Wow! What a fantastic and action-packed half-term, Year 3!

Not only have we had weeks full of enthusiastic learning, but we’ve also enriched our curriculum with some amazing experiences. We visited South Wolds to take part in the Top Link Festival, explored the local library, and had an exciting trip to Perlethorpe! On top of that, we proudly participated in the Keyworth Art Competition—what a creative bunch you are!

 

Here’s a quick round-up of our learning this half-term:

 

Literacy:

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been diving into warning stories. We’ve been learning the story of The Canal, which follows two boys who are warned to stay away from a dangerous canal—especially since one of them can’t swim. We’ve been exploring the grammar used in the story and practicing how to apply it in our own writing.

To kick off our learning, we visited the school pond to spark our thinking about water safety. This hands-on experience helped us consider the potential dangers of water and why it’s important to stay safe around it. The children asked thoughtful questions and made great observations—what a fantastic way to start our topic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spelling:

We’re nearly at the end of our spelling units for the year—well done, everyone! To help make sure all that hard work sticks, it’s really important to complete your DoodleSpell assignments each week. Regular practice will help you remember the spellings and feel confident using them in your writing.

 

Maths:

We’ve now completed our unit on money and have moved on to learning all about time! We’re focusing on telling the time to the hour, half past, quarter to and past, as well as learning to read minutes to and from the hour. Here is a great website to practice telling the time at home: click here

Over the holidays, it would be really helpful to keep practising telling the time and revisiting your times tables—especially the 2, 5, 10, 3, 4, and 8 times tables. A little practice, done often, makes a big difference! Quick recall of times tables is super important for confident and speedy arithmetic.

Don’t forget—there are DoodleMaths assignments set to reinforce what we’ve already learned and to help you prepare for upcoming topics.

 

 

Science:

We’re halfway through our exciting Plants topic! So far, we’ve explored the different parts of a plant and learned about how plants survive by getting the water, light, and nutrients they need. The children have shown great curiosity and understanding.

Geography:

As part of our Rivers topic, we’ve been exploring the fascinating journey a river takes from its source to its mouth. We’ve learned about the key features of a river, such as meanders, waterfalls, and deltas, and discovered some of the most famous rivers around the world. The children have really enjoyed making connections between what they’ve learned and real-world geography!

We located these on an app called ‘Digimaps’ to look into these closer…

 

The Mississippi River covers over 10 states in America!

 

The River Ganges crosses two countries, India and Bangladesh.

 

 

 

We then wrote about how the rivers are used:

 

Art:

The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the vibrant work of renowned artist David Hockney. We’ve been focusing on his bold and colorful landscape paintings, exploring what makes his style so unique and expressive.

Next week, we’ll be putting our inspiration into action by creating our very own Hockney-style landscapes! Using sketching and acrylic paints, we’ll be experimenting with techniques such as shading, line, and tone, while carefully selecting a color palette that captures the energy and emotion of the scenes, just like Hockney does.

     

  

RE:

This half-term in RE, we’ve been exploring key stories of Jesus and learning about important figures from the Bible, including Moses, Noah, and Joseph. We’ve looked closely at the parables and narratives they appear in, reflecting on the key messages and what they mean for Christians today. The children have shown thoughtful insight and curiosity as they’ve discussed the values and lessons behind these stories.

 

French:

In French, we have worked on fruit names, using the correct pronoun and orally practised how to say which fruits we dislike and like.

 

I hope you all enjoy a well-deserved rest in the forthcoming weeks and spend some quality time with your families. You’ve absolutely earned it!