Trotts Hill Primary School and Nursery
Welcome to Year 3 and the first year of Key Stage 2. Mrs Chumbley is the class teacher and Mrs Hunter is the teaching assistant supported by Mrs Taylor and Mrs Robbins.
During the the year we have many exciting things planned for you to participate in.
During the Summer Term we will learn about a range of exciting topics including Deserts in geography and Romans in history. In science we will be learning about plants and light and shadows. The children will continue to explore key artists and produce some still life based on local artist Sarah Graham and they will also have the opportunity to design and make a healthy pizza in D&T. In PE the children will take part in dance lessons and continue to explore athletics with Rising Stars.
We provide the support needed for each child to reach their potential as well as enjoy the journey along the way. Children are encouraged to express their individual talents across the curriculum and there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate these achievements.
Please support at home with reading, spellings, times tables and home learning so that children make the best possible progress in all areas of the curriculum.
We all enjoy being in Year 3 and look forward to an exciting term ahead.
Year 3 explored how Sanatanis use prayer and meditation to feel close to God and to lead a good life. They explored the different elements of the Puja tray.
Year 3 spent the morning at the Verulamium museum in St. Albans learning about the Romans. They had the opportunity to explore the artefacts in the museum and then took part in a workshop where they dressed as Romans and visited a market. Once back at school, the children created their own mosaic tiles.
The children started to learn their third dance for this year! They have amazed us with how quickly they have been able to learn the previous dances. Mr Sapsed used the parachute as a prop in the dance and also as a way of keeping us cool.
In PSHE the children discussed what makes a person unique and special. We discussed the different qualities, personality and interests which makes each individual special and unique. Children then produced a list highlighting these in their partners.
The children explored different media and observational drawings. They explored the work of Sarah Graham and used her work to inspire their own.
In today's science lesson the children investigated if a shadow changes size and shape. They explored the distance and direction of the light source and the opaque object.
This week, Year 3 have begun to learn about money in maths. The children have had the opportunity to explore and identify coins and have compared values.
Over the past couple of weeks, Year 3 have been listening to 'Ice Palace' an adventure story. The children have planned and have written their own adventure story. They have focused upon using description using adverbs of time and of manner.
Year 3 had a fantastic day at Stevenage Rugby Club with Stevenage Sporting Futures learning some key rugby skills and then playing some tag rugby games. The children enjoyed themselves and were awarded the Passion award at the end of the day.
The class visited the local park and worked in groups to identify areas, which needed to be improved. The children identified the need for more rubbish bins, more benches and then identified different equipment, which they would like to see included. In the park, the children sketched plans and made notes. Once they returned to school, the children worked in their groups to produce a plan and a short presentation. Finally, the children presented their ideas to the class and the class voted for their favourite.
The children used pneumatics to create a moving part in their monsters.
In science, the children investigated what owls eat by investigating owl pellets. They discovered lots of different bones including some skulls with teeth!
The children have been studying the work of Andy Warhol and created their own prints.
In English, we have started a new unit of learning which will focus upon writing a newspaper article. The children spent time exploring different children's newspapers and identifying the features.
Year 3 had a wonderful time celebrating World Book Day. They shared their favourite books. Helped decorate the classroom door. Took part in the World Book Day live lesson and shared the new top 5 books to read in Year 3.
This week in English, the children have started to explore the book: The Bear and the Piano. They have discussed reasons for and against the bear travelling to the city and wrote a description of a city.
In maths, the children took part in an active maths lesson. They were exploring unit fractions and created a unit fraction using a strip of paper and then compared their unit fraction with another group. The children learnt: the higher the denominator the smaller the fraction.
As part of Mental Health week, Year 3 discussed the things which they are good at and the things which they would like to learn. They discussed the feelings which they might experience when they are learning something new.
This week, in geography, the children investigated different foods to see where they had come from. The children used an atlas to find the countries and recorded the country and food on a world map. They explored the different climate zones where the food originated.
The children continued to learn how to use PowerPoint. This week they added an extra slide and also added a picture.
The children recapped on their learning from last week about miracles. They listened to the Bible story of Jesus healing a leper and thought about the reasons why Christians might believe that Jesus was able to do this.
The children were given pictures of a variety of foods. They were asked, with their group, to sort the foods into different groups. They used their oracy skills to discuss, suggest, speculate and finally summarise. The children chose to organise the foods into colours, healthy and unhealthy, fruit and vegetables and junk food. At the end of the lesson, we discussed the different food groups and explored how these food groups help us.
The children had a fabulous morning in Forest School. They made smores on the fire and had time to explore the Forest School area. Some children made dens, some children used the swing and some made up games to play.
The children started the week by exploring different pencil cases and thinking about what features a good pencil case needs. The children then designed their own and used their sewing skills to make their own pencil case.
As part of Year 3's geography and English learning, the children completed research about Australia. They then produced a travel leaflet explaining all the things you can do and see in Australia.
In English and Geography this week the children have been finding out information about different countries. They have researched human and physical features and presented their learning in a variety of ways.
The children were given pictures of the Christmas story to order. As a class, we looked at the correct order and retold the Christmas story. We then heard from three Christians about what Christmas means to them and how they celebrate. We identified the similarities and differences between the three Christians. Finally, we explored why kindness is important to Christians at Christmas.
Year 3 took part in Anti-Bullying week: Choose Respect. On Monday they wore Odd Socks. During our PSHE lesson the children identified whether behaviours were respectful. Finally, they played a Respect board game.
Year 3 took part in a fabulous FitKidz session today. They rotated around 13 different activities which made their hearts pump and muscles ache!
Year 3 were learning about computer connections and networks today. Firstly, they explored their own connections and then became computers and sent messages around the classroom. They compared how efficiently it was sending a message with and without a network switch.
In gymnastics, Year 3 were finding different ways to travel and holding different shapes. They explored different equipment and developed some interesting ways to use it.
Year 3 had a brilliant day at Celtic Harmony learning about the Stone Age. They learnt to hunt and gather, build shelters, watched how fire is made and listened to a fabulous story.
Year 3 completed the first Oracy October challenge which focused on listening skills and asking clarifying questions. They had lots of fun but agreed that just relying on listening skills was very hard.
The children have spent the week exploring play scripts. They have looked at the features and have learnt how to set out speech and write stage directions. They will use these skills next week when they write their own play scripts linked to our history learning.
Year 3 linked their art learning to history this week and focused upon Stone Age cave paintings. They began by exploring cave paintings and then created their own pieces.
Year 3 investigated the potatoes which they grew in Year 2. They were very excited to see how many they had grown. The class then predicted how heavy each potato would be compared to cubes. Finally, they weighed the potatoes using a balance scale.
Year 3 took part in two Inspirational maths lessons: Game of Totals and Three Block Towers. They started each lesson watching an Inspirational Maths video which explored how making mistakes is good for our brains and believing in yourself helps you to grow. The children applied these ideas when they were completing the activities.
Year 3 investigated food groups and healthy pizza ideas. They then designed their own healthy pizzas and made them.
Year 3 had the opportunity to have a Forest School session. They climbed trees, relaxed in the hammock, made soup, built dens and created tree creature art. It was a fabulous session and the children really enjoyed themselves.
The children watched a recording of 'The Magic Box' by Kit Wright. They text-marked the poem and rehearsed it with a partner. Children then presented their performance to the class.
In RE we have been exploring Faith stories which focus on justice and fairness. We watched and discussed the faith stories and then acted them out.
In PSHE we learnt about positive learning attitudes. We sorted statements into positive and negative and reflected on how and why having a positive learning attitude helps us to learn. We then put these to the test whilst completing some tricky challenges.
Year 3 enjoyed a fabulous day learning about the Romans. In the morning, they visited Roman Verulamium museum in St.Albans and took part in a market themed workshop. They then had a tour of the museum and were able to look at the different artefacts. In the afternoon, they returned to school and created their own mosaics.
Year 3 have been working hard in their dance lessons to create a group dance using a prop.
The children found examples of transparent, translucent and opaque objects within the classroom. They explained what each of these means and then used this knowledge to investigate and explain how shadows are formed.
Year 3 have spent this half term learning about deserts around the world. They have learnt what makes an area a desert, the climate and weather of a desert, the features of different deserts, human uses and desertification.
This week Year 3 completed their art unit: observational art. First, they explored different grades of pencils and then began to draw different objects. Year 3 were thrilled to meet Annie O'Brien who brought examples of her GCSE and A-Level art work in and talked to them about her inspirations and the different techniques which she had used.
Tihomir " Her art work was amazing and I now want to be an artist."
Finally, the children explored local artist Sarah Graham's art work and produced a final piece in the same style.
Year 3 have started to explore money in maths. Today they focused on pence. They identified the coins, calculated and compared different amounts. They also discussed which was the most efficient way to add up a handful of coins.
The children had their second lesson in coding today and they learnt how to use different timers. They completed different activities and challenges which used timers.
Year 3 had a fantastic session with Fit Kidz testing their fitness skills using a range of equipment.
Year 3 took part in the Big School Litter Pick organised by Stevenage Borough Council. They helped to pick litter along the cycle path near to school and in Giles Park. They did an excellent job and filled four bags with rubbish.
In RE and World Views the children spent time exploring the Muslim place of worship, a mosque. The children explored photos of mosques around the world, watched a video tour of a mosque which explained the different features. Finally, they had the opportunity to take a virtual tour of a mosque.
Today Year 3 took part in a very informative first aid session run by Sarah. The children learnt how to put a casualty into the recovery position; how to help someone who is choking and how to carry out CPR. The children had an opportunity to rehearse these skills with a partner and using a CPR dummy. The children were very well behaved and engaged fantastically with the session answering and asking questions.
The children were introduced to their artist Andy Warhol and his style of art Pop Art. The children had a go at creating their own.
This week Year 3 explored haiku poetry. They wrote their own on the theme of spring and then presented their finished poems to the class.
The children explored perimeter today in maths. They started the lesson by walking around the perimeter of the playground and then tracing the perimeter of objects within the classroom. Next they built shapes and calculated the perimeter and finally drew shapes and calculated perimeters.
In English the children have been exploring non-chronological texts. Today they spent the lesson researching information about pirates ready to write their own non-fiction text. The children read the information, made notes and organised their notes using sub-headings.
As part of our learning in geography, Year 3 investigated food packets to find where the food had grown. The children used an atlas and then recorded the locations on a world map which showed the different climate zones.
Today, Year 3 continued learning about the features of a PowerPoint presentation. They explored the design tools, added extra slides and inserted media.
Today, the children started to explore traditional tales. They listened to some tales and then had an opportunity to read some with their partner. By the end of the unit of learning the class will have written an alternative version of a well-known traditional tale.
Year 3 have been learning about Desktop Publishing in computing. They have learnt to format text, add images, save and retrieve learning.
In PSHE we explored respectful behaviours. We sorted different behaviours into 'Respectful' and 'Disrespectful' and then played a game which helped us to think more about showing respect.
The children explored different pencil cases. They then designed, sewed and evaluated their pencil cases.
Year 3 have been exploring Advent and made their advent wreaths.
The children are loving our new unit of learning in English which we started last week. The learning is based on the book: Atlas of Adventures and takes the children on a tour of the world. This also links with our geography learning. The children, so far, have written postcards from Paris and London; explored the Northern Lights in Finland and, today, investigated festivals and celebrations in Asia.
As part of our unit of learning on Countries of the World, today we focused on using an atlas to locate capital cities of different countries. We discussed the difference between a continent, a country and a city.
This week Year 3 wrote their own set of instructions. They were inspired by Roald Dahl's The Twits and wrote a set of instructions for a trick which could be played on an unsuspecting person! They thought carefully about the layout and order and included adverbs of time and imperative verbs.
In English, we will be exploring and writing instructions. To help us with this we played different games, following the instructions, and also built using Lego, giving instructions to our partners so that they could build the same model. We identified the imperative verbs and adverbs of time used in an instruction.
The children continued their learning in gymnastics by creating a sequence with matching and contrasting balances.
Year 3 have been learning about fables. They have read and enjoyed the modern fable 'War and Peas'. They retold the story using adverbs of time to help them organise the key events.
The children explored Stone Age cave paintings and then had an opportunity to create their own.
The children were exploring counting in 50s. They investigated the link between counting in 5s and counting in 50s. The children then worked together to devise a game which helped them with learning to count in 50s fluently.
Year 3 enjoyed a fantastic day at Celtic Harmony learning about the Stone Age. They saw fire created, heard a Stone Age story, hunted and gathered, prepared soup and built a shelter.
In science we are investigating forces. This week we explored friction by testing different surfaces within the classroom. We observed and then concluded our findings with our partners.
In maths, Year 3 are exploring place value. They created 2-digit numbers and represented these using different equipment.
This morning, Year 3 made their pizzas. They used the following skills: kneading, cutting and grating. The pizzas smelt and looked delicious. Well done Year 3.
The children explored the muscles in their body and discussed how they worked. They then created their own muscle so that they could explore the stretch and contract.
The children have started a new unit of learning in maths: shape. Today's lesson focused on identifying angles and turns. Year 3 took part in an active maths lesson where they had to give their partner directions using the correct mathematical vocabulary.
Year 3 had a great day at St.Albans Cathedral learning about the Romans. They met a Roman soldier, learnt about the Romans in St.Albans and the story of St.Alban. They finished the day by creating their own Roman mosaics.
In guided reading this week we are exploring the poem 'The Dragon of Andor'. We spent some time miming the poem.
As part of Year 3's science learning they investigated what owls eat. They used owl pellets to uncover and then identify bones.
In maths, Year 3 have started their unit of learning on time. They have begun by exploring an analogue clock and telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes.
Year 3 have been developing the use of characterisation during their dance lessons. They have created a dance to 'The Circle of Life' each group representing a different animal which was feeding around a water hole.
Year 3 explored observational drawing. They started by exploring different grades of pencils and chalks and pastels. They then started drawing different objects and focused upon creating a 3D shape. Year 3 then explored the local artist, Sarah Graham and produced a piece of artwork based on her sweet creations. They found it very hard not to eat the sweets which they were drawing!
Year 3 have started their new unit of learning: money. They spent the lesson exploring the coins, identifying them and comparing the amounts they made.
The children in Year 3 had a great session with Fit Kidz. They used a range of different equipment to help build their fitness levels.
In English we are exploring adventure stories. We are listening to the story Ice Palace by Robert Swindlles. As a class we are producing a story map after each read. We have explored vocabulary used to create an adventure story setting and wrote a setting of our own. The children are really enjoying this story and some children have even acted it out at playtime.
The children created fantastic 'Moving Monsters' as part of their D&T learning. They used a pneumatic system using a syringe and a balloon or a syringe and a syringe to make their part move.
In English, we are focusing upon non-fiction texts. We are using a fabulous book called "Atlas of Adventures" and will be taking a trip around the world. The children have created a synonym word bank for the word 'spectacular' and revisited using conjunctions to extend sentences. The children have visited Finland and London so far and wrote a diary entry about their London trip.
Year 3 completed their art unit by creating prints inspired by Andy Warhol.
In computing today, the children used the Advanced mode of 2Caculate. They explored named cells and completed activities which used cell addresses to create a picture and complete a treasure map.
Year 3 celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as their favourite book character or as a character from our class book 'The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon'. They listened to the class book and then created characters to decorate the classroom door. The children then took part in an illustrator session to learn how to draw a cat.
This week, Year 3 started their new science unit: Plants. They looked at some plants and then matched plant parts and function cards. Then, they drew their own plants and labelled them.
In science we were exploring whether sun light was safe. We were given different statements about the sun and had to decide whether the sun was a hero or a villain. We discussed each of the different statements to learn why it was a hero or a villain e.g. sun creates vitamin D and the sun causes sun burn. We learnt how to keep our eyes safe in the sun and then produced a hero/villain poster.
As part of our PSHE this week, Year 3 took part in the NSPCC Assembly: Speak Out. Stay Safe. They learnt that abuse is NOT ok, who they can go to for help and about Child Line.
In maths, the children are beginning to explore length and perimeter. Today the children completed an active lesson and measured using m and cm.
This week in science, Year 3 continued to learn about light. They investigated whether light can travel through all objects. They classified objects into three categories: opaque, translucent and transparent.
This week Year 3 have started to explore traditional tales. They listened to a selection and had the opportunity to read other traditional tales with their partner. They then chose their favourite tale and, with a partner, produced a story map to retell the tale.
This week the children evaluated a range of pencil cases before designing and making their own. They impressed us with their hard work and very good sewing skills. Once completed, they evaluated their final products.
In PSHE we explored the British Value of respect. We discussed different respectful and disrespectful scenarios and then played a respect board game.
The children started the lesson using sentence stems to help them answer the questions: What is soil? Where does it come from? What is it made from? They then spent time exploring a soil sample and observing what their sample consisted of. They drew their findings in their books and identified organic and non-organic matter.
As part of our geography learning, we used the internet to research human and physical features of countries around the world. We included details of mountains, rivers, population, tourist attractions, climate zones and language.
In English we are learning about recount writing. For this we are focusing upon news reports. This week we have explored a news report script in guided reading and in English lessons identified the features of a newspaper including how reports answer: who? what? when? where? and why? We will be writing our own newspaper reports based on the book: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
The children had lots of fun using bikes to make healthy smoothies in a healthy eating workshop. They learnt about the importance of eating a 'rainbow' of food. They tasted their smoothies - the blueberry and oat milk was the favourite.
The children had lots of fun taking part in the science and maths day. They built their own balloon buggies using their D&T skills. They then measured how far their buggy would travel. They used their previous learning from forces to choose the most appropriate surface for their buggy to travel on. Some of the buggies travelled for more than a metre.
This week, the children used different media to create their own Stone Age cave painting.
The children explored Stone Age cave paintings during art this week. They recorded their observations, thoughts and comments in their sketch books.
The children have started a new unit of learning which focuses on addition. During this active maths lesson, they explored adding different amounts of ones to a 2-digit number. The children built the number using either place value counters, Base 10 or bead strings. Some of the questions involved the children completing an exchange.
The children were introduced to a website: The Tree Octopus and were asked to explore. They were then informed that the website was actually fake - which shocked the children! They revisited the rules about using reliable sources and checking information before having a chance to create their own fake website.
Year 3 participated in a fantastic day at Celtic Harmony to learn all about life in the Stone Age. They saw fire being created, learnt about Stone Age tools, hunted and gathered, made soup and took part in a trading activity.
The children used a picture of life in the Stone Age. They made deductions as to what life was like in the Stone Age. The children then answered the question: Is it true that Stone Age man was just a simple hunter gatherer?
We learnt all about Jean-Michel Basquiat a famous American artist. We explored his art work and answered a range of questions with our talk partners. We recorded our thoughts and feelings in our sketch books and had a go at recreating sections of our favourite piece.
The children took part in their final yoga session today. They created their own sequence of moves and had an opportunity to focus on their breathing. They have very much enjoyed their yoga sessions.
In order to introduce our new computing unit 'Branching Databases', Year 3 took part in an 'unplugged' lesson. They used 'Yes/No' questions in order to sort different animals and insects.
In science this week, we used owl pellets to investigate bones. We were able to identify the creatures which the owl had eaten. We were amazed to find so many bones, including skulls, in the pellets.
The children had the opportunity to continue to develop their typing accuracy and speed.
Today Year 3 visited the Verulamium museum in St.Albans as part of their learning about the Romans. They had an opportunity to dress up as a Roman and took part in a Roman market role play. They had chance to explore the museum before having a picnic in the park.
The children developed their kneading and chopping skills to make a vegetable soup, a tomato soup and a bread roll. They all enjoyed making and tasting their creations.
Year 3 celebrated the Platinum Jubilee toady. They took part in the whole school picnic and made bunting. They also used their history skills to sort photos into chronological order, complete a timeline of key events in her life and identify changes in Britain since Queen Elizabeth became queen.
The children are working hard learning their dance routine ready for the dance festival. They are dancing to 'Dancing Queen' and are becoming more confident with their moves.
Year 3 have been taking part in FitKidz which enables the to develop their fitness through a serious of different activities. It has been great fun and the children are definitely becoming fitter.
As part of our science learning, the children investigated the fat and sugar contents of a range of everyday food. They began my estimating which food items were the healthiest and then looked at the information on the packet. Children then constructed graphs and used these to form conclusions.
Today, Year 3 completed their first lesson using Turtle Logo. They used a range of commands to move their turtle and draw shapes.
The children explored the art work of local artist Sarah Graham. They tried different pencils, pastels, chalks etc to create different shades tones, lines and patterns. They then created their own observational drawings.
As part of Arts week, the children took part in a drama workshop with Mr Driver. They learnt about facial expressions and how to use their bodies to show different feelings.
Today Year 3 explored perimeter. We used the Forest School area and created perimeters out of natural objects. We used the vocabulary length and width to describe the perimeters created. Back in the classroom, we then created perimeters using cubes and counted the length of the perimeters.
The children used their measuring skills and measured objects around the classroom in cm and mm. They then compared the measurements of the objects using comparison vocabulary.
The children have started their D&T project 'Moving monsters'. The started by investigating everyday objects which use air to work and then they investigated making a simple pneumatic system.
To celebrate World Book Day, Year 3 dressed up as characters from Roald Dahl books. They then explored the 'Dirty Beast' poems and produced artwork based on these. Finally, they presented the poems to the class.
The children started their new art unit today exploring the work of Andy Warhol. They discussed his different pieces and had a chance to create their own versions. They then planned their own design ready for printing next week.
As part of Online safety day, Year 3 created recipes for creating respectful relationships online.
The children explored the art work of Jacob Lawrence. They discussed his art work and answered questions based on different pieces. They explored how feelings can be shown through art and then created a piece of art showing a feeling.
The children have been exploring dividing 2-digit numbers by 1-digit. They used place value counters and a place value grid to help them divide the numbers. For some of the numbers the children had to use their knowledge of exchanging to help them divide.
The children used food packets to identify where food comes from. They first identified the countries and then, using skills from our previous geography learning, identified the continents. We also discussed the different climate zones and linked this to why our food comes from different countries.
This week Year 3 have started to explore traditional tales. They have listened to a range of tales, retold them to a friend and discussed which were their favourite and why. This will all help the children to write their own version of a traditional tale.
The children started the maths and science investigation by drawing a picture of a fish. They then had an opportunity to observe carefully a fish and then draw a picture again. They then planned an investigation to answer the question: Does the material affect how fast the fish will travel? The children predicted, carried out and made conclusions.
The children performed their Christmas song: It's Christmas time t the parents. They were amazing and made us all feel that Christmas time was starting. Well done Year 3.
As a class we explored team work. We discussed what makes a good team and the benefits of being part of a team. We then created different freeze frames to show helpful team work and unhelpful team work. Finally, we discussed how we could work together as a class team and the things which we could achieve.
The children continued their learning about emails and e-safety by taking part in an email e-safety quiz and then making their own quiz.
The children investigated a range of rocks and classified them according to their strength. They used different tests including: finger scratch, coin scratch and a nail scratch. They then considered why rocks were different.
The children worked together to find clues hidden around the classroom about the physical features of the continents of the world. They found out the longest river, the tallest mountain, the smallest country and the largest country.
The children explored and evaluated different pencil cases and then designed their own. The children then sewed and evaluated their own pencil cases.
The children worked scientifically by observing the characteristics of different rocks. They drew pictures and discussed appropriate words to use to describe the rocks.
During 'Grow to Eat, Eat to Grow' week Year 3 explored food groups and healthy diets.
The children took part in the fun run and demonstrated the PRIDE learning behaviours - well done.
As part of Black History month, Year 3 shared the powerful story 'The Undefeated' and then learnt about the amazing life of Mary Seacole.
This week Year 3 completed their learning about playscripts by writing their own. We linked our learning to our history learning by using the book Stone Age Boy as inspiration. Once completed, the children had the opportunity to perform their scripts.
Year 3 had a fantastic day at Celtic Harmony where they extended their learning about the Stone Age. They took part in a range of activities including: den building, hunting and gathering, trading, making soup and watching a fire making demonstration.
The children explored how Stone Age hunter and gatherers became settled farmers. The children were given statements which they had to sort into: stayed the same, small change and big change. The children were asked to justify their decisions.