We hope you all had a lovely and restful two weeks off for Christmas, it may seem like a distant memory now! Thank you all so much for our lovely presents, we really appreciate your generosity.

We have jumped straight back in to learning this week focusing on our new topic the rainforest!

Already in geography we have used an atlas to identify the rainforests around the world and investigated the equator and the effect it has. We then compared the rainfall and temperature in Britain to the rainforest in Brazil using bar graphs and interpreting data. We looked at the water cycle and completed a science experiment where we created our own cloud (it has been a very busy first week back!).

In English this week we created our own new species of animal discovered in the rainforest. We will document and explain this new species habitat, diet and appearance in David Attenborough style.

In maths we have focused on fractions of amounts using bar models to equally spilt the amounts. We have problem solved what could be in the missing boxes.

Thank you to everyone who has given us a house plant to water and look after over the next few weeks, we appreciate it, please keep them coming.

Have a wonderful weekend

The Year Three team

This week in English we have begun a new learning journey based on the book, ‘The King Who Banned The Dark’ by Emily Haworth-Booth. This is the story of a selfish King who was afraid of the dark. So far in the story we have learnt that he wants to install a permanent, artificial light over the Kingdom so that it will always be light. The children generated some fabulous arguments opposing the King’s idea and on Thursday we debated in groups.

In RE we have begun our Advent learning. This week we looked at the Annunciation (where Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she was expecting a baby) and the Visitation of Mary (where she visited her cousin, Elizabeth).

In Maths we have started our unit on time. This is a notoriously difficult skill to master and children’s ability to tell the time varies greatly dependent on whether they own a watch, tell the time at home etc. Any support that you can give at home will be greatly appreciated!

Today we celebrated STEM day by creating movable shadow puppets that we can use to act out the story, ‘The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark’, by Jill Tomlinson. The children began by cutting out the owl templates to learn how movable shadow puppets work, carefully cutting out the pieces and punching holes for the split pins. Once that was mastered, each group set to work designing and creating their own different characters and props for each part of the story. Keep visiting our blog for updates – this project isn’t over yet!

It has been great to see so many of the children using both SumDog and TT Rockstars – keep up the good work! The winners of this week’s SumDog competition were…….LIONS! There is now a time assessment running. Other homework for the week includes the main class spellings  and the  phonics group spellings. Vocabulary homework for all children is here and as mentioned at Parents’ Evening, can be used to practice writing at home if this is a target. For anyone having difficulty with their TT Rockstars login, we have been told that using the school’s postcode (PO7 7BP) enables you to find St Peter’s and log in successfully. If you’re still having trouble, ask your child to see their teacher at break time.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend, Team 3.

This week in English we have been planning, writing and publishing our letters to Mr Cunningham about Brian’s loneliness and mistreatment in his school. We have used a range of persuasive techniques and have suggested solutions to rectify the sad situation.

Our RE this week has focussed on saying ‘sorry’ and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We have thought about the stages of reconciliation and how when you apologise, you really need to make a promise to change your behaviour for the better. Even though God will always forgive us, this doesn’t mean that we should continue to make poor choices.

In Maths this week we have continued multiplying and dividing, specifically looking at how to split an array into smaller chunks to make it easier to count/work out. For example, 3×8 is the same as 3×5 and 3×3. On Friday, the children finished with a fun game of ‘How Close to 100?’ which they can show you how to play with a simple blank hundred square like this this one and a di.

The children have been set a Multiplication Competition on SumDog in classes; Lions against Hippos. The children’s Times Table Rockstars login details were also given out again to be stuck into diaries or Home Learning books. Other homework for the week includes the main class spellings and the  phonics group spellings. Vocabulary homework for all children is here and as mentioned at Parents’ Evening, can be used to practice writing at home if this is a target.

We hope you have a lovely weekend, Team 3.

As many of you know, we have now finished our descriptive writing inspired by our text, Stone Age Boy. Thank you to all the parents who visited our classroom ‘caves’ to listen to the children read. Many of you mentioned how impressed you were with the quality of the writing, as were we!

In Maths, we have been practicing using rulers to measure to the nearest mm.

In RE this week we have been continuing our work on Saints, looking specifically at St Francis of Assisi and his life.

This week for homework, there are two vocabulary tasks and a longer list of spellings which all contain double consonants after a short vowel sound. There’s also a SumDog contest running between Lions and Hippos over the break.

Have a restful half term.

Team 3

In English this week we have been planning our descriptive paragraphs about the cave, fire and bear from a scene in Stone Age Boy. These are the texts the children will be reading to you at our Family Learning session on Thursday 24th October at 2:45pm. We really hope you can make it! We’ve been sure to use all our past learning about expanded noun phrases, using our senses, thinking about the position and place where things are happening and more.

In Maths, we have been learning to complete addition sums using the expanded column method. We’ve done very well with our exchanging and have been able to apply this to solve word problems.

In RE this week we have been looking at Saints and how we live our lives in similar ways. We also were fortunate to have Miss Keogh, Oakland’s Chaplain visit to teach us how to pray to Mary using the Rosary as part of One Million Children Praying, an international campaign.

This week’s spelling homework focuses on words which use uncommon graphemes for the phonemes /c/ and /or/. Again, your child may choose the strategy they want to use to learn them. Vocabulary homework is about ‘length’ in preparation for Measures in Maths.

Enjoy this rainy weekend,

Team 3

In English this week we have published some very impressive instructions on  ‘How to Brush a Sabre-Toothed Tiger’s Teeth’ and moved on to our next text driver, ‘Stone Age Boy’. In one part of the story, the boy and his Stone Age friend, Om, find themselves face-to-face with a furious bear in a dark cave, lit only by a flaming torch. We have begun to explore high-level vocabulary to describe fire and next week will start to use these words and phrases in our own writing.

In Maths, we have been looking at money: converting amounts from pence to pounds and pence and comparing collections of coins to see which is worth more. Some children have been problem-solving, requiring them to add amounts and find change.

This week’s spelling homework focuses on the ‘ai’ family.  Is it ‘ai’ ‘a_e’ ‘eigh’ ‘ay’ or ‘ey’ that you need to correctly spell the word? Don’t forget to consider the homophones! Vocabulary homework, as always, just needs to be a conversation between you and your child – no recording in books is necessary. Thank you for your ongoing support with this.

Well done to Lion class who won the last Year 3, head-to-head competition on SumDog. This week, SumDog focuses on individual achievement. There is a Times Table Focus and an Addition and Subtraction Assessment also, as well as all the fun games of course!  Remember that SumDog can be accessed on any device (even mobiles) via the internet (www.sumdog.com) or the App (available in the AppStore, free).

See you on Monday!

Team 3

In English this week we have been planning to write our own set of instructions on ‘How to Brush a Sabre-Toothed Tiger’s Teeth’. Previously the children had generated an array of wonderfully creative ideas to add into their writing, and matched with their warning phrases, verbs and adverbs, the finished product looks set to be very impressive.

In RE we have been looking at the Baptism of Jesus, why we choose to celebrate baptism and the role of Godparents – if possible, talk to your children about their baptism and why you chose their Godparents.

In Maths, we are wrapping up our consolidation of Number and Place Value. The children have mostly conquered key concepts such as 10 and 100 more or less than a given number and learnt strategies on how to accurately place numbers up to 1000 on a numberline.

In terms of homework, please continue to practice spellings and more importantly….. the rule! Remember that children won’t be tested on just the words they take home, they will be tested on their ability to apply the rule to other words. There will be a suffix and prefix spelling test coming up soon.

Moving forward, our new spelling focus is on the ‘ai’ family – is it ‘ai’ ‘a_e’ ‘eigh’ ‘ay’ or ‘ey’? See how many rhyming words you can find with these sounds and then try and spell them applying the correct phoneme.

Our vocabulary words focus on other ways to say ‘and’ – it’s so important that we continue to expose children to high level vocabulary and different ways  of using language and the different contexts in which in can be used. Thank you for your ongoing support with this.

The weather hasn’t been too great this week but hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Team 3

Still continuing with our Stone Age learning, this week we have been thinking more deeply about the changes that occurred as people began to explore farming. In English, we have been looking closely at what goes into a set of instructions and trying out using our own adverb/verb partnerships, time conjunction and warning phrases.

In RE we have been looking at the Baptism of Jesus, comparing art to the various gospel accounts to try and understand what happened in the River Jordan. From this, we will move on to thinking about our own Baptisms so if you have any personal photos and you’re happy to, please do share!

In Maths, we have been continuing to test our understanding of number and thinking about ‘how many more’ we need to make a given amount. The children have done brilliantly to ‘prove’ their answers with numberlines, bar models, place value grids and counters plus many more creative methods.

To end this week, the school welcomed the NSPCC and the children participated in an invaluable assembly. It focused on children’s worries and which adults are safe to talk these through with.

In terms of homework, a new SumDog challenge is running alongside the Times Tables Challenge for 250 coins! We also hope that you have found the children’s Home Spelling books in their bags and that the instructions are clear. You will find the corresponding strategies that the children need to use to practice their words stapled in the back of the book. This week’s spelling rule-

Adding prefixes.
Adding ‘un’ and ‘dis’ before a word to make an opposite.
Hint: When the word has a short vowel sound at the beginning, we usually use the prefix ‘dis.’
• Discuss what a prefix is with someone at home. Read your spelling words – make sure you know the meaning of the word and record which prefix is it to make the opposite. Record the opposite in the prefix column.
• Practice them using spelling strategies 17, 9 and 22.
• What other words do you know / can find that follow the same rules? Remember you will be tested on your 5 spelling words and 5 other random words that follow the rule so it is important that you understand it.
Spelling word (Verb) Which prefix would you use?
appear
reliable
approve
obey
usual

And our  Vocabulary Home Learning
value      cost       worth       significance       price
During the week, please try and use these words in conversation with each other and identify the different contexts in which they would be used.  Please note there is no need to write these words in Year 3 unless your child wants to!

Enjoy a lovely, sunny weekend.

Team 3

This week in Year 3 we have been continuing with our Stone Age learning, finding out interesting facts about their homes, diets, tools, farming and clothes. In English, we worked in groups to present our knowledge as a rap which we then put together with others to create a class performance. On Friday both classes battled it out on the playground with Mr Cunningham as our judge. Hippos were declared the winners! Congratulations Hippos!

In RE we have been looking at our new school Mission Statement, thinking deeply about what it means and how it affects our lives and conduct in our school and wider community.

In Maths, we have been continuing to test our understanding of number and how great or small they are in relation to each other. We’ve been working on the tricky concept of numbers lines and placing the numbers in an accurate position. This is so difficult and requires lots of resilience but we will get there!

Also this week, some children have nominated themselves and campaigned to become their class School Councillor. After giving their very impressive speeches about what they think makes a good representative and what they would bring to the role, the class voted. We’re pleased to announce that Lola M and Daniel D will be our Year 3 representatives! Well done to you both and commiserations to those who weren’t selected this time – you all did a great job of presenting to the class.

In term of homework, a new SumDog challenge is running alongside the Times Tables Challenge for 250 coins! We also hope that you have found the children’s Home Spelling books in their bags and that the instructions are clear. You will find the corresponding strategies that the children need to use to practice their words stapled in the back of the book. This week’s spelling rule is adding suffixes and knowing when to double the root word’s consonant and when to remove -e, for example. Thank you for your support to reinforce these school-taught spelling rules which support the learning of the government’s Year 3/4 Spellings.

If you have any questions regarding this or anything else, we look forward to seeing you at Monday’s Parents’ Welcome Meeting from 3:15pm.

In the meantime, enjoy the weekend!

Team 3