Reminder!

 Hi all,

We have a meet the author trip tomorrow at Thomas Hardy, the weather forecast is for rain please ensure that everyone has a coat and appropriate shoes for the weather!

Food and Nutrition, Maps and a trip to the farm.

 Hi Year Three Families,

We've had another busy week in Year 3, we started by a lovely visit to Maiden Castle Farm, this visit we focussed on grain and how crops are planted and harvested, the whole class enjoy this lovely trip.

In Science we introduced a new topic; Animals including Humans. We've started with a focus on Food and Nutrition, we were learning about the 'traffic light system' which helps promote making healthy choices. We also learnt about how much sugar there can be drinks. This week for home learning we are continuing this focus. 

In Geography we have continued our learning about the Polar Regions and have used Atlas's to further our knowledge.

We also had fantastic inputs from Sherene as part of Food Faith and Farming Fortnight and a lovely visit from Ashton Galloway for World Sight Day.

Looking forward to the week ahead,we will be starting a new book in English called The Heart and the Bottle and will continue this focus until half term.

We are busily preparing for our Harvest assembly and we are looking forward to seeing you on Friday.

This week Miss Gosling will be joining us until February as part of her teacher training, we can't wait to be part of her exciting  journey!

As ever please do get in touch if you have anything you would like to discuss.

Ms Evans

Code, Test and Debug!

In today’s lesson, Year 3 took another exciting step into the world of coding. Our focus was on creating programs using the skills we’ve built up so far and learning about the importance of nesting in our codes.

What Did We Learn?

First, we got creative and used our prior knowledge to build different computer programs. Whether it was designing a game or solving a puzzle, everyone got to experiment with coding in a fun way! But coding isn’t just about creating – it’s also about making sure everything works smoothly. That’s where testing and debugging came in. We tested our programs to check for mistakes, then debugged them to fix any errors.

What Is Nesting?

We also learned about something called nesting, which is when one set of instructions is placed inside another. It might sound tricky, but once we got the hang of it, nesting made our programs work even better! By understanding nesting, we could solve problems faster when debugging.

Success in Coding!

By the end of the lesson, we all felt like coding pros! We learned how important it is to test and debug our programs and why nesting can be a game-changer when things aren’t working quite right.

We’re excited to keep exploring and building more creative programs next week! Keep an eye on this space for more updates on our coding journey.

WELL DONE YEAR THREE!

Mr Spracklen

Photos, home learning and reminders

 Hi Year 3 families,

As promised here are some photos from this week.

I was blown away by all the home learning children have completed, it was lovely to see all the different ways children chose to represent their knowledge and understanding of polar animals. Thank you for supporting children in developing their knowledge, it is lovely to witness such supportive home learning.

This week children have brought home an A3 sheet with some creative and imaginative questions on. This week I would like children to use their imaginations to create written answers and drawings. (Imagination was our emotion focus on Friday.)  As explained to the children there is no right or wrong answers but the more creative and imaginative the children are the more fun they will have. They will also practise their handwriting, spelling and sentence structure without realising!

There was also a spelling sheet, this continues to recap our Year 2 spellings, which will help us to be more consistent with their spelling in their written work.

We are off to Maiden Castle Farm on Monday Morning, please ensure everyone has welly boots or suitable walking boots and has a coat to match the weather forecast for Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend

Ms Evans

Dance, Food Tasting and a very special Visitor

 Hi Year 3 Families,

We've had such a lovely week in Year 3 this week! It's been a busy one.

In English we have been writing stories based on Leon and the Place Between, we will finish these over the next few days and move onto a new focus next week. In Maths we have begun our focus on Addition and Subtraction and started our new 'Embedding the Impact' Mastery Maths curriculum. I wonder if the children can tell you what an addend and sum are?

In DT today we were tasting seasonal foods in preparation for making our own seasonal tarts in a few weeks time.  Children sampled Tomatoes, courgette, mozzarella, pesto and tomato puree, I was impressed at how keen the children were to try new foods. 

On Wednesday we had our first dance session, the children loved this session, we will be having 10 dance sessions and at the end of the block there will be a special performance which you will all be invited to,

In Science we are continuing to explore seed dispersal before moving on to our next topic next week.

We had a very special guest today join us for Geography, Spencer Cheung joined us to talk about his time in Antarctica, this was a fascinating talk which we all enjoyed. What a special experience to talk with someone who has been to the most extreme continent on the planet! Thank you from everyone in Year 3 for your time today!

On Monday we will be visiting Maiden Castle Farm as part of our Food, Faith and Farming Fortnight, if you would like to come with us you would be very welcome, please let me know. Please can all children bring suitable footwear such as wellies or walking boots and dress for the weather. 

Our Harvest Assembly is on the 18th October, we hope you can join us.

Home Learning has been trickling in all week and we are looking forward to having more join us tomorrow. Mrs Scott and I have been so impressed with everyone's work, we are displaying it in the classroom.

I'm having a few technical issues, but I will update with photos tomorrow

As ever please do get in touch if you would like to discuss anything.

Ms Evans, Mrs Scott and Mrs Thomas

Computing: Repeat Commands

Today in Computing with Mr Spracklen our aim in Year Three was to understand how to use the 'repeat command'. To help us understand this, we had to create a computer program that includes the use of the repeat command -

Mr Spracklen was very impressed with how hard we worked in pairs.

Why did we work in pairs? Was it because we didn't have enough Chromebooks?

Not at all! Working in pairs is actually a well-known strategy in computing called paired programming, which has many benefits. Paired programming involves two people working together at one computer – one acts as the 'driver,' who writes the code, while the other acts as the 'navigator,' providing feedback, suggestions, and problem-solving tips. This approach helps us learn from each other, communicate our ideas more clearly, and spot errors quicker.

The idea behind this comes from the learning theories of Seymour Papert, a renowned educational psychologist and pioneer in using computers as tools for learning. Papert believed in constructionism, which is the idea that we learn best by making and doing. When we engage in hands-on activities like coding, especially when working collaboratively, we construct knowledge in a deeper and more meaningful way. In paired programming, we get to think out loud, test our ideas, and reflect on our progress – all key parts of Papert's theory.

So, working in pairs wasn't about a shortage of Chromebooks; it was a powerful way to strengthen our understanding through collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving!

The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares, The 5 Ks and Peeling and Chopping

 Hi Year Three Families,

We had another busy week in Year Three, the children are doing so well, I'm so impressed by their kindness, resilience and the determination and care that they take with their work.

We had a fantastic and magical visit from The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares on Tuesday, we will be continuing to work them throughout the year.

In RE we are continuing to explore Sikhism, we started a two week focus on the 5ks the children really enjoyed using the artefacts.

In Geography we deepened our understanding of the contrasts between the two poles. We've had some lovely home learning on Artic and Antartic animals please do continue to send these in. They are due next Friday and we will be making a display in the Classroom.

In Maths we have finished our unit on Place Value within 1000 and next week we will begin our next unit on addition and subtraction.

In English we are continuing our focus on Leon and the Place Between, this week we have been focussing on Modal Verbs and Figurative Expanded Noun Phrases.

We focussed on practising peeling and chopping in DT and everyone was very successful at peeling a carrot and chopping an apple safely.

You may have noticed that all children came home with class spellings this week, we are recapping words from year 2, although the words may seem 'easy' these are identified words that they need to improve their consistency of spelling correctly. Please ensure that reading records are return in their folders   on Fridays this really helps us make sure children bring home all their essentials. 

Please make sure that children bring a coat with them as wet weather is due.

Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss anything.

Ms Evans, Mrs Scott and Mrs Thomas