Class page

Hi and welcome to Year 3!

The class teacher is Miss Taylor

Autumn Term 2025

English

We are starting the term with Roald Dahl's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', in which Mr Fox faces conflict after he steals food from three farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean. The children will explore speech conventions and letter writing in this unit of work. We will also be learning how to write different types of poetry, such as Haikus, acrostic poems, riddles and calligrams poems, themed around animals and our topics of ' 'Food and Our Bodies' and 'Rocks, Soils and Fossils'  We will learn how to write instructional texts as part of our non-fiction genre. 

After half term, our texts will be based on our history topic: Stone Age to Iron Age. 

VIPERS guided reading and phonics

Each morning Year 3 take part in either Read Write Inc. phonics lessons, to help the children learn their sounds, or whole-class guided reading sessions, where they learn the skills of comprehending a text. Our current book in guided reading is 'Flat Stanley' by Jeff Brown. In these sessions we learn to explore:

Vocabulary

Inference

Prediction

Explanation

Retrieval

Summarising

The children answer questions based on these reading skills about the given text.

Our Friday morning VIPERS lesson is now dedicated time for completing Accelerated Reader quizzes after your child has finished their reading book.  

Maths

We teach and learn maths through the 'White Rose' programme. This term we focus on addition and subtraction, by first recapping place value. We will be using practical resources such as Base 10 and number lines to support learning. You can support your child by regularly testing them on their Year 2 times tables (2s, 5s, 10s), and helping them to learn their new Year 3 times tables (3s, 4s, 8s). 

Science

We are learning about 'Food and Our Bodies', in which the children will learn about the bones in their body and how they can eat a balanced diet. We will explore the various nutrient groups, linking to our Design and Technology topic: healthy sandwiches. 

Geography

For this first half term, Year 3 will be learning about local employment, with a focus on the Egger factory. We will be looking at types of employment, the timber supply from Kielder Forest, and the manufacturing process. We will explore the environmental impact of Egger and what Egger has implemented to mitigate such concerns. With help from you to complete your child's survey, we will analyse data to explore employment trends in Hexham. 

 

History

In the second Autumn half term, our topic will be Stone Age to Iron Age, wherein we will explore the prehistory of Britain. We will explore artifacts to help us to make inferences about the Stone Age. 

 

Forest School & Commando Joe's

Year 3 has been split into 2 groups on a Monday afternoon to take part in either Forest School or Commando Joe's. These sessions form Year 3's first PE session of the week. 

 

Swimming

Swimming forms Year 3's second PE session of the week - this takes place on a Tuesday afternoon at Wentworth Leisure centre. On a Tuesday the pupils have a slightly earlier lunch and get ready to walk straight down to the swimming pool. Please ensure your child always brings a costume/trunks, a towel and goggles for their swimming lessons. Swimming kits can be taken home to be washed after each session.

 

Homework

Children will receive a homework wallet to keep homeworks in. Spellings set for practising will be posted on class dojo. Please encourage your child to complete their homework as it helps a great deal to reinforce recent learning and new skills. 

Please do ask if you have any questions or queries about ways to support your child. 

 

Miss Taylor

Class teacher

 

Reading at home
It is very important that each child is reading 3 or more times a week at home with a grown-up in addition to the times they read at school with a member of staff. Frequent reading will improve reading fluency, build your child's confidence in reading aloud in a 'story-teller's' voice and deepen the comprehension of what they are reading. 
 

TT Rockstars

Times Tables Rock Stars (ttrockstars.com)

The times tables that the children are required to know by the end of Year 3 are:

2x, 5x, 10x, 3x, 4x, 8x. 

To log in to TT Rockstars at home, simply type it into Google and click on the link. Go to Login (4th option along the top) and click on School pupils. It will then prompt you for the school name, then it will ask you for username and you need to select pin (not password) and enter pin. The children have this information inside their reading records.