scoles - Teacher 3SJ (3 days - Mon/Tues/Wed)
Mrs Jane - Teacher 3SJ (2 days - Thurs/Friday)
Miss Lewis - Teacher Assistant
Mrs Widdicombe - Teacher Assistant
Mrs Davenport - Teacher Assistant
Mrs Mitchell - PPA Teacher (3BM)
Mrs Cowin - PPA Teacher (3SJ)
General Information
Welcome to the Year 3 page. You will find all of the things you should need to know for the year.
Year 3 is a key year and involves the children taking greater responsibility for their own learning. That said, we are very keen to work together as a partnership, with the children, parents, teachers and school, working together to help us 'to be the best that we can be'.
Please feel free to contact the Year 3 team if you have something you wish to ask or would like to discuss. We have an open door policy and will see you as soon as possible.
Please write a note in your child's Reading record or see us on the playground if you would like to talk to us.
Thank you,
The Year 3 Team
P.E
Overview for the Year
Autumn Terms -"Savage Stone Age"
and “Walk like an Egyptian”
(Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, rocks and volcanoes and earthquakes)
Spring Terms 3 & 4 “Lost at Sea/Survival”
(Animals including Humans, Plants)
Summer Terms 5 & 6 Cities of Gold
(Chocolate, Light)
Our learning this term will be continuing our topic, ‘Cities of Gold!’
In English, we will focus our writing around ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl. We will use the story to develop our knowledge of characters and settings, including writing a diary entry from a character’s perspective. Later in the term, we will write instructions on how to make chocolate, followed by some lovely chocolate poetry.
In Maths, we will start the term revising addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We will then finish our learning on fractions and begin learning time. Please continue to support your child with practising the 3, 4, 8 and 50 times tables. They should already know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables by heart.
In Science, our topic will be ‘Light and shadow’, we will learn about different sources of light, and that we need light to see. To begin the topic, the children will work scientifically and collaboratively to investigate reflective materials, in the context of designing a new book bag.
In PSHE, our Jigsaw unit is ‘Relationships’, about family roles and responsibilities, friendships and keeping safe.
In Geography we will be learning about Brazil and the life of a fair-trade cocoa farmer.
Home learning
English
Reading
Regular reading at home is essential. The children should be heard reading aloud at least 3 times per week, even for those children who are free-readers. Discussions between the child and the adult are key to helping to improve and develop their understanding but also allows the children to work on their expression when reading aloud.
Free readers may read anything they like but we would like you to always have a challenging fiction book on the go at all times.
Children on the reading scheme must read their scheme books but can also add any additional reading you have done (non-fiction, magazines, other books etc).
Each child has their own reading record and these need to be completed with approximately three adult signed entries per week, indicating when the child read, what they read and anything that arose from the discussion. If the record has been misplaced or left at school, the entries should be completed on a piece of paper, which can be stuck into the book.
Spellings
Spellings will be handed out on a Friday and tested on the following Friday. We will teach the spellings patterns and rules throughout the week. The words given each week are primarily taken from the required National Curriculum spelling list for year3/4 children. Mrs Widdicombe/ Mrs Lewis however, will be working with some children who need greater practice, repetition and reinforcement of some of the phonics work done in year 2. This has proved extremely beneficial in the past in raising the standard of these children, allowing them to access the year 3 curriculum with more ease and confidence.
Handwriting
Throughout the week we will ask the children to practise their spellings through handwriting. Part of the curriculum expects all children to be joining their handwriting.
We keep the children's best handwriting on their tables so that they are always trying to improve their work to be the best that it can be.
Maths
Times tables facts
It would be helpful if children could could practise their times tables at home as well as in school so that class maths challenges that encompass times table facts (fractions, multiplications, problem solving etc) will be much easier and exciting to solve.
Telling the time is also something that we would appreciate your help with, particularly as we have to ensure by the end of year 3, that children can tell the time in 3 different ways and using 3 different types of clocks- analogue, digital and 24 hour.
By the end of year 4, ALL children are expected to know their times tables, up to 12x12, by heart and with instant recall, so we endeavour to make this easier for them by encouraging these recall skills in year 3. The new curriculum focuses heavily on calculation strategies, particularly for multiplication and division, so it is essential that the children work at learning these at home. They are a key skill which they will use throughout their lives.
We are having a huge push on our times tables at the moment as it forms a key part of what we must know to move forwards in our learning. We would really appreciate any help with the learning of this key skill please.
RE
At Manadon Vale, RE is taught to give every child the opportunity to explore the big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to their lives. Pupils gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief and to reflect on their own ideas and ways of living.
In Key Stage 1 and 2, we follow the Plymouth Agreed Syllabus for RE. The principal religions and non-religious worldviews represented in the UK are covered taught through 'Key Questions'. These key questions are explored through the study of sacred texts, through creative arts, with visiting speakers and visits to places of worship and with lively discussion and debate.
In Year 3 the key questions are:
What do Christians learn from the creation story?
What is it like for someone to follow God?
How and why do people mark the significant events of life?
How do festivals and family life show what matters to Jewish people?
Why do Christians call the day Jesus died ‘Good Friday’? (Salvation)
Why is the Torah so important to Jewish people?
Useful websites to support your learning
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
(To practise those times tables!)
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
http://www.spellingplay.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/spelling/play/