Y3 history topic so far

 Hello Y3 families

We are incredibly fortunate to be working with Castle Hill Heritage Skills CIC this half term, who have been helping us bring our History topic—Stone Age to Iron Age—to life in the most unforgettable way. The children have already enjoyed three fantastic weeks of hands-on learning, and they have absorbed SO much new knowledge and experience!

Week 1 – The Palaeolithic Period (Early Stone Age)

Our journey began deep in the Palaeolithic era. The children were amazed to discover how early humans created fire, produced paint from natural materials, and even boiled water without the use of modern tools. This week really captured their curiosity and set the tone for the adventures ahead.

Week 2 – The Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age)

In week two, we stepped into the Mesolithic period. The children explored the lives of hunter-gatherers and learned how people sourced food from their environment. They practised string-making techniques and created Stone Age-inspired artwork, developing real appreciation for the resourcefulness of early humans.

Week 3 – The Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)

Week three brought us into the Neolithic era, where farming began to shape communities. The children got hands-on experience with early farming processes, including making butter, grinding flour, and weaving. These activities helped them understand how life began to change as people settled and developed new skills.

The children are absolutely loving this immersive historical experience, and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the half term brings!

 

Year 3's wintertime performance

 

Hello everyone,

I wanted to let you all know that I’ve shared our KS2 Wintertime performance with the children: Roald Dahl’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It is a wonderful play, and Miss White and I are very excited to stage it again. We last produced it in 2019—when I was teaching the then–Year 3s and Miss White was teaching Year 4—so it feels lovely to be returning to it with this cohort.

In Roald Dahl’s version, Goldilocks finds herself on trial for her crimes against the three bears, which makes for a very humorous and imaginative courtroom setting.

Year 3 Roles
Year 3 will be taking on the parts of Goldilocks, the Three Bears, and the Judge. I will be holding simple auditions for the children who have told me they would like to be considered for these roles. Year 3 will also make up the jury, public gallery, police officers, and court officials.

Because the play is set in a fairy tale/animal world, many of the jury and gallery roles will be familiar fairy tale or woodland characters. If your child is not cast as one of the main characters, they will be one of the following:

• Little Miss Muffet

• Red Riding Hood

• Cinderella

• Snow White

• The Muffin Man

• Robin Hood

• Bear

• Bird

• Squirrel

• Fox

• Badger

• Mouse

• Police Officer

• Three Little Pigs

• Billy Goats Gruff

• March Hare

• Gingerbread Man

If your child did not wish to audition for Goldilocks, one of the Three Bears, or the Judge—and you already have a costume for any of the characters listed above—please do let me know. I’m very happy to cast children according to costumes you already have at home.

More information about costumes and scripts will be sent home shortly. In the meantime, please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Kind regards,
Ms Browne

         

Updates and this week's home learning

 

Hello everyone,

The children have been have settled back into Autumn term 2 well. This class, like most children enjoy opportunities to learn practically and have been very engaged over the past fortnight with our Inspired to Learn curriculum and activities. I'm sure the children have spoken to you about their History lessons with the Castle Hill Heritage Skills CIC, which they have been loving. I have shared some photographs at the end of this blog of history and our science lessons on forces. 

In maths so far the children have been learning column addition and subtraction. This can be a tricky skill to master at first but we will do lots of practice of this during our early bird work so that hopefully by year 4 it is something they have mastered. 

In English we are reading a new book that will look at lots of imagery and figurative language like similes and metaphors and I can't wait to hear the children's creative ideas. 

In science, we have been learning about forces. This is always a great topic but we are particularly lucky to have so many great resources which Mrs Thorpe was able to get funded for us through her work with the Ogden Trust - Thank you Mrs Thorpe the resources are amazing and give the children such important hands on experiences.   

In PSHE, the children have been learning about how families come in different sizes and combinations and we were very grateful to one child in the class who shared their family story with us.

In art, the children are working hard with Mrs March to create winter inspired sculptures and I can't wait for us to see the final pieces. 

Home Learning:

For this week's home learning, I would like the children to imagine their dream days and to record what time they would like to do each activity. This home learning is intended to inspire creativity whilst also thinking about how to record times on an analogue clock face. Many of the children may need help with recording the time, especially if they choose a time that isn't half past or o'clock. 

Hard copies of the home learning are coming home today but the link is here

Spellings

The children's online spellings will now be live on edshed and this is a great program for them to practice their spellings. 

A spelling sheet is also coming home today and links to these can be found below:

Spellings for group 1 here
Spellings for group 2 here 

As ever if you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with a member of the year 3 team.

Christmas Cracker Competition

In Computing this week, Year Three put their skills to the test and entered the 'Heart and Soul' Christmas Cracker Competition -

Mr Spracklen was blown away with the Year Three designs that have now been submitted to the judges. 

Please see below for a small selection - 

Rhys -

Otto -

Elsie -

Grace -

GREAT WORK YEAR THREE!

Have a great Half Term!

 

Hello everyone,

The children have had a great start to their time in year 3 and we are all really proud of how they are beginning to settle into year 3 routines. We hope your child enjoys a well earned break over half term and we will look forward to seeing them back at school on Tuesday 4th November. 

Next term, they will have PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays  and on Thursdays they will continue to need forest school type clothing (with additional warm layers) for their history lessons with the Ancient Technology Centre. 

Hard copies of home learning and spellings should have come home today but below is some information and electronic copies in case yours didn't make it home:

Homelearning:

Here is the link to Group 1's spellings sheet
Here is the link to Group 2's spellings sheet 

Upcoming Dates

From Friday 24th October - Half Term

Monday 3rd November - INSET 

Tuesday 4th November - All children return to school

Wednesday 5th November - Hand in any poppies made for the remembrance wreath 

Thursday 6th November - School disco 5 - 6pm

Thursday 13th November - World Kindness Day and Michael Rosen Day

Friday 14th November - World Diabetes Day

We hope you all enjoy a lovely half term break

Kind regards,

The Year 3 Team 😊🍁

Hands-on history alert!

 Hello Year 3 families

We were thrilled to welcome our visitors from Castle Hill Heritage Skills CIC today, who popped into class to introduce themselves to the children. Jen and Anthony will be teaching the children their history topic next half term - Stone Age to Iron Age. All of the learning will be hands-on and from the response this morning I think the children are going to absolutely love it!

All learning will take place in or by the roundhouse - come rain or shine! Please make sure your child has warm clothes, layers and sturdy shoes/wellies for their outdoor history learning next half term.

Anthony and Jen challenged the children to find out a little more about the Palaeolithic period over the holidays - when did it start and end? Were dinosaurs alive during the Palaeolithic period? And any other information they can find out!

We can't wait to get started!

The Year 3 Team

From Stone Age to Iron Age!

Hello Year Three Families

We are very excited to let you know that Year 3 will be learning about the history topic “Stone Age to Iron Age” with the help of the Ancient Technology Centre.

Each week, Anthony and Jenny—experts in the Stone Age and Iron Age—will be teaching the children what life was like from the Paleolithic to the Romans, and everything in between. The children will enjoy hands-on experiences, all taking place in Forest School and the Roundhouse.

Please ensure your child has suitable clothing for outdoor learning. These sessions will take place every Thursday afternoon.

We cannot wait to get started!

The Year 3 Team