Dear all,
Hello and welcome back to school! I hope you all had a wonderful summer break and are settling well back into the school routine. I am very excited be joining the wonderful team here at Blackboys and being your children’s Class 3 teacher.
English
In term 1 we will be looking at the book ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker and ‘How to be a Roman Solider’ by Fiona McDonald in term 2.
Journey is a beautifully illustrated picture book by Aaron Becker which tells the tale of a young girl going on an epic adventure. Journey provides children with the opportunity to be creative thinkers and writers. In term 2, we will be moving onto ‘How to be a Roman Soldier’ which fits with our term theme of Romans. We will be writing our own nonfiction reports all about the Romans and diary entries from the point of view of a Roman solider. We will also be focussing on recapping our Key Stage 1 spelling, punctuation and grammar knowledge and will have a heavy focus on sentence structure during our first two terms which will help the children with their writing.
Our first whole class reading text will be ‘Bill’s New Frock’ by Anne Fine.
In Class 3, children will get the opportunity to earn their pen license which is very exciting! To support children, we will be having weekly handwriting sessions where the children can practice their cursive letter formation as well as being encouraged to apply this in all subjects.
Science
Our first Science topic will be Rocks. We will be exploring the different types of rocks, as well as fossils and learning how these are formed. We will also be learning about Mary Anning and how her findings and contributions have supported palaeontology. This will be followed by looking at soil and conducting an investigation on the permeability of different soils.
In term 2, our topic will be Light. We will be looking at recognising the difference between light and dark and investigating reflective surfaces, including mirrors. We will also be learning about translucent, transparent and opaque materials alongside the role of shadows.
DT
In DT we will be looking studying Roman chariots, with the end result being that the children construct their own. This topic encompasses learning about axles and wheels and the importance of designing and evaluating a product.
Geography
Our first two terms has a heavy History focus with the Romans and much of the learning will naturally be a combination of both History and Geography. We will focus discretely on recapping the UK countries and cities as well as the surrounding seas, particularly those areas with a Roman past.
Art
Our art topic starts with a focus on creating art for the Harvest festival; the children will be experimenting with pastels and chalks to design, draw and shade a Harvest scene. We will then move onto honing our drawing skills just using pencil and the importance of shading with a pencil. In term 2 we will move onto learning about Roman mosaics before experimenting with different ways to make one, before then creating our own Roman mosaic.
Music
Children will have their weekly singing lessons on a Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Bayman. We will be focussing on listening and appreciating different genres of music and identifying different musical instruments in a piece of music. We will also be looking the piece of music ‘O Fortuna’ which ties into our Roman topic, where children will have the opportunity to create their own pieces of music and learn musical language.
French
In French for terms 1 and 2 we will be learning how to greet one another in French before moving onto ‘all about me’ which will include learning colours and classroom instructions.
Phonics & Spelling
We will be spending terms 1 and 2 recapping our phonics from Year 2. We will be continuing to use Monster Phonics which the children will recognise from last year. In our spelling sessions, we will focus on suffixes, prefixes and homophones. Children will have personal spelling lists created for them which they will need to practice. In the next couple of weeks, children will be provided with this list to take home for you to practice with them. Children will be tested on these spellings after half term.
Maths
In Maths we start the year by looking at place value, with numbers up to 1,000 before moving onto addition and subtraction, eventually moving to adding and subtracting three-digit numbers. In term 2 we will carry on with addition and subtraction before moving onto multiplication and division and looking at the 3, 4- and 8-times tables as new learning in Year 3. We will also spend time each lesson recapping and building on the children’s mental maths skills. For the first few terms this will include a recap of the 2,5 and 10 times table as well as number bonds to 20.
Times table knowledge is heavily implemented in Class 3 so I strongly encourage the children to be using TT Rockstars at home to build their knowledge. The children will be shown how to log on and how to use TT Rockstars in the first couple of weeks of term 1 and I will be sending the children home with a copy of their username and password for you to support them at home.
I will be checking weekly on TT Rockstars to update our weekly leader board we have displayed in our classroom so it would be great to see everyone getting involved and joining in with the fun!
RE
Our RE topic for term 1 is around the big question of ‘What do Christians learn from the Creation story?’ Term 2’s big question is ‘What is it like to follow God?’
History
We will start our History in Class 3 by recapping all events studied in Key Stage 1 to ensure that children have a strong understanding of how everything they have studied so far links chronologically. After this, we will delve into learning about the Romans. Our first question we will explore is ‘When did the Romans come to Britain and did everyone want them there?’ which will look at where the Romans based themselves in the UK and the conflict with the Celts. We will then move onto exploring our second question in term 2, ‘How did the Romans influence life in Britain’? with a focus on the Roman roads and bath houses.
PSHE
For PHSE in term 1 we will be exploring what it means to be ‘Me’ in the world before moving onto ‘Celebrating Differences’ with a focus on antibullying in term 2.
Computing
In computing this term will be looking at securing our navigation skills in terms of saving files as well as improving our proficiency using Microsoft Word and typing skills. In term 2 will be exploring and building on our knowledge of algorithms and debugging as well as looking at the negative effects of the use of digital resources for too long.
PE
In PE, children will be focusing on striking and fielding games in term 1 and gymnastics in term 2.
Notices
PE kits
Please make sure children have named PE kits in school; they are expected to wear shorts up until October half term and then tracksuit bottoms can be worn after the half term. 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 are regularly as necessary. We expect children to be independent in changing their books but we can guide them with recommended choices. 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 every Tuesday, so please do make sure it is in their schoolbags.
Homework
Homework is to be completed once a week and children will be able to choose a piece of homework from a Homework menu. Children will each have a homework book that will be handed out to children to take home on a Wednesday afternoon and will be expected back in school on a Monday morning. The Homework options for the term will be stuck in their books as well as their logins for TTRockstars and Mathletics.
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. The 3, 4 and 8 times tables are new learning for our Year 3 children, but revision of the 2, 5 and 10 times table would be beneficial for children especially this half of term. As mentioned, children’s logins will be sorted out and given to them so that they can use TT Rockstars at home. If you need these to be sent to you at any point in the year, please let me know.
Uniform
Please make sure children’s names are on their uniform so that we know exactly who owns what! In Class 3 children are expected to wear ties with their winter uniform. Please make sure your child has a tie and that it is named.
Water bottles
Please make sure your child’s water bottle is clearly named and that they bring them home with them every day.
Forest School
Class 3 will have Forest School on a Thursday afternoon. A rota will have been shared with you regarding which week your child will be participating in Forest School.
Please make sure to check this carefully to ensure your child has all the necessary gear with them in school on the day that they have Forest School. Currently, we have only two sessions of Forest School which will have a parent/guardian volunteer.
Unfortunately, if we do not have volunteers to help, the children will not be able to go off school site and spend time in the woods. If you can help in anyway, please let Mrs Sheffield know.
Important Dates
4th October – Harvest Festival
4th October – Parent Math Workshop
16th October – Autumn Parental Consultations
18th October – Autumn Parental Consultations
20th October – Inset Day
30th October – Start of Autumn Term 2
6th or 9th November – Class 3 Trip to Fishbourne Roman Palace (To be confirmed)
12th December – KS2 Carols at Framfield Church
14th December – KS2 Christmas Party in hall
15th December – End of term
Further Inset Days : 2nd January, 22nd July, 23rd July
Please feel free to come up and chat to me at the end of the school day or email me if you have any questions.
Many thanks,
Miss Rietdyk
