Welcome to the Autumn Term!

We would like to welcome and thank all our children and parents for helping create a smooth and enjoyable start to the Autumn term.

In the last few weeks, the children in Year 3 have been busy learning daily routines and getting to know the ins and outs of their new school. They have been working hard in maths, investigating numbers and place value (see below). As well as showing off their fabulous writing skills, to create their very own ‘Ode to a Star’ poems inspired by our whole school text, ‘The Fox and the Star’.

We are looking forward to delving into our upcoming topic ‘Exploding Stone Age myths’, where the children will learn about life in prehistoric Britain, discover how volcanoes are formed and investigate rocks and fossils!

Please continue to browse our class pages where you will find essential information about homework and other useful links.

Many thanks,

Mr Collier, Miss Steele and Miss Sangha

Autumn Term Curriculum

We are now well into our first main topic of the year: 'ILLUMINATING VICTORIAN BRITAIN' Here is a brief outline of some highlights for the topic and this term:

English - Using a range of picture texts, we will explore some of the traditions of Victorian Britain, including visiting the circus tent to learn how to juggle!

History - We will learn about the lives of children in the Victorian Era, including spending a full day immersed in the life of a real Victorian child at the Black Country Living Museum. 

Art - After studying the designs of Victorian craftsman, William Morris, we will use his work as inspiration for making printing blocks with which we will create our own wallpaper.

Geography - Children will learn about the geography of the United Kingdom and further afield using a range of maps and atlases as well as collaborating to research different capital cities around Europe.

Maths - Following the White Rose Maths Scheme, this term we will study 'Place Value' followed by 'Addition and Subtraction' then 'Multiplication and Division' and finally 'Measurement: Length and Perimeter'.

Science - Our 'Can You See Me?' unit of work will help us to investigate light, shadows and how we see, including the ever-exciting trip to the dark stock cupboard!  This will be followed by an exciting unit of work on 'Forces' exploring friction, gravity and magnets.

Our Learning Gallery

Beginning Year 3

This year's Year 3 children began their learning journey at St Margaret's exploring the award-winning 'Flotsam' text... 

This work involved lots of underwater and seaside fun, including:

• Writing postcards from the beach
• Researching a range of marine animals to produce fact files
• Writing some imaginative underwater adventure stories
• Creating dances to water-inspired classical music in Indoor P.E.
• Exploring life under the ocean in our sketch books

As we are a church school, we will study a different story from the Bible at the beginning of each half term.  This half term, Year 3 have been busy singing about Noah and using their creative learning powers to fill his ark with a selection of God's wonderful creatures...

Your child's weekly home learning tasks should be recorded by your child in their Home-School Diary and will usually follow the pattern outlined below:

English

Every Monday, your child's Class Teacher will set your child a short task (usually written) to be completed at home.  This will be due in by no later than the following Monday.

A new list of spellings will be sent home every Wednesday for your child to practise for a test in school on the following Wednesday.  Your child has been put into a spelling group according to their individual spelling needs as identified from diagnostic spelling assessment and work in class.  Please help them to not only learn these spellings but also to apply them in the context of sentences, orally or in written form.  To consolidate spelling practise, you can also look for other words containing the same letter string or following the same rule.

We also encourage every child to read to an adult at home daily, with the adult recording this home reading in their home school diary at least three times a week. 

Children can change their reading books daily or when they have finished reading them.  They will also take a short online quiz about each book once they have finished reading it to check their comprehension.  These quizzes can only be accessed in school but the children will record their results on their bookmarks so that they can share their progress with you at home.  Please see the Accelerated Reader letter sent to parents (available here in our 'Letters To Parents' section) for more information about our new reading programme. 

Maths

On Mondays, your child's Class Teacher will also set them at least one online mathematics task to be completed at home before the following Monday. Once completed, your child can then access the maths games and other support materials available. The more they play, the more points they can earn towards certificiates and the chance to become 'St Margeert's Mathlete Of The Week'! Remember, if your child has forgottern their login details, they can be found stuck into the back of their Home-School Diary.

Please also help your child to learn-by-heart all times table facts for the x2, x5, x10 tables (revision from KS1) as well as the x3, x4 and x8 tables.  They will need to be able to recall these facts at speed, including their inverse form, for weekly times table tests in school. 

Telling the time is also another key area for learning at home.  Children in Year 3 are expected to read, show and write the time to one minute intervals on both digital and analogue clocks.

Science Learning Links

The Victorians Learning Links

Maths Learning Links

English Learning Links