This half term, Year 3 are lucky enough to be having and EXTRA PE lesson with a cricket coach - Dean. These lessons will take place every Monday morning. Within these sessions, they children will be developing skills in throwing, catching, batting, bowling and fielding. This week, we made a start on catching. The children did brilliantly.

Year 3 have been exploring the fascinating topic of plants in science. Throughout this unit, they have learned about the different parts of a plant and their functions, as well as investigating what plants need in order to grow well.
In this lesson, the children focused on the important role of roots. They worked hard to identify, locate and describe the function of roots within a plant. To be successful, they needed to know where the roots are found, understand why they are such a vital part of the plant and carefully observe and sketch what they could see.
Using iPads, the children took close-up photographs of plant roots, allowing them to really zoom in and study the detail. They then used these observations to create detailed sketches.
We were so impressed with their curiosity and attention to detail—take a look at their fantastic work below!

Year 3 have been working incredibly hard in maths as they learn the method of column addition. They began by adding 2- and 3-digit numbers that required no exchange, and they were fantastic at it. The children carefully lined up their digits in the correct columns and showed great accuracy in reaching the correct answers.
Once they were confident with this, we moved their learning on to addition calculations that required one exchange from the ones to the tens column. To help them fully understand this concept, we used Base Ten blocks so they could physically exchange ten ones for one ten. This hands-on approach allowed them to clearly see how the numbers change and ensured a deeper understanding of the process.
After plenty of practice with the resources, the children successfully transitioned to using the written method independently. We were so impressed with their confidence and accuracy that we even progressed to calculations involving two exchanges!
We are very proud of the effort and determination Year 3 have shown throughout this topic.

All the children looked absolutely amazing for World Book Day.
This year, we celebrated Julia Donaldson as our theme and all classes rewrote and illustrated their own version of one of her stories. 
Year 3, focused on the book: The Smartest Giant in Town. The children wrote as authors by changing characters, twisting plots and creating and resolving problems. They illustrated their work beautifully.

Our new topic in science is Plants. To kick off the topic, we recapped on previous learning from KS1 and discussed what plants need to grow well and why plants are important. 
The children were given 9 factual statements about plants. In pairs, the children organised the facts in order of importance. 
1. Plants make the World a prettier place. 
2. Plants can be used as food. 
3. Plants can be used as medicines.
4. Plants can be used to flavour food.
5. Plants can be provide habitats.
6. Plants help us breathe by releasing oxygen.
7. Plants provide playing fields and parks for children.
8. Florists can sell plants to make money.
9. Plants can be used to make different fabrics.
As the children placed these facts, in order of importance, it was great to hear them decision making together and discussing their opinions with reasoning. 

In topic lessons, the children have been learning about different types of food and where in the World they come from. We talked about our favourite fruits and vegetables and found out in which climates they were grown, including - Mediterranean, tropical and temperate. 
Within lessons, we also looked at types of farmers and discussed Fair Trade. The children were very compassionate when learning about this and all could understand that it is better, where possible, to buy Fair Trade products to ensure that farmers are paid and treated fairly for the hard wok that they do to give us a taste of the World no matter where we live.

Year 3 have been developing their sewing skills as part of their exciting textile project, and the progress has been fantastic to see.
Earlier in the unit, the children learned how to use templates carefully to cut out fruit shapes from fabric. They then revisited and honed their running stitch skills — first introduced in Key Stage 1 — to add decorative details to their fruit pieces. It was wonderful to see how much their control and confidence have grown since first learning this stitch.
After practising these skills, the children moved on to designing their own fruit creations, again using templates to ensure accuracy when cutting their shapes. This gave them the opportunity to combine creativity with precision.
In today’s lesson, the class began assembling their textile fruit collage masterpiece. Using their running stitch, they carefully attached two pieces of material together to build the foundations of their final piece.
The children worked exceptionally well, showing great perseverance and resilience. Threading needles, tying knots and managing fabric can be tricky, and there were moments of frustration when things did not go to plan — but the children kept going, supported one another and problem-solved brilliantly.
I cannot wait to see what the finished pieces look like — if today’s effort is anything to go by, they are going to be spectacular!

Year 3 had lots of fun during NSPCC Number Day. To start the day, they learned about 3D shapes. Within this, they learned the names of eight 3D shapes and began to describe their properties. The children then created these shapes using spaghetti and marshmallows, taking care to note down the number of vertices (marshmallows) and edges (spaghetti) in each shape. 

Following this activity, the children learned about coordinates. They learned the rule 'along the corridor and up the stairs' for reading and plotting coordinates in the first quadrant. To make this activity fun, the children located different zoo animals at different coordinates. They even made their own coordinate grids and drew pictures at different positions to challenge their friends.
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After all this learning, the children enjoyed a game. But not just any game... A game where their times table knowledge was key to their success.

In computing lessons, the Year 3 children have been working on programming. To do this, they have used Scratch. The aim of the lesson was for children to explore a new programming environment. Within this, they had to identify 3 sprites which they then changed. To advance their learning, they then added different sprites and gave each of them the following commands: move forwards 10 steps, turn clockwise and turn anti-clockwise. Some children even changed the background to their environment.

Year 3 are enjoying reading lessons and have engaged very well with the whole class text 'Fantastic Mr Fox.' The children each have a reading partner to whom they read with every day. Within their partners,  they support and encourage one another to read a specific section of the text that they build upon as the week goes on. 
The chapter that we read this week, had quite a lot of dialogue in it so the children were encouraged to use expression as they read. I was blown away by their confidence and ability to do this so well. 
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