Maple Class

Spring Term:

Year 3 Curriculum Information

Working with your child this term will be Mrs Smallcombe and Mrs Jadapalli, with Mrs Banner covering on a Friday.

The theme for these two terms is ‘The United Kingdom – building a picture’

There will be a geography focus this term, looking at counties and cities of the United Kingdom. The children will investigate geographical regions within the United Kingdom, and identify human and physical characteristics and how land use has changed.

This unit of study will also cover aspects of the English curriculum, focusing on persuasive writing and letters. The children will produce a piece of narrative, based on the book A Pebble in My Pocket, by Meredith Hooper. In addition, they will complete a non-chronological report, which will accompany a poster and presentation.

Your child will also be learning about the following:

Maths – Multiplication and division, money, statistics, length & perimeter and fractions.

ICT – Programming, data and information sharing.

Science- Rocks and fossils.

RE – Sikhism and Salvation.

PE- Quick sticks hockey and High Five netball.

Art/DT- British artist, art movements and portraiture.

Swimming – this will continue in terms 3 and 4.

Please support your child’s learning with:

Reading: We expect all children in Year 3 to read for at least 15 minutes, 5 times per week. We kindly request that book bags and reading records are brought in to school every day. Books are changed on Mondays and Thursdays.
Online Activities: Each week, your child will be set an online learning activity. This will range from ongoing practice of times tables facts and set reading/comprehension activities. You can find details of this activity each week by visiting the Year 3 Blog. All relevant passwords and login details will be stuck into your child’s home learning book.
Home Learning Books: Each week, we will send pupils home with a maths and/or English activity to complete in their home learning book. In Maple Class, home learning books will generally be handed out every Tuesday and collected every Monday.
Wider Curriculum Activities: A wider curriculum activity matrix is currently being created for your child. When it is complete, we will stick a copy into your child’s home learning book and add a digital version to the Year 3 Blog. Completion of these activities is not compulsory and families can choose how many of these activities they complete each term. If your child would like to share a completed wider curriculum activity with us, they can put it in to their home learning book and hand it in or send it in via the class email address.

Just a few reminders:

PE Kit – It is essential that your child has a house T-shirt, shorts and plimsolls or trainers in school every day so that they can participate in PE activities. In addition, long tracksuit type trousers are useful in the Winter months for outside PE. Long hair needs to be tied back for PE so please ensure your child wears a hairband to school. Also, earrings need to be removed or covered with tape during PE lessons. If your child is unable to remove their own earrings, please provide some microporous tape to cover them. This term, PE will be on a Thursday and Friday. Please ensure that your child’s belongings are labelled.

Swimming – Your child will need suitable swimming trunks/costume, plus a swimming hat and towel. Googles are optional but please ensure they fit comfortably, as there is often not enough time to adjust, goggles at the poolside.

Water Bottles

In order to help your child to stay hydrated and be ready to learn, please make sure that they bring a labelled water bottle to school with them every day. We ask that bottles are filled with water only-rather than juices or squash, as this is a much healthier option, and avoids work being damaged if drinks are spilt!

Pencil Cases

There is no need for your child to bring in any additional stationary. If your child requires any additional resources for a specific learning task or activity we will let you know in advance so it can be arranged.

Toys and Games

In order to help us avoid any unnecessary distractions from our learning and stay safe, we kindly request that toys and games from home are not brought into school.

If you have any concerns or queries about information included in this letter or any other matter relating to your child’s education, please do not hesitate to contact us via the class email address: maple@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

Many thanks,

Mrs Smallcombe, Mrs Jadapalli and Mrs Banner.

Autumn Term:

Year 3 Curriculum Information

Working with your child this term will be Mrs Smallcombe (main class teacher), Mrs Banner (Fridays) and Mrs Jadapalli (Class Teaching Assistant, mornings).

The theme for these two terms is ‘Stone Age to Iron Age’

This unit of study will cover aspects of the English curriculum, focusing on instructions and narrative writing – the children will be writing their own instructions for how to wash a woolly mammoth and a story based on the book ‘Stone Age Boy’ by Satoshi Kitamura.

There will be a history focus this term, looking at the changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, plus a geographical enquiry, considering land-use patterns and how these have changed over time. We will also focus on volcanoes and earthquakes, and the impact they have had on our landscape.

In addition, your child will be learning about the following:

Maths – Place value, addition and subtraction, and part A of the multiplication and division unit.

ICT – Computing systems and networks, and creating media.

Science- Animals (including humans) and ‘Rocks and soil’.

RE – People of God and Incarnation.

PE- Football, cross country and tag rugby.

Art/DT- cave art and volcanoes.

Please support your child’s learning with:

Reading: We expect all children in Year 3 to read for at least 15 minutes, 5 times per week. We kindly request that book bags and reading records are brought in to school every day. Books are generally changed on Mondays and Thursdays.
Online Activities: Each week, your child will be set an online learning activity. This will alternate between an online SPAG activity and an online Maths activity. You can find details of this activity each week by visiting the Year 3 Blog. All relevant passwords and login details will be stuck into your child’s home learning book.
Home Learning Books: Each week, we will send pupils home with an activity to complete in their home learning book. This will alternate between a Maths activity and a Writing activity. In Maple Class, home learning books will be handed out every Tuesday and collected every Monday. We will also upload this activity onto the Year 3 Blog along with any digital resources (learning videos for example) that may support your child with their learning at home. This work can be submitted by returning your child’s home learning book or by sending it in via the class email address: maple@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk.
Wider Curriculum Activities: A wider curriculum activity matrix is currently being created for your child. When it is complete, we will stick a copy into your child’s home learning book and add a digital version to the Year 3 Blog. Completion of these activities is not compulsory and families can choose how many of these activities they complete each term. If your child would like to share a completed wider curriculum activity with us, they can put it in to their home learning book and hand it in or send it in via the class email address.

Just a few reminders:

PE Kit – It is essential that your child has a house T-shirt, shorts and plimsolls or trainers in school every day so that they can participate in PE activities. In addition, long tracksuit type trousers are useful in the Winter months for outside PE. Long hair needs to be tied back for PE so please ensure your child wears a hairband to school. Also, earrings need to be removed or covered with tape during PE lessons. If your child is unable to remove their own earrings, please provide some microporous tape to cover them. This term, PE will be on a Monday and swimming on a Wednesday. For swimming, your child will need a swimming costume, hat, towel and optional googles. Please ensure that your child’s belongings are labelled.

Water Bottles

In order to help your child to stay hydrated and be ready to learn, please make sure that they bring a labelled water bottle to school with them every day. We kindly ask that bottles are filled with water only- rather than juices or squash.

Pencil Cases

Toys and Games

In order to help us avoid any unnecessary distractions from our learning and stay safe, we kindly request that toys and games from home are not brought into school.

Many thanks,

Mrs Smallcombe, Mrs Banner and Mrs Jadapalli