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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​We had an exciting and inspiring day at Darton College, where our pupils took part in a basketball competition and skills festival. The event was split into two pathways, allowing everyone to participate and enjoy the experience at a level that suited them.

Our competitive team represented the school brilliantly, showing excellent teamwork, determination and sportsmanship throughout a series of highly competitive matches. Their hard work and focus paid off, and we are incredibly proud to say that they have progressed to the finals at Barnsley College.

Alongside this, pupils in the development group took part in a range of skill-building activities and non-competitive games. This group focused on learning new basketball skills, improving coordination and confidence and enjoying the game in a supportive and encouraging environment.

Every pupil who attended was fantastic. They listened carefully, supported one another and represented the school with pride both on and off the court. It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm, resilience and positive attitudes throughout the day.

Well done to all involved — we are very proud of you and we look forward to cheering on our team at the finals at Barnsley College!

In computing, Year 3 have designed and made small puppets and a creative background to create their own animations using iMotion. The children really took their time to make effective puppets and worked together to bring their animations to life using the iPads.

Year 3 have been making clay pots in art lessons. 
Within these lessons, the children have made 2 different types of pots using different methods. The first pot that they made was a 'pinch pit' or a 'thumb pot.' To make these, the children had to pinch the sides of the clay with their fingers and mould the sides of the pot until they had a shape that they liked. 
The second pot was a 'coil pot' where the children stacked and joined ropes (coils) of clay, creating a form from the base up, allowing for creative shapes and designs by varying coil placement and smoothing or leaving the coils visible for texture. 
They turned out so well!
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In PE, the children are being taught new skills in gymnastics. The aim of the past 2 weeks has been to begin to look at basic rolls and balances. The children have worked well in their pairs to demonstrate these skills and have been so confident in this that they have put together a sequence of 4 rolls and balances as a pair that they then performed to the class. 

This week, the children have started a new topic within computing. In this week's lesson the children have been learning about animation. The aim of the lesson was to explain that animation is a sequence of drawings or photographs. Within the lesson, the children had to draw a sequence of pictures on post it notes to create an effective flip book style animation.
The picture they chose had to be simple enough to draw repeatedly, across several pages but with an element of the picture to be changed each time so that when the pages were flipped, the drawing appeared to move. We had great fun making these and the results were brilliant. 

This week, we began our brand-new French unit, where the children will be learning to understand, respond to and say a range of common classroom instructions. It has been a fantastic start!

During our first lesson, we explored some key phrases that will help us follow simple directions in French — things like écoutez (listen), regardez (look), and asseyez-vous (sit down). The children enjoyed practising these new words and using actions to show what each instruction means.

Even after just one week, many of the children were already able to recall several of the instructions confidently and demonstrate their understanding through movement. It’s wonderful to see their enthusiasm and growing confidence in using French around the classroom!

The picture below shows all of the instructions that the children will be learning as part of this unit. We can’t wait to see how their understanding and pronunciation develop over the coming weeks.
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