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 Masterson is the teaching assistant.
During the Summer Term we will continue to provide the children with opportunities to develop the skills that will enable them to be more independent in their learning ready for moving to Year 4.
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.
During the Summer Term we will learn about a range of exciting topics including Deserts in geography, the Romans in history and Animals including humans in science. Children will have the opportunity to take part in a class trip to help support their learning in history. The children will continue to explore key artists and will have the opportunity to make seasonal soup. In PE the children will explore summer games, athletics, yoga and dance.
Please continue to support at home with reading, spellings, timetables 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.
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.