Year 3
Welcome to Year 3
Our teacher is Mrs Howells-Vasey. Mrs Bailey and Mrs Dubre work with us throughout the week. We have swimming on a Tuesday and P.E. with Mr Graham on a Thursday.
In Year 3, we value every child’s contribution, showing respect and kindness to one another. We understand the importance of adopting a growth mindset by embracing and learning from mistakes. This helps us to develop our perseverance and resilience, two key skills we are focusing on this year. Most importantly, we celebrate everybody’s achievements no matter how big or small.
The children make Year 3 an interesting and vibrant learning environment. Every day is different and we encourage the children to support one another to achieve their goals and aspirations. We believe in preparing all children thoroughly for their futures and want the children to be happy, confident and eager to learn.
Our classroom is a place where we are not afraid to talk about our feelings or worries and understand that they will be dealt with in a sensitive, caring way.
Because everyone in our classroom is part of a team and every member is valued, we have collectively agreed on a Class Charter. This is a Code of Conduct to ensure our classroom is a safe, happy and effective learning environment for everyone.
Year 3 Key Information
Year 3 Long Term Plan 2026-27TimetableClassroom Routines
Reading
Reading is an essential part of the children’s learning and opens them up to new worlds and exciting adventures. It is the key that will unlock so many doors for the children. We encourage children to read regularly both in and out of school. It is so important that the children read at least three times a week at home which will be supported by the parents.
Every child is provided with a reading record within their Personal Organiser. This should be kept in their book bag with their reading book as these will be required for daily reading sessions at school. We ask that you read with your child at least three times a week, completing the record each time. By doing this, you will not only be promoting the value, importance and love of reading by dedicating time to it, but also providing your child with solid foundations as a reader to allow them to enhance their independence and access the whole curriculum. Please note, those children who can evidence at least three signatures per week will be entered in a weekly reading reward draw to win a prize! We aim to change reading books every Tuesday.
Homework
Homework is distributed on Fridays. We ask for all homework to be handed in by Tuesday at the latest. If your child is struggling or has been unable to complete their homework, they can work with Mrs Howells-Vasey on a Wednesday lunchtime to complete it.
PE
We have P.E. twice a week; on Tuesdays they have swimming and Thursdays in school with Mr Graham.
For swimming they need swimming costumes (1 piece)/ shorts, a swimming cap and a towel. No goggles are allowed at the pool as they are teaching the children about life saving skills and water safety.
Please make sure your child has: a plain T-shirt the same colour as their school house, unbranded black or navy leggings/joggers/shorts, and a pair of trainers. However, please remember trainers are only permitted for P.E. purposes and should not be part of the school uniform.
Please bring PE kits in on Monday and leave them in for the week so that children are prepared for any eventuality.
Communication
We share learning and resources through ClassDojo. Parents and children are able to post messages, photos and videos and parents can see work and send messages to the class teacher. This is a really strong way of keeping our learning up to date and staying connected with our class. If you have any difficulties accessing ClassDojo, please contact the school office for further support.
Curriculum Areas
English
In our class, we base our reading, writing, punctuation and grammar lessons on 'The Stone Age Boy', ‘The Firework Maker’s Daughter’ by Philip Pullman and various other quality texts. We will explore different genres of writing (including relevant punctuation and grammar activities to support this writing), as well as completing a variety of reading activities.
Maths
In our school, we follow the White Rose Maths scheme of work with a focus on deepening our knowledge and understanding through the completion of daily fluency, reasoning and problem-solving activities. We also complete daily Flashback quizzes to help us build confidence and retain our previous knowledge.
Science
In year 3, we concentrate our learning on the following science topics:
- Animals including Humans
- Plants
- Rocks and Fossils
- Light, Forces and Magnets.
- Plants
- Forces and Magnets
History
Our Autumn Term topic is the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age. In the Spring Term, our topic is all about the Ancient Egyptians. In the summer term, we study Ancient Greece. We explore the lives of the people who lived during these times.
Geography
In Geography topic, we focus on learning about the UK, why we have cities and what makes the North East special. This will include understanding the difference between towns and cities, looking at capital cities, researching and profiling cities of the North East, and finally becoming a City Planner.
Physical Education
Year 3 have PE on a Thursday afternoon with Mr Graham and take part in activities based around the skills necessary in:
- Basketball
- Rugby
- Cricket
- Athletics
- Dance
- Gymnastics
Music
Throughout the year, children listen to a range of music and explore pitch, rhythm, singing and composing. In the second half of year 3, our class learn to play recorders with Mrs Howells-Vasey.
French
We have our weekly French lessons taught by language specialists at Lingotots! We learn to hold conversations in French, and develop new vocabulary based on classroom instructions, modes of transport and foods. The sessions are lots of fun and are filled with games and activities!
PSHE and RSE
Our PSHE lessons are adaptable based on the needs of our class, however, we do also take inspiration from the Jigsaw units of work which are:
- Being Me
- Celebrating Differences
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
Computing
We follow the Teach Computing scheme of work to develop our computing knowledge and skills. At the start of every lesson we focus on an aspect of Online Safety to ensure we are confident in staying safe online.
Our Computing units are:
- Data & Information - Branching databases
- Creating Media - Stop-frame animation
- Creating Media - Desktop publishing
- Programming - Sequencing sounds
Art and Design
In Art we follow the Access Art scheme of work to build on our skills and knowledge. We get to use a range of art mediums and resources such as clay, paints and oil pastels to explore our creativity and create a range of individual art pieces.
Our art units are:
- Working with shape and colour
- Gestural drawing with charcoal
- Telling stories though drawing and making
Design Technology
Every other half term, we undertake a DT project in which we evaluate existing designs to get inspiration, and design our own creation before making and evaluating our final product. We focus on a range of skills throughout the year and often link our projects to other areas of the curriculum.
Our DT projects are:
- Healthy and varied diet
- Pneumatics