Year 3
Welcome to Year 3
What an amazing Summer Term we have ahead of us! Mrs Harvey is very excited to teach the Dream Team again for the Summer Term. Mrs Otwinowska will be joining the team, teaching our class a few afternoons each week. Mrs Killian and Mrs Abbott will be supporting us throughout the week and helping us to 'Shine Brightly' in all the brilliant things we will do.
Our final whole school topic of the year is "One Moment in Time" which is filled with exciting topics and new skills.
In History, we will be finding out about WW1 and how this important moment in time had an impact on life both then and now. Our work with WW1 will continue into our Geography lessons as we develop our locational and place knowledge focussing on European countries involved in WW1.
We're going to explore the work of Karen Lederer in Art, exploring how different objects make prints. Within DT, we will be learning about cooking and nutrition. This will help us to design, make and evaluate our own snacks.
In Science, we will be learning about 'Forces and Magnets'. We will investigate friction and magnetic attraction. We'll be exploring pushes and pulls and how we might see these in our everyday lives.
Our RE lessons will be a lovely opportunity to talk about what is means to be a Sikh in Britain today. We'll learn about core beliefs and teachings as well as what the teachings of the Gurus mean for Sikhs today.
Mrs Harvey will be teaching Dahl Class every morning plus Monday afternoons. Mrs Otwinowska will be joining the team to teach the remaining afternoon sessions.
P.E. will be taught by Mrs Harvey every Monday so please come to school wearing your PE kit. We will be outdoors for most of our sessions this terms so please ensure you're dressed appropriately. Long hair is to be tied back and earrings removed before coming to school please.
You need your water bottle, reading book and Reading Together book every day.
We can't wait for the exciting term ahead!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Mrs Harvey, Mrs Otwinowska, Mrs Kilian and Mrs Abbott
Newsletters
Spring Term 2024
Dojo Parties. We enjoyed both of these!
Due to wet weather, we enjoyed some indoor break times!
Comic Relief Day
We marked comic relief day by wearing our own clothes, red and coming in with 'crazy hair'! We looked at the stories behind some of the children who benefit from comic relief and talked about the importance of charities.
World Book Day!
World Book Day!
We enjoyed celebrating by dressing up and creating our own front cover to tempt other children to read our favourite book.
Durham Cathedral trip
Science. We investigated how water travels through a plant by seeing how the red dye in the water affected the white flowers over time.
PE mapping out funny faces using equipment, testing our team building skills.
In computing we have been creating our own branching databases.
Just look at all the hard work that has gone into gaining all those badges! We have very talented members of Year 3.
Gymnastics. Mirroring our partner’s moves using the theme of ‘side by side’.
Computing. We have been learning how to create our own branching databases which we used to sort objects into groups using ‘Yes and No’ questions.
We love to read in Year 3! Here we are enjoying looking through some comics and magazines which were kindly donated to our class.
Multi Sports Festival at Maiden Castle. We had a fantastic time trying out all sorts of fun new games at the Year 3 event run by the Durham Sports Partnership.
Gymnastics. This term we are continuing to work on our balancing and rolling skills. This time we worked in pairs to create our sequences.
Science. Here we are investigating the type of soil we have on our school grounds. We discovered it is peat by identify its colour, texture and water content.
PE Gymnastics. This term we are creating sequences using balances, rolls and jumps. We are taking inspiration from the world class gymnast Simone Biles. We watched her floor routines and thought she was amazing!
In Science we have been looking at the difference between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. We have explored the processes involved in their formation and represented this in class by making our own rocks!
Autumn Term 2023
We have marked significant days in Year 3 this half term, including Interfaith Day when we thought about peace, Remembrance day when we reflected on all we have and Hannukah.
In Year 3 this half term, we were lucky enough to have lost of different PE activities including an online PE lesson!
We raised money for different charities this half term. We really enjoyed Children in Need day.
We loved tasting foods from around the world in our Chartwell Food session. We really enjoyed Mexico!
In Art, we enjoyed developing our portrait skills and created self-portraits in the style of Frida Kahlo.
Christingle Service. We made our class Christingle together and discussed what all the different parts represented. We really enjoyed taking part in the service led by Father John.
In PE we created a dance routine on the theme of ‘Time’.
PSHE. We have been learning about Human Rights and discussing the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. We have learnt some of the rights that we are all entitled to by being part of our community.
Peace Chains. We have been thinking about how to show kindness, love and respect to everyone. We wrote down our ideas about how we can do this on strips of paper and linked them to form a chain.
Computing. This term we have been learning about different text layouts for different purposes. We have learnt how to edit various texts , changing font size, style and colour.
Science. We have been studying the topic of ‘Light’ this term, and we experimented with light and shadows.
Performance Poetry. We acted out scenes from the poem ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’. Our audience had to guess which parts of the poem we were representing!
English. We have been reading Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in our English lessons. We decided to invent our own chocolate bar and use lots of imperative verbs to describe how we made it.
PE. We have been learning different throwing and catching skills. Our techniques have really improved and we are using our skills to play games involving defending and attacking targets.
Year 3 September 2022 - July 2023
We had lots of fun exploring animal bones during our Captain Chemistry session.
We celebrated RSE Day 2023 - Let's Launch into Kindness. The children wrote kindness thoughts and ideas on heart-shaped pieces of paper and we put them in a Kindness jar.
We made a Viking house in D.T. The first step was to saw a piece of wood into 4 parts.
We loved visiting the chicks in Reception Class
HAVING LOTS OF HULA HOOPING FUN WITH HOOPSTARZ
We took part in a Cricket Festival and practised batting, bowling and catching skills.
STARS OF THE HALF TERM
WE HAD A BRILLIANT DRAWING SESSION WITH LIZ MILLION WHO TALKED ABOUT HER LIFE AND DEMONSTRATED HER UNIQUE DRAWING TECHNIQUES. THE CHILDREN THEN FOLLOWED LIZ STEP BY STEP AS SHE SHOWED THEM HOW TO CREATE SOME AMAZING ANIMAL ILLUSTRATIONS.
OUR ZUMBA SESSION WITH GEMMA FROM SSP WAS GREAT FUN AND REALLY GOT OUR HEART RATES UP
WE LOVED LEARNING TO PLAY THE UKULELE FOR THE FIRST TIME
We took part in a team building day with Darren from SSP. It was great fun!
We had a delicious picnic lunch to celebrate the King's Coronation
In science, we enjoyed investigating magnetic and non-magnetic objects
Chartwells Healthy Living session
We had a great session with Chartwells about keeping healthy. We played a fun team game while learning about the importance of exercise. Then, we used our senses to explore some fruit and vegetables. We thought the garlic smelled strong but liked the feel of the aubergine. We then compared the taste of melon, pineapple and orange.
We enjoyed our team skills session with the SSP coach and Year 5s.
We enjoyed learning a traditional sea shanty in music.
Welcome back everyone.
The Year 3 team would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year.
Please remember that we are always happy to speak to you about your child and their time at school. If there is anything you would like to talk to us about, please tell us and we will arrange a suitable time to do this.
We are really looking forward to the term ahead. We have got lots of exciting activities planned and we know this is going to be another fantastic term with lots of new experiences.
Our topic for the Spring Term is:
Travellers and Explorers
During this topic, the children will learn about the Anglo-Saxons, where they came from and why they decided to settle in Britain. This will be the theme of our work in other subjects, too. In English, we will read the story of Beowulf by Rob Lloyd Jones and create our own mythical character. We will find out about Anglo-Saxon settlements in geography and design our own settlement. In art, the children will design and make an Anglo-Saxon cross by combining layers of cardboard and in D.T. they will make honey bread which they will then fill with a filling of their choice to make a sandwich they have designed.
We will also be learning about Chinese New Year and Easter. Most of our PSHE work will be about Health and Wellbeing.
STARS OF THE HALF TERM
NORTH EAST FESTIVAL OF LANGUAGES
They practised counting forwards and backwards to ten in Spanish.
We Practised our Throwing and Catching Skills when Stationary and on the Move
SCIENCE MINI ENQUIRY - Which Conditions Help Seeds Germinate Faster?
We planted some cress seeds in 4 pots, each of which was subject to different conditions. Pot 1 - light, water and air. Pot 2 - light, water, no air. Pot 3 - light, air, no water. Pot 4 - air, water, no light. We will observe the pots over the coming days to see how quickly the seeds germinate in each of the 4 pots.
CELEBRATING OUR FAVOURITE BOOK CHARACTERS ON WORLD BOOK DAY
STARS OF THE HALF TERM
FOREST SCHOOL FUN - COOKING JACKET POTATOES AND BEANS ON THE CAMP FIRE
CYBER SAFETY WITH BIG FOOT ARTS
Healthy Living - Making a chocolate and chickpea hummus with Chartwells
OUTDOOR LEARNING - Sketching, Tug of War and Den Building
Prayer Space Activities with Durham Emmanuel Church
The children took part in a Multi Skills event at Maiden Castle. They enjoyed developing a sequence of movements in Street Dance and practising their dribbling and shooting skills in basketball.
The children sorted a range of Anglo Saxon images into 5 categories: Food, Clothing, Leisure, Buildings and Work.
We received some trees from the Woodland Trust which the children helped to plant around the KS2 field.
The children acted out the story of Noah's Ark.
The children created a mythical hero. They passed around a magical pot and pretended to pull out a magical object that gave them a special power and showed how it would be used. The other children had to guess what the special object or power was.
The children compared sandy soil and clay soil.
The children investigated some rocks and tried to work out if they were igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. They then described the appearance and texture of the rocks.
The children used place value blocks and base 10 to understand and calculate multiples of 10. They wrote the corresponding multiplication sentences on their whiteboard.
We discussed how bibles are organised into the Old and New Testament which are divided into 66 books which are then subdivided into chapters and verses. The children looked for familiar stories using first the name of the book, then the numbers for the corresponding chapter and verse. The children were very eager to explore different bibles and compare them to each other. They identified differences between the bibles and talked about how easy or difficult they were to find the stories.
The children learned about Superbugs and how quickly infections can spread. They designed a poster to explain how we can all take action to reduce the rise of superbugs.
September 2022
Welcome to Year 3, and a very special welcome to our new children and their parents and carers.
Mrs Abbott, Mrs Thubron and I are really looking forward to the year ahead; we have lots of new and exciting experiences for you to enjoy, we will be helping you to learn many new things and having lots of fun!
We know you will all continue to work hard and shine brightly this year.
Our P.E. lesson will be on a Monday afternoon. Please make sure you come to school wearing your P.E. kit (red T-shirt, black or blue shorts, trainers or plimsoles and tracksuit bottoms / leggings and hoodie when it is cold). For safety, you need a pair of appropriate P.E. shoes to take part in outdoor P.E. lessons. Long hair should be tied back and earrings removed.
Homework will be sent home every Friday and should be returned by the following Wednesday.
Reading books must be returned 4 days a week (Monday - Thursday) as we will need them in class.
Please also bring your book in on a Friday if you would like it changed.
If you have any concerns or questions about any aspect of school life, please speak to one of us. We really want to resolve any issues as quickly as possible and can always make time for a quick chat or we can make an appointment to discuss things in more depth.
We look forward to working with you all.
Miss Forster, Mrs Abbott and Mrs Thubron
Our topic for the Autumn Term is:
Where In The World Are We?
During this topic, the children will learn to identify where we live in the world. They will study the local area and describe the physical and human features of our locality.
We will also be learning about Autumn and Harvest.
ROALD DAHL ADVENTURES AT WHARTON PARK
Despite the weather, we had lots of fun at Wharton Park.
Our workshop, which was based on Roald Dahl, involved searching for facts about foxes, making a dream catcher and using it to collect dreams, and collecting items to make a special potion.
The children maintained good spirits and even managed a few renditions of 'Last Christmas' on the bus on the way home.
We were delighted to see cups of hot chocolate waiting for us in class to warm us up again.
Well done, Year 3. 🦊
STARS OF THE HALF TERM
DOJO TREAT
The children had lots of fun making chocolate bars. They mixed all of the ingredients together then decorated their own part with marshmallows and sprinkles.
They also enjoyed colouring in pictures and creating pictures on the iPads.
MUSIC WITH MRS HUGHES
In music, the children have been learning how to play a steady rhythm and a repeated pattern. They did this first using their hands then using the percussion instruments.
We then practised our song 'Home is Where the Heart Is', joining in with our instruments at certain parts of the song, depending on which instrument we were playing. Everyone listened carefully so they knew when to join in and loved playing the instruments.
DT - MOVING PICTURES
SIKH VISITOR
In R.E. we have been learning about the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi.
We were really pleased to welcome a special visitor from the Sikh community into Year 3, Mr Singh.
He told us about the Sikh religion and brought some wonderful objects to show us, including a wooden comb, a metal bracelet and a copy of the Sikh holy book.
Our special visitor also played us some lovely music on his dilruba and led a short meditation session using a harmonium.
We were super proud of all of the children in Year 3 who listened carefully, showed a lot of respect and asked some thoughtful questions.
Mr Singh was very impressed too, and said we are a beautiful class.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE - MAKING A MODEL SKELETON
PE - GYMNASTICS
The children really enjoyed their PE lesson with the coach when they were able to practise their gymnastics skills on the apparatus.
The children were each allocated 2 pieces of apparatus on which they practised different balances and ways of jumping off, as well as experimenting with various rolls on the mats.
They then developed a sequence which included balances, a jump, a roll and different ways of travelling between the equipment.
R. E.
We found out that a popular dance to learn at Vaisakhi is the Bhangra.
The children practised some Bhangra dance moves.
The children performed a Bhangra dance.
The children made Sikh flags
WILLOW WEAVING
The children made a leaf to go on the tree sculpture that will be created on our school grounds.
COMPUTING
The children created the same picture first using watercolour paints then with the Tuxpaint program on the iPad. They discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each method and explained which one they preferred.
SCIENCE - MINI ENQUIRY
We investigated the question: Do Taller Children Have Bigger Feet?
First, the children measured each other's feet with a tape measure and recorded the results.
Then, they measured each other's height and we compared the results to find out if taller children have bigger feet.
TRI GOLF TOURNAMENT, MAIDEN CASTLE
WE USED A BAR MAGNET TO IDENTIFY THE DIRECTION OF NORTH
WE INVESTIGATED HOW COMPASSES WORK
P. E. - THE CHILDREN PRACTISED TRAVELLING AT DIFFERENT LEVELS AND SEVERAL TYPES OF ROLL
GEOGRAPHY
In geography, we were learning about the different features of a settlement, and the difference between a physical feature and a human feature.
We watched a video that explained how to sort the physical and human features of a borough of London. Then, we went for a short walk around our local area and identified the main physical and human features, which we listed on our worksheet.
The children realised that there are lots more human features than physical features!
Year 3 were very excited when a package arrived. They opened it to find a Wonka chocolate bar and a golden ticket asking them to design a new chocolate bar.
We chose Roald Dahl as our class author
