Welcome to Year 3

Class Teachers: Mrs Billins (Mon-Wed), Mr Handy (Thurs-Fri)

Teaching Assistants: Mrs. Nurton,  Mrs. McComish

Tables Challenge

The children are getting very competitive and ambitious with the Thursday times table challenge.  The challenge involves a number of levels, each with 36 (or more) questions, to be completed in 3 minutes. (This is the speed required by the statutory Year 4 tables test). The children are not allowed to miss questions out and need to get 100% correct to move onto the next level.

The most fun way to prepare for this is using Times Tables Rockstars. Please do not allow the children to memorise the challenge questions as they are shuffled up!

Spring Term 2024-2025

We hope the children and yourselves had a lovely Christmas break and are eager to get straight back into learning. We have lots of exciting things coming up this term. 

What to bring to the classroom 

The children should be bringing in their Super Six daily:

• a pencil
• a handwriting pen (once they have earned their pen licence)
• a pencil sharpener (one that stores the sharpenings, so the children do not have to leave ther desks to sharpen their pencils)
• a glue stick
• a 30cm ruler
• an eraser

The children may also bring in coloured pencils and felt tips in a small pencil-case, if they wish.

Numeracy

In Numeracy, we will continue improving our arithmetic, with an emphasis on the formal methods of multiplication and division. This of course makes it more important than ever that the children continue to learn the multiplication tables at home, please feel free to discuss with Mrs Bllins and Mr. Handy of ways to encourage the children to practise the tables; it can be fun! We will also be learning about measurements, including length, perimeter, volume and capacity.

How can you help at home? The great majority of the children in the school are enjoying using Times-Table Rockstars regularly, and this is reflected in their learning of the tables. We are expecting some of the Year 3 children to learn all their tables to 12x by the end of the year! We will be continuing the popular Thursday multiplication tables challenge; many of the children are enjoying the spirit of friendly competition; their hard work being rewarded with good progress..

Please try to find opportunities to practise everyday maths in the real world: counting coins to find the correct amount, working out the correct change; weighing ingredients using scales and reading the time on an analogue and digital clock. 

English 

During the Spring term we will be reading 'The Last Bear' by Hannah Gold and writing our own first person adventure stories. Some children are proud to have already earned their Pen Licences and others are keen to join them this term. Please encourage your child to write in their neatest handwriting whenever doing some writing so that they can see this level of handwriting is needed at all times! 

How can you help at home?  Please ensure that your child reads aloud at least 4 times a week. This is absolutely vital if the children are to shine to their best ability; it is the biggest factor in how well your child progresses in almost every area of the curriculum. The children should bring in their reading record books every day, signed by an adult when they have read. Remember to colour in the stars on their bookmarks each time they have read, so the children can be presented with their reading certificates.

Science

In Science, we will begin the Spring Term by study fossils: how fossils are formed and how they can teach us about the Earth's distant past. We will then study soils and why soil is so important to our lives.

In the second half of the Spring Term we will be learning about light, shadows, and how we see.

R.E.
 

The children will be answering the following questions:

• How do Hindu children worship?
• What is the relationship between Easter and Passover?

P.E.

PE will be taught on Mondays and Wednesdays; on these days the children should continue to come to school in their PE kit. This term the children will be enjoying Dance, Volleyball, Orienteering and Swimming. Our wood walk this term will be an orienteering competition (with a twist...) around Horseshoe Lake!  Details of the swimming lessons will be distributed later in the term.

Homework

Alternating Maths and English homework will be sent home every Wednesday, and should be handed in by the following Monday. All children will be expected to complete their homework by this deadline. Completed homework will stay at school so that any errors and misconceptions can be addressed at school. 

We recommend that children complete their homework earlier in the week, as this gives them time to ask their teachers for help, if it is needed.

Of course, you are welcome to help your child complete their homework, but if they need a lot of help, please let us know, so we can give them further support.

Please remind your child to bring in their homework every Monday (or earlier, if it is completed early) so that homework can be marked and new homework can be issued. 

As always, if you require any further information, please come and chat to the class teacher after school or send an email via the school office secretary@st-michaels-school.org

Useful websites

Writing Inspiration

Spelling Help

Timestables

Mathsbot

Mathaids

Readtheory

BBC Skillswise - advice for parents who want to help with homework

BBC Bitesize

Interactive teaching programmes (maths)

Interactive teaching clock

Timestables games

Once upon a picture