Exciting week in year 3!

Another busy week in year 3!  We enjoyed visiting the new library. We were amazed by the selection of books and the cosy areas to sit and enjoy the wonderful books. In our class, we have two fantastic librarians who are very knowledgeable about the library.

In RE we celebrated other faiths, and this year we learnt about Islam. Our topic was Mosques we focused on; the functions of a mosque, the geometric designs inside a mosque and the rules for entering a mosque. There were six keen children who presented this information in assembly.

Year 3 Scientists

Year 3 have been conducting science experiments, testing the strengths of different magnets. The children tested the strength by seeing how many paperclips the magnet could hold. Here are some photos of what they got up to.

The First Drawing – English

This week in English, we have started our new book The First Drawing by Mordicai Gerstein. This book links to our history unit Prehistoric Britain. The children wrote wonderful diary entries. Today we worked on exclamatory and interrogative questions. Here are some examples of children’s work.

Stone Age Warriors

Year 3 went back in time to the Stone Age. We discovered what life was like during this time by taking part in some exciting activities such as; building dens, hunting for Stone Age food, flint knapping and many more activities.

A hot, happy end to year 3

It was a very short week this week! And a slow one, to accommodate the heat. The children were super-sensible, drinking lots and taking it easy. We hat “hot play” instead of “wet play”. The children enjoyed playing, amongst other things, chess and shut the box; using the listening post; drawing and chatting to friends and it was a relaxing end to the year. On Tuesday the children also enjoyed finishing off the left-over crisps and biscuits from the First Holy Communion party.

We all joined in wishing year 6 the very best of luck at their new schools. In three years time the current year 3 will be moving on, which seems hard to imagine just now. There’s a lot more learning and fun to be had at primary school before that.

I’d like to say a huge thank you for the very generous presents and the lovely, thoughtful cards from children and parents. I have had a fantastic term with year 3 and am delighted to move up into year 4 with them and to see them develop and learn more. I wish you all a very happy holiday wherever you go and whatever you do; and look forward to seeing you all in September

Celebrating in year 3

Year 3 looked stunning on Monday as they dressed up in their best outfits for a party at school to mark their First Holy Communions. We marked the occasion with a prayer in the shade in the prayer garden and then some games in the classroom. The children were free to wear as few layers as they chose, due to the heat. We also stuck to quiet games, the children enjoying “wink murder” and “banana!” Then they tucked into a magnificent spread provided by their very generous parents. I was very relieved that they all took great care with their clothes, which I think escaped the buttercream, sugar and chocolate.

It was very exciting for the children to visit their new classroom on Thursday. They have made their own labels for the lockers which will be in year 4 instead of drawers, so there will already be a little bit of something of their own when they arrive in the classroom in September.

On Thursday the children learnt about the Ancient Egytpians: what were they? Where were they built? Why were they built? They shared their thoughts on their own miniature pyramids.

On Friday the children watched the amazing school talent show. The range of skills and talents held by the children is vast and the children thoroughly watched each other perform.

Thank you for sending in full water-bottles, hats and sun-tan cream every day.

There are just 1.5 days left of year 3 for the children and I’m very excited about remaining with them next year. We will all be ready to hit the ground running and seamlessly continue with the learning. The children are ready for a break and plenty of time to be outside, meet friends and have a break from formal learning is just what they need to give them the energy to start afresh in September. Have a great weekend.

End-of-year activities in year 3

It’s great to be doing the usual end-of-year activities. It was lovely to see children showing their adults learning in the classroom and to get the chance to chat at the end of the day. The cushions and clay can now go home. The clay is quite delicate so I’ve asked the children only to take them if they know that they are going straight home. I have plenty of newspaper to wrap them in which will offer some protection.

Sports Day was very exciting. Every child in year 3 shows fantastic sportsmanship, taking part as well as they can, taking modest pride in winning and pride in participating.

This week the children learnt about Australia, a Commonwealth country. Here are there fabulous dot paintings inspired by Aboriginal art and Australian wildlife. If you play some backing music on the computer, you could sing “Waltzing Matilda” with your child, who should be able to explain the Australian lingo to you.

Tuesday saw the “bounce session” which was enormous fun. The team-building activities were not only fun, but also a real demonstration of how working with others can help everyone achieve a common goal. The children did really well at giving each other good advice, being only encouraging and helpful. Thank you very much for all the generous contributions by you and your extended families via the sponsorship money. It all goes towards making education more enriching for your children.

Please remember to bring in your Holy Communion, or smart, outfits tomorrow for the First Holy Communion celebrations on Monday afternoon.

Have a great weekend before the last full week of year 3!

Open Evening

Everyone is welcome! Whether you are the parent of one of our lovely children, or you are thinking of sending your child to our wonderful school, come along to celebrate all of the learning that has taken place this year, meet the teachers and visit the classrooms.

Wednesday, 6th July 2022 from 4pm until 6pm.

Active Learning this week

The week started off with much excitement as year 3, with year 2, relived The Great Fire of London. Master Jonathan, from History off the Page, came to school with crates of resources and activities. A well was recreated in the hall! The children were apprentices for the morning, experiencing some of the crafts they may have practised had they been alive on 2nd September 1666. The children had remembered the reasons for the fire and the circumstances well, from their year 2 learning and now – just a bit later than would otherwise have been the case – they got to learn it more deeply that only a well-resourced session, with meaningful activities and an expert like Master Jonathan can bring. The afternoon involved a “mini-dig” excavating finds from a property to establish who had lived there and explaining how the evidence showed this.

We’ve had three lots of visitors, from across the curriculum, the last few days and year 3 showed excellent listening skills and behaviour during all the sessions.

This week the children learnt about “seasonal food” which means different things to different countries. We found out which foods grow in which season in the UK, cooked with some and designed a “fruit plate” with seasonal berries. Thank you to Mrs Solakova for organising the equipment and helping us with the cooking. The children loved preparing the tarts and fruit and tidied and cleaned up well afterwards, too. There is no need to cook an evening meal this weekend – just ask your son or daughter to do it for the family!

The children have been practising races for Wednesday’s sports and look forward to seeing some of you then (weather permitting).

On Wednesday morning we walked to church for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. I hope the children passed on the message from me that they all behaved impeccably and sang beautifully during the service. It was a lovely service and the children were credits to their families.

Our theme in RHE is living with and loving others. Today we talked about being like God which means aspiring to qualities such as wisdom, kindness, mercy, compassion. (The children thought of their own words to describe God.) We thought of examples where we could very practically live these out in our daily life, such as in the dining hall or classroom. Maybe you could ask someone to sit at your table? These are the sort of actions which helps other people else feel good about themselves. We also watched a youtube version of a book called “Have you filled a bucket today” which covers similar themes. It also discusses “filling someone else’s bucket” can make you feel good. The story is available via this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EuemNAo6XE if you’d like to share it with your child.

Next week will be another busy week. At open evening on Wednesday you can come and see what the children have made recently – some things have been sent home already. Thank you for remembering reading books and diaries on Thursdays and also keeping them in book bags on other days. It’s great to see more regular reading of school books happening and – importantly – children taking ownership and recording what they have read themselves.

Have great weekend and let’s hope for some sun!

This week in year 3….

… has been full of variety and creativity.

On Monday the children sculpted Tutankhamun’s death mask from clay

On Thursday the children painted the tiles, using brilliant blues and golds like in Ancient Egypt.

The finished results look stunning; and are mounted, ready for you all to view on Open Evening.

Learning can be a sedentary affair, increasingly so the older children get. You need to be still when concentrating hard on equivalent fractions, for example. It’s also important, and fun, to break this up with movement. The class likes to dance to i-moves tracks in-between other sessions. This week we’ve all enjoyed dancing to “Count on Me” and “Celebrate”

On Thursday and Friday, year 3, like the whole school, was treated to fantastic interactive learning to help understand Judaism. After a couple of years’ absence, Ruth returned and helped year 3 understand all about the synagogue – what it looks like, contains, what Jewish people do there. The children were able to wear Jewish clothes, explore Torahs (artefacts), learn about Hebrew letters and even eat and drink some traditional Jewish cookies and grape juice. The children created their stained-glass windows, remembering that they must not contain images of God or people. Today, Vincent and Pauric shared what they had learnt with the whole school, presenting their knowledge in confident, expert ways. Year 3 listened beautifully to the contributions by other classes today, too.

Pollination was an important theme this week. In Science we learnt what flowers are for. And on Friday Dr Lyal came in to talk about minibeasts, which is what he spent his career studying. To be specific, he spent his career at The Natural History Museum collecting, categorising and naming weevil beetles.

These are some of the pieces of equipment Dr Lyal uses to collect insects, which has taken him to all sort of exciting places like the jungle in Belize, Indonesia and…. Hertforshire…

Yesterday, he went on safari in his own back garden and collected some minibeasts to show us and talk about. Amongst the huge amount of knowledge shared, the children learnt about the number of legs minibeasts have, the names for different types of minibeasts, why minibeasts are certain colours; and much more.

We talked about the fascination and wonder of nature. There is always something new to learn, question, discover and rediscover. Professions working with animals, plants and other aspects of nature are open to anyone who is interested and commits to understanding the world around us, both by working hard at Science and also in taking any opportunity to explore and understand at home – for instance by doing a bug hunt at home. A magnifying glass or plastic tub with magnifier at one end is a cheap way to explore local minibeasts more easily.

The children have drawn and written a card to say thank you to Dr Lyal which I will post.

The homework is on Google Classroom. Please also remember the RE homework on the Quicklinks.

I hope to see you at the school fair tomorrow. Have a lovely weekend.