Welcome to Year 3

Useful Documents 

Homework

Year 3 Autumn 1

Dear Parents and Carers,

I wish you a warm welcome back after the summer holidays, I hope you have had a restful break with your families.  In Year 3, we will revise our school values of Respect, Good Manners, Patience, Perseverance and Honesty.  We will continue to use our reward system 'Brookhouse Monsters University' to acknowledge positive behaviour and attitudes that are consistent with our values. Pupils are aiming to achieve silver, gold or platinum awards.  If your child is in the winning University team, they will celebrate with a reward at the end of the term.

Homework

Please encourage your child to complete their homework each week.  Homework will be collected in on a Wednesday to be marked and returned by Friday.  There will also be online tasks to complete on PurpleMash, SPAG.com, Reading Plus and Times Tables Rockstars.  All children are familiar with using the online learning platforms, therefore your child should be able to login and complete assigned tasks independently.  Furthermore, your child will be given a list of vocabulary to explore on a weekly basis for our Whole Class Reading sessions.  It is important that your child completes this work so they are able to access the text that we will be reading.  You may feel your child is a fluent reader, however it is crucial that you read with your child as much as possible at home to support their phonics and comprehension.

Attendance

At Brookhouse, attendance and punctuality are paramount.  Thank you for your support in ensuring that your child attends school every day.  The higher a pupil’s attendance, the more they are likely to learn, and the better they are likely to perform as they progress through school. 

Our topic for this term is 'There's No Place Like Home'

English

This term in English,  pupils will focus on the genre of 'Biography', with a particular emphasis on the life and work of Roald Dahl.  They will begin by immersing themselves in a variety of biographies, identifying how information is organised through headings, sub-headings, chronological order and the use of time connectives and conjunctions.  After that, pupils will practice identifying key ideas within paragraphs.  By the end of the unit, pupils will produce their own biography, demonstrating these features in their writing.  The following unit of work is Folk Tales, starting with listening to, reading and discussing a range of fiction before retelling them orally.  Then, pupils will move on to writing their own folk tale, drawing on techniques learned from model texts.  Both units will utilise the 'Talk for Writing' approach of Imitate, Innovate and Invent.

Reading is a priority of ours at Brookhouse therefore Whole Class Reading sessions take place every day, where pupils are expected to read a range of texts and answer questions by predicting, summarising, retrieving, making inference and explaining.  We also have a specific focus on vocabulary.  In school, we will continue to use the online reading resource called 'Reading Plus' and encourage pupils to complete lessons at home.  It is imperative for you to support your child with reading, please use the question stems to check for understanding.  Also, ensure your child is learning their spellings for ten minutes daily.

Maths

In Maths, the focus this term will be on improving pupils' fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills through the use of concrete, pictorial and abstract models.  In Autumn 1, pupils will begin by studying number and place value, working with numbers up to 1000 and focusing on understanding the value of each digit.  Then, they will learn how to compose and decompose numbers, compare, order and identify patterns.  Following this, the focus will shift to calculation, starting with simple addition before progressing to addition that involves renaming.  Subtraction will be taught in a similar way, ensuring pupils build confidence and accuracy in applying these skills.

They will then learn to apply this knowledge to reasoning and problem solving by utilising the QUACK method (please ask your children what this means).  Please encourage your child to practice their times tables at home, in order to aid them with this, your child can use Times Table Rockstars and the maths area on Purple Mash.  All website links can be located on the Website Star above.

Science

In Science, we will learn about 'Animals including Humans' (Biology).  We will focus specifically on nutrition, diet and movement.  By the end of the unit, pupils will be able to identify the five different food groups on the Eatwell plate and explain how a balanced diet is essential for healthy growth.  They will also know the three functions of the skeleton and name most bones.  Children will be expected to work scientifically by setting up simple practical enquiries including comparative and fair tests, making careful observations and using scientific evidence to answer questions.  Please encourage your child to learn their knowledge organiser which will assist them with their weekly quizzes.

History

In History, pupils will compare our local area in the past and present.  They will view historical images of the school and think about how it has changed over time.  Pupils will analyse Blackburn with Darwen's coat of arms and explain the significance of each part.  Furthermore, pupils will learn about the Victorian era and what life was like for children.

Design Technology

In Design Technology, pupils will start their food technology unit where they are required to make a vegetable fritter through the process of design, make and evaluate.  First, pupils will taste test vegetable fritters and plan ingredients for their own.  They must also think about the aesthetic qualities (look, taste, smell and texture) alongside presentation.  The final product will be evaluated by themselves and others. 

Physical Education

P.E sessions will take place on a Thursday afternoon, our unit is Outdoor Adventurous Activities - Trust and Trails.  Please ensure that your child comes into school wearing their full P.E kit.  The kit should include a yellow P.E top with the school's logo matched with black shorts, jogging bottoms or leggings and black pumps or trainers.  Over the top, children will wear their school jumper or cardigan.  All jewellery must be removed, ensure earrings are taken out before the session or covered with plasters. 

PSHE

In PSHE, we will be learning about mental health, focusing on every day feelings and how to manage negative emotions.  The following unit is 'Be Kind', where pupils will understand a wide range of feelings, recognise bullying, responding and asking for help and be made aware of strategies for solving disputes and conflicts.  Furthermore, well-being will be a main focus throughout the year, pupils will have the opportunity to share and discuss any concerns or worries openly.

Oracy - Voice 21

As a school we are developing our oracy, learning to talk and learning through talk.  In class, we will create discussion guidelines to aid meaningful discussions.  We will encourage pupils to fully participate by taking on a range of roles and utilising sentence stems to articulate their ideas.  We will provide opportunities for discussion in all areas of the curriculum. 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to discuss these with us at the beginning or end of the school day.  Alternatively, you can arrange an appointment through the school office.

Thank you for your support, from all of the Year 3 team

Miss Martin (Class Teacher), Mrs Saleem (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) and Mrs Burondkar (Special Support Assistant).