Class 3

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Term 5 & 6 Newsletter – Class 3

Dear all,

I hope you all had a restful Easter break and enjoyed time spent with family and friends. Welcome back to school for our final two terms! I am hopeful for a sunny term 5 and term 6 where we can make use of our outside space!

English

In terms 5 and 6 we will be studying the book ‘The Abominables’ by Eva Ibbotson. This is quite a lengthy book hence our focus on it for both terms. The book fits in nicely with our theme of Mountains and offers lots of wonderful opportunities for creative writing, information texts and persuasive writing specifically.

Our whole class reading text for term 5 and 6 will be the BFG by Roald Dahl. This book utilises lots of wonderful figures of speech, such as similes, that children will have been taught as well as lots of nonsense words to challenge their phonic knowledge!

Science

Our science topic for Term 5 is Plants. We will be looking at being able to accurately label parts of a plant, examining what they need to grow as well as looking at seed dispersal and pollination before ending the topic looking at the life cycle of a plant. In term 6 we will be studying Animals, including Humans. This topic will focus on nutrition including the food groups before looking at food labels. Children will also look at animal and human skeletons and the role the skeleton plays in the body before ending the topic studying muscles and how the skeleton and muscles work together. There will be practical experiments in both topics for the children to practice their scientific skills.

DT

Our DT work in Term 6 looks at shell structures. Children will have the opportunity to build a 3D dream box, linked to our whole class reading of the BFG.

Geography

Our geography topic is all about Mountains. Children will start term 5 by looking at how mountains are formed and the key features before looking at the major mountain ranges of the world. We will study some mountains in depth including Snowdon, the Alps, the Rockies and the Andes. Children will also learn some geographical field skills relating to reading OS maps, grid references and contour lines.

Art

In art in Term 5 we will be using torn pieces of paper and layering them in a way to create a mountain scene. We will then begin our work with clay, where children will have the opportunity to work with clay to design a tile.

Music

Children will have their weekly singing lessons on a Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Bayman. We will also be looking at a piece of music called ‘Hall of the Mountain King’ and children will have an opportunity to create their own version of this piece.

French

In French for terms 5 and 6 we will be learning about country names in French as well as which other countries around the world are French speaking and being able to locate them. Children will also learn how to write basic information about themselves and ask questions in French such as ‘do you speak English?’ We will also be consolidating all our previous learning from the year, including colours, greetings, birthdays and numbers.

Spelling

We will continue to work through the No-Nonsense Spelling programme. Over term 5 and 6 we are focusing on suffixes, homophones and tricky words as well as revising previously taught spelling rules. Children will also spend time on the Year 3 spelling words.

Maths

In Maths in term 5 we will be revisiting fractions, looking specifically at fractions of a set of objects before moving onto a short unit on money. We will then be focusing on time, perhaps our most challenging unit! Within this, children will learn how to tell the time to the minute, as well as becoming familiar with a.m and p.m and telling the time using Roman numerals. This will take us up to half term, and we will be carrying on with it after half term before delving into our last two units on shape and then statistics.

RE

Our RE topic for term 5 will look at the question ‘What kind of World did Jesus want?’ before moving onto the big question of ‘Does prayer make a difference’ and looking at the role of the vicar in term 6.

History

Towards the end of term 6 will look at the ascent of Mount Everest as an important historical event. Children will learn about the people involved in the climb and compare this climb with previous climbs and those that came afterwards, noting similarities and differences.

PSHE

For PHSE children will be looking at the overarching topic of ‘Relationships’ including resolution in conflict with friends, keeping safe online and comparing their lives to other children around the world. In term 6 the topic will be ‘Changing Me’ all about the changes that happen as they start to go through puberty.

Computing

In computing in terms 5 and 6 children will be looking at Microsoft PowerPoint. They will learn how to create a presentation, using animation and word art to bring life to it. The children will put together a presentation on their recent learning of Mountains. Children will also have the chance to increase their typing skills and develop an understanding of the need to be critical when exploring the Internet. We will also be using the iPads later in the term to film and edit a video based on our Mountains topic. Children will have a chance to demonstrate their editing skills with the clip.

PE

PE will take place on a Tuesday morning with SportsCool who will be doing Athletics with the children in terms 5 and terms 6. PE will also be on a Friday afternoon with myself or Mrs Hall where we will be exploring Net and Wall Games before moving onto Striking and Fielding games in term 6.

Notices

PE kits

Our PE lessons are on a Tuesday and Friday. Children can wear their summer PE uniforms after the Easter break so shorts will be expected. Thank you.

Reading

Your children will each have an appropriately chosen reading book that will be sent home with them and they are able to change these books as regularly as necessary. We expect children to read every night, even if it is only for a short while. Please continue to record all reading in their Reading Records. The Reading Records will be stamped once a page is completed. Children will receive a certificate in assembly when they fill up their Reading Record. We will be checking children’s Reading Records once a week, so please do make sure it is in their schoolbags.

 

We would be delighted if any parents or carers are able to come in and listen to children read. It is always helpful for children to read to an adult as often as possible so we would welcome any volunteers.

Homework

Homework is to be completed once a week and children will be able to choose a piece of homework from a Homework menu. The orange Homework books will be handed out to children to take home on a Wednesday afternoon and will be expected back in school on a Monday morning. Please make sure you ask your child about their homework for the week and are working with them to complete it.

TT Rockstars/Mathletics

You will be familiar with Mathletics from last year and we encourage children to continue to work on Mathletics at home. I will not be setting any particular tasks on Mathletics, but the planning grid will help you to see where children are in their learning and therefore practice the skills that they have been learning at school. Children will also be able to use TT Rockstars (Times Tables Rockstars), which is a carefully sequenced program of daily times tables practice. Children will need to practice their 3,4 and 8 times tables regularly; this will be of a huge help to them in our daily maths lesson and consolidate our class learning.

Uniform

Please make sure children’s names are on their uniform so that we know exactly who owns what! In the summer months, children remove their jumpers/cardigans frequently so do please make sure they are named so that there is no confusion and we can get them back to the right child.

Water bottles

Please make sure your child’s water bottle is clearly named and that they bring them home with them every day, especially during these two terms where children will be using them more frequently.

Key dates

Monday 17th April: start of Term 5

Monday 1st May: Bank Holiday

Monday 8th May: Bank Holiday

Wednesday 10th May: Class 3 Assembly

Friday 26th May: End of Term 5

Please do come up and chat at the end of the day or email me if you have any questions.

Many thanks,

Miss Reis

freis@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

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