Welcome to Year 3

Useful Documents 

Homework

Year 3 Summer 1

Dear Parents and Carers,

I wish you a warm welcome back after the 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 'What the Romans did for us'

English

Our focus for English this term will be 'Playscripts'.  Our class novel is 'Romans on the Rampage' by Jeremy Strong, where the children will be immersed into the story.  To begin with, we will be exploring plays to identify the purpose, audience, language and structure of playscripts.  Then, pupils will read and analyse a variety of plays in order to plan and write their own versions.  The children will then plan and write a scene for a film for their independent piece.  They must include features of a playscript, adverbs and complex sentences with main and subordinate clauses.  The following unit of work is 'Non-chronological reports'.  To start, pupils will listen to, read and discuss a range of reports.  Then, pupils will research to gather information and create their own non-chronological report based on the Roman Empire.  All units will utilise the 'Talk for Writing' strategy 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, our aim is to improve maths fluency, reasoning and problem solving.  We do this through concrete, pictorial and abstract models.  In Summer 1, pupils will begin with statistics.  They will learn how to create and interpret picture and bar graphs.  Next pupils will explore fractions, starting with equivalent fractions and looking at simplifying fractions before comparing fractions with different denominators.  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 biology specifically 'Plants'.  They will know the function of the parts of a flowering plant and describe the life cycle of flowering plants.  At the end of the unit, pupils will use their knowledge to create a fact book all about plants.  Children will be expected to work scientifically by setting up simple practical enquiries including comparative and fair tests, making careful observations and recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams and tables.  Please encourage your child to learn their knowledge organiser which will assist them with their weekly quizzes.

History

In History, pupils will learn about the Romans.  They will learn why the Romans settled in Great Britain and why they left.  Then, analyse the positives and negatives.  In addition, pupils will compare how the Celts and Romans lived.  The unit will inspire pupils' curiosity about past and present.

Art

In Art, pupils will create and paint a tile in the style of Fresco.  They will research and learn facts about Fresco paintings.  Then, they will experiment with different pencil grades to create different effects.  After that, pupils will mix powder paints and use them to add colour.  Pupils will design, make and evaluate their own work.

Physical Education

P.E sessions will take place on a Thursday afternoon, our unit is Athletics.  Pupils will develop their running, throwing and jumping.  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. 

In addition, pupils will continue with their swimming lessons on a Wednesday morning.  Please ensure that your child brings in their swimming kit in a large carrier bag.  This will need to include a large towel, swimming costume or swimming trunks and a swimming cap.  Jewellery is not permitted, therefore remove earrings before Wednesday.

PSHE

In PSHE, we will be completing a 'Keeping Safe' unit, where pupils will discuss who keeps them safe in different situations and how to ask for help. In addition, they will know the importance of rules.  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 have created 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 Khonat (Higher Level Teaching Assistant), Mrs Hussain (Special Support Assistant) and Mrs Saleem (Special Support Assistant).