Year 3
Spring 1 Curriculum Newsletter
Year 3
Welcome!
Welcome back! We are all so excited to get back to learning and hope your child is looking forward to the new term.
As ever this term is a busy one, packed full of exciting learning. Within this curriculum newsletter there is some key information to help you support your child’s learning.
PE
Tuesdays continue to be our PE days this term. Please send your child in to school with their outdoor PE kit on Monday and we will ensure they bring it home to be washed after the lesson on Tuesday.
Friday is our swimming day; please ensure your children come to school with the required equipment which is clearly labelled:
- One piece swimming costume / shorts
- Towel
- Bag
- Swimming hat
Outdoor PE: black shorts and t-shirt, and a tracksuit or spare jumper for colder days. Children will also need trainers.
Jewellery: A reminder that only stud earrings and wristwatches may be worn to school. Earrings must be removed or covered for PE. Children should not wear bracelets to school.
Homework
Children will have one homework book which will be used for all homework. They will have weekly reading and maths homework. The maths homework will be set using the website Timetables Rock Stars. If you have any queries about the homework, please do not hesitate to come and speak to us.
Times Table Rock Stars
Hardwick Primary School is signed up to the Times Tables Rock Stars programme to support your child with their multiplication and division facts. The curriculum states that all children should be able to recall accurately their multiplication and division facts up to 12x12 by the end of year 4. Therefore, daily times table practice is crucial. When it comes to times tables, speed AND accuracy are important – the more fluent they are with their facts the easier they will access other aspects of the curriculum. In Year 3 the national expectation is that children become fluent in the 3-, and 4-times table as well as using their knowledge of the 1-, 2-, 5- and 10-times tables which they have already learned. For their maths homework, children are expected to complete at least 20 games (or 20 minutes) in garage mode on Times Table Rock Stars.
Topic Homework Menus
Children will have a termly topic menu with additional homework options based on our STEAM curriculum. We would love if all children could bring in at least one piece of homework that is based on our STEAM topic each term. STEAM homework will also be showcased at our showcase at the end of term.
Reading
We expect children to have daily opportunities to read to, or with, someone at home, as well as independently. Reading can include: books, newspapers, magazines, online reading, eBooks, reading tablets, information books, adverts, menus, poems, song lyrics – the list is endless. The important thing is that your child reads regularly (preferably daily!) and enjoys, and is engaged with, the reading!
All children have a reading diary, which they should bring to school in their book bag every day. Please record your child’s reading (as well as any additional comments) in the reading diary including the date and, where appropriate, page numbers.
We will check the reading record is completed regularly.
Curriculum
STEAM |
This term our STEAM focus is engineering, and we will be answering the question is ‘Can I design and construct a product using my knowledge and understanding of the engineering process?’ We will be using our knowledge and skills to design and build a bridge. To achieve our end product of building the bridge, we will be learning about the following:
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English |
A diary entry We will be using our class text for the term: Operation Gadgetman. From this, the children will be writing a diary entry in the perspective of a character from the novel. Children will be learning to:
A non-chronological report We will be using Operation Gadgetman as a stimulus for writing a non-chronological text about an invention. The children will be learning to:
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Maths |
Securing mental strategies and calculations up to 999
Multiplication and division (2, 4 and 8)
Column Addition
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Computing |
In computing we will be learning how to programme using a computer programming software called Scratch. This will allow the children to code simple messages, which will create a game.
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HRE |
This term we will be considering the wide variety of family relationships and what it means to have a positive relationship. We will be learning the following:
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Music |
We will be using Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” this term to learn about another genre of music: reggae. Within this, we will consider the origins of Reggae music. To begin with, we will be singing the piece and then add to this by playing the glockenspiel. For this unit we will be learning about and focusing on the following:
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MFL |
Our unit this term is “Food Glorious Food”. We will learn to name different foods, identify quantities, and make polite requests. This will allow us to be able to order and ask for things at restaurants and beyond. We will learn to:
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PE |
Health and Fitness During these lessons, children will complete a range of activities for a sustained period of time and learn how to perform exercises to develop fitness.
Swimming Within swimming lessons we will be continuing to develop and build upon our water confidence. This will be working towards the National Curriculum requirement for children to swim 25 metres unaided.
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RE |
This term we will:
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How you can support us further
At Hardwick Primary School, we are committed to working in partnership with our families and our community. We welcome parent/carer involvement in our curriculum and would be particularly interested this term in working with anyone who works as an engineer. Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you would like to come and visit us.
To help with our STEAM learning, we would like to ask for a voluntary contribution of £2 per child to help us fund our exciting project. Donations can be made via parent pay. Your donations will be used to buy materials for the children to design, create and build a model showing the development of aviation from a kite to a Boeing 747.
Key Dates:
Please look out for key dates on Class Dojo including our end of term STEAM Showcase!
- Friday 10th February – last day of Term 3
- Monday 20th February – back to school for Term 4
Thank you for your continued support – we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead and partnering with you in your child’s learning and development.
Miss Fitzpatrick
Year 3 Teacher