School Uniform tomorrow please

Dear parents and carers,

Tomorrow, on the last day of term could the children wear their full school uniform please.  Due to the harvest festival celebrations and forecast wet weather, there will not be an opportunity for the class to do PE. 

Apologies for the late notice of this notice, please could someone share this blog with other parents and carers via any social media group chats. 

Thank you,

Ms Browne   

Last week of Autumn 1

 Hello everyone,

As we come to the last week of our first term with the new Year 3s, myself and the rest of the team are so pleased with how the children have settled into the new year. 

It was really lovely meeting so many of you this week during our parent and carer consultations. It was a great opportunity to talk about your wonderful children and discuss any issues that may come up. If you weren't able to make one of these sessions please do get in touch to arrange an alternative meeting time. Also if you ever have any questions or concerns please catch a member of the team on the door or email me directly. 

On our last day of term we will have our Harvest celebration and we hope you can make it. Our assembly starts at 2.50pm and any donations for the Dorchester Food bank will be gratefully received when the children arrive in the morning.  

Thank you to those families that are supporting their child with their home learning.

When we come back to school after half term the children will start learning about formal written methods (column addition and subtraction) but before that it is very helpful if they can securely add number bonds mentally. Children vary and so meeting your child where they are is really important.

- You may find that your child would benefit from using physical equipment like pencils when they are counting.

- It may be that your child understand the number bonds but would benefit from lots of repetition to help them retain them and build fluency. 

- Some children with a secure recall of number bonds may like to use them for number bonds to 20 or by adding then to 2 digit or 3 digit numbers. E.g knowing 3 + 7 = 10 can be used to calculate 43 + 7  or 327 + 3. 

As well as some maths questions, this week's home learning also invites your child to bring in some Autumnal items for Friday. Paper copies should have been brought home on Friday but an electronic copy can be found here.  We would also like your child to get into the regular routine of reading and recording their reading in their reading journal. Regular spellings practice is also really important (I hope to have individual spellings lists for RWI children after half term).    

Spellings for this week should also have been brought home but an electronic copy can be accessed below:

- group 2 spellings

- group 3 spellings 

Kind regards,

Ms Browne & the Year 3 team 🍁😊

 

Year 3: Fabulous trip to the farm.

Thank you so much to farmer Hazel for another very informative trip to the farm. Our learning this morning linked to our Science curriculum as we learnt about the crops they grow on the farm. We saw hoe seeds don't need soil to grow. We looked and compared different seeds and watched the JCB move around silage into a mixer. Of course the cows are always a highlight.....and the muddy puddles! Well done Year 3 for another brilliant trip to Maiden Castle farm 🚜🐮

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

🚜Mrs Thorpe and the Year 3 team 🚜

Class Trip Today

 Hello everyone,

Just a quick reminder that it is the class trip today (Friday 16th). 

Please can children still come to school with school tops for PE (with school jumper on top for warmth) . Instead of PE shorts they may like to wear joggers or leggings. 

Also, if they don't have wellies in school please could they be sent in.
Thank you.  

Adventure time in Year 3

Hello everyone,

Year 3 are continuing to impress us all with their lovely, caring attitude towards each other and their super attitude to their learning.

We didn't have RWI/spelling groups in the same way last week, so your child doesn't have new spellings or an RWI book to read. This week's home learning is to practise recalling number bonds to 10. Children should have come home with a paper sheet, but if they didn't, an electronic copy can be accessed here. 

Knowing number bonds within 10 without having to count objects or fingers makes other maths learning that we will cover later in the year much easier.

This week, our maths warm-ups will focus on adding and subtracting 1 and 2 from any number. When we add 1, the children are learning that the answer is the number that comes next when we count. When we subtract 1, the answer is the number that comes before.

We will also be reminding the children about odd and even numbers and practising counting in 2s. The children will learn that when we add 2 to an even number, we get the next even number (for example, 6 + 2 = 8), and when we add 2 to an odd number, we get the next odd number (for example, 7 + 2 = 9). We will also practise subtracting 2 in the same way.

This is something that you could easily practise with your child at home by asking questions such as, "What is 1 more than 8?", "What is 1 less than 12?", "What is 2 more than 7?" or "What is 2 less than 10?"

Last week, I trialled a slightly different approach to the children's learning in some lessons, whereby they worked in Adventure Time groups and used more role play, collaboration and focused teaching opportunities. The children responded really well to this approach, so it is something that we will continue with next week.

Giving the children opportunities to talk about and apply their learning through role play helps them to develop a deeper understanding of the topics we are studying. It also gives them opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills, use their imaginations and collaborate with their peers.

Geography

Last week, we looked at the tropics and located the Equator and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn on a map. The children were invited to become weather reporters and talked about the weather in a chosen country or region.

This week, the children will be learning about lines of longitude, focusing on the Prime Meridian. They will look at which countries the Prime Meridian passes through and imagine that they are going on a journey from Greenwich, London, down to Antarctica, following the Meridian.

They will consider which countries they will pass through, how they will travel across the land and water, and what they might do in each country along the way.   

Music

In music, we will continue to listen to the music of Tchaikovsky. The children are also learning how to play the recorder.

They are learning to hold the recorder at the top with their left hand and that their left thumb needs to cover the back hole. They are learning that their left pointer finger also covers the top hole to make the note B, while their pointer and middle fingers cover the top two holes to make the note A.

This week, they will also practise moving between the notes A and B. 

Computing

In computing, the children are learning to code. They are learning how to add and change backgrounds and how to add and adapt characters and animals.

They have been experimenting with sequencing code to make a character move, disappear, reappear and collide. They also enjoy adding sounds!

Art

The children will be looking at nature to find inspiration for printing that they will be doing in future weeks.

This week, they will be finding natural objects that they can use to make imprints in salt dough or play dough.

Upcoming Dates

Every Wednesday - please continue to send suitable forest school clothing for your child to change into. 

Every Friday - please continue to send your child into school wearing their PE kits. 

Friday 9th October - Autumn Fest

Tuesday 13th October - Parent and carer's evening 

Wednesday 14th October - Class excursion 

Thursday 15th October - Year 3 & 4 class excursion 

Thursday 15th October - Parent and carer's evening

Friday 23rd October - Harvest from 2.50pm