The Year 3 Team

Forest School is on Thursdays!

Please send your child with their Forest School kit in one bag and wellies in a separate bag.

To ensure the children are comfortable, especially in colder or wetter weather, please make sure they have suitable clothing, including a t-shirt, jumper, coat, gloves, hat, and waterproof trousers or shoes. Many children found themselves cold and wet last week, so proper clothing really helps them enjoy their outdoor learning.

Thank you for your support!

Term 3 – Week 4 (WB 26/1/26)

Please continue to log your child’s reading at home on Boom Reader. We have noticed that a small number of children have not had any reading logged for over three months, and regular updates really help us to support their progress.

We also kindly ask that reading quizzes are completed once your child has finished a book. These quizzes help us to check their understanding of the text and ensure they are reading books at the correct level. Thank you for your continued support in helping to develop the children’s confidence and enjoyment of reading.

In English, the class are continuing to really enjoy listening to our class text, The Ice Palace. We have been using the story as a stimulus to recall and discuss the key events so far, which we have recorded in a storyboard. This has helped the children to develop a clear understanding of the plot, characters and setting, and has supported them in planning and creating their own imaginative narratives inspired by the story.

In Maths, we have now completed our unit on multiplication and division. The children have been learning about fact families and how multiplication and division are linked. Continuing to practise these at home will really help to reinforce their understanding, particularly noticing patterns such as: 2 × 5 = 10, 5 × 2 = 10, 10 ÷ 2 = 5 and 10 ÷ 5 = 2.

We have now moved on to our new topic of length and perimeter. To begin with, the children have been learning how to use a ruler correctly, including where to start a measurement. We have focused on starting at the numbered markings rather than the very end of the ruler, to ensure accurate measurements. This foundation will support them as they begin measuring objects and calculating perimeter with confidence.

In Science, we have continued our learning about forces, with a particular focus on friction and how it affects the movement of objects. The children learned that forces are measured in units called newtons. We then used force meters to carry out practical experiments, measuring how much force was needed to move different objects around the classroom. This helped the children to see how friction can change depending on the surface or object, and they really enjoyed investigating and comparing their results through hands-on exploration.

In Geography, we visited the forest school area to investigate different types of soil. We began by discussing the question “What is soil?” — which sounds simple, but proved to be quite tricky to explain! Through discussion and exploration, the children learned that there are three main types of soil: sandy, silty and clay.

To identify each type, the children carried out a hands-on investigation by squishing the soil and mud between their hands and observing whether it crumbled or stuck together. This practical approach helped them understand the characteristics of each soil type — although it did mean we got a little muddy along the way… apologies, parents! The children had a wonderful afternoon exploring outdoors and learning through experience, so it was definitely worth it.

Please see below for the new home learning tasks for this term. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We hope you enjoy sharing and exploring these learning activities with your child at home.

Finally, please continue to support your child with regular reading at home and by updating their Boom Reader account whenever possible. Your support makes a real difference to their confidence and progress. Please also ensure your child brings their reading book into school every day.

Finally, we are continuing to learn our times tables with some fun songs! Practising for just 15 minutes a week on the recommended website will make a huge difference in building strong multiplication and division skills, which are essential throughout Key Stage 2 and beyond. Here is a new one for our 9 timetable - we have also learnt the hand trick with this so ask you child to show you our 'cheat' - 

Counting By Nines Song

3 Times Tables - Have Fun Learning!

4 Times table song (A Whole New World from Disney's Aladdin)

4 Times Table Song (APT be Rosé and Bruno Mars)

Counting By Sixes Song

7 Times Table Song | Skip Counting by 7 Song with Multiplication

Seven Times Table Song (Cups by Anna Kendrick Cover) with Classroom Instruments

Eight Times Table Song (Cover of All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor)

The 12 Times Table Song | Skip Counting by 12 for Kids

Spellings

Our next spelling test of the term will be on Wednesday 4th February for Mrs Hughes/Mr Grimes/Mrs Strudwick and Mrs Lamberts groups and Wednesday 11th February for Mrs Smith and Mrs Georgiades' group. The words listed below will not change until after that test.

Mrs Hughes' /Mr Grimes'/ Mrs Strudwick's groups

stop

stopping

shop

shopping

chat

chatting

run

running

begin

beginning

Mrs Smith's group -

Adding the suffix -ion.

action

celebration

education

subtraction

invention

collection

location

injection

invention

Mrs Georgiades' Group

Adding the suffix -ion.

action

celebration

education

subtraction

invention

collection

location

injection

invention

Mrs Lambert's group 

Our sound this week is ow

blow

snow

flow

mow

throw

arrow

bow

own

Thank you for your continued support!

All of the children will have an investigative topic-linked learning task to complete, which is rotated over a three-week cycle. The children will focus on one of their three current foundation subjects each week.  
To support this, the children are split into 3 groups, which you can see above. 

This will be set on a Thursday and due by the following Tuesday. 

In class on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the children will then share the outcomes of their research, and the knowledge they have retrieved, within their own group. 

S3 Usual weekly timetable (please note that there may be changes to this at times).

Home Learning

Times Tables Rockstars! 

To keep practising the multiplication taught in class, and challenging yourself to keep the ones you already know fresh, don’t forget to log into your Times Tables Rockstars account. 

https://play.ttrockstars.com/

Challenge yourself to beat your score and build your knowledge as you become a Rockstar!

Please ask your class teacher if you need replacement log in details.

Reading

Children should bring their Accelerated Reading Book to and from school each day. When they have finished reading, children are asked to complete a quiz before changing their book. 

https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6704864

Parents please log your child's reading on the BOOM reader Parent Portal or by using the BOOM reader parent app on your tablet/mobile no more than once a week.

boomreader.co.uk/parents

Below is a list of the 100 most common words that your child is expected to know how to spell by the end of Year 4 (please see attachment).

The spelling strategies document below shows what strategies are used in class, and can be used at home to aid learning new words: 

Spelling strategies

• Spelling strategies to use at home (2).pdf
• spellingwordlist_y3-4.pdf