Term 3 & 4 Newsletter – Class 3

Dear all,

I hope you all had a restful Christmas break and enjoyed all the festivities. Welcome back to school for Term 3. We have got an exciting term ahead of us and I am delighted to be back with the children.

Please do come up and chat at the end of the day or email me if you have any questions.

Many thanks,

Miss Rietdyk

English

In term 3 we will be looking at the book ‘Flat Stanley and the Great Egyptian Grave Robbery’ by Jeff Brown. Flat Stanley fits in very well with our Egyptian theme and provides a wonderful opportunity to learn about life in Ancient Egypt at the same as developing our writing skills with a focus on letter writing and newspaper recounts. After half term, we will be developing our skills in writing instruction texts on how to become an expert embalmer as well as looking at the poem ‘From the Railway Carriage’. Children will also have the opportunity to practice their handwriting in order to get the precious pen licence!

Our whole class reading text for term 3 will be an abridged version of Treasure Island. After half term we will be reading ‘Bills New Frock’ by Anne Fine.

Science

Our Science topic for Term 3 is Light. We will be investigating different sources of light and how we see. After half term, we will move onto Forces and Magnets. We will focus on the role of friction, push and pull and will investigate the strength of magnets.

Design & Technology

Our DT work in term 4 includes looking at the foods that the Ancient Egyptians ate. Children will plan an authentic Egyptian feast, choosing foods that would have been available to the Egyptians and design a menu. Children will then have the opportunity to make Aish Baladi, an Ancient Egyptian bread.

Music

Children will have their weekly singing lessons on a Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Bayman. We will also be looking at the music of Ancient Egypt, looking at the instruments used and what we use in the modern day. Children will have the opportunity to create a piece of Ancient Egyptian music.

French

In French, children will be learning how to respond to the question ‘Ou habites- tu?’ (Where do you live?) Children will be learning how to say what type of house they live in, where they live, what rooms they have in their house and what colours they have in their house.

Geography

Our Geography topic starts looking at the Oceans and Continents of the world, before narrowing down to focus on the country of Egypt and the River Nile as part of our theme of the Ancient Egyptians. We will look at the climate of Egypt as well as some of the physical Geography of the country, with a focus on the Nile.

Art

In term 3, we will be exploring and creating Ancient Egyptian art. We will be learning and applying the styles, patterns, and techniques of Ancient Egyptian art through lessons that include designing scrolls, making paper, and creating contemporary responses using zines.

Spelling

In Spellings, we will be continuing with Term 2 of our Superhero Spellings scheme. These sessions will focus on prefixes, suffixes and homophones. Children will have weekly spellings stuck in their homework books and will be tested on their spellings every Friday morning. Please encourage your children to practice their spellings in their homework book as this really supports their confidence and understanding. You can find a termly overview stuck in your child’s homework books.

Maths

In Maths in term 3 we are carrying on with our learning of multiplication and division. This term sees children learn the formal method of multiplication, multiplying a 2 digit number by a 1 digit number. We will then be moving onto division and dividing 2 digits by 1 digit by partitioning into tens and ones and sharing into equal groups. After multiplication and division we will move onto length and perimeter. In term 4, our maths learning focus will be fractions. This topic, we will be comparing and ordering unit and non-unit fractions as well as exploring equivalent fractions. We will then move onto mass and capacity.

RE

Our RE topic for term 3 will look at Passover and how this connects to freedom in the Jewish religion. In term 4, our enquiry question will be ‘How do festivals and worship show what matters to a Muslim?

History

We will be spending terms 3 and 4 looking at the Ancient Egyptians. Children will learn about life in Ancient Egypt, focusing on the Egyptian Gods, mummies, Tutankhamun and hieroglyphics. Our enquiry questions for this topic are ‘How did the Egyptian civilisation last so long?’ which will be followed by ‘What have archaeologists taught us?’ after half term. Class 3 will also be going on an exciting trip to the Brighton museum for an engaging mummification workshop!

PSHE

For PHSE children will be exploring their goals and their dreams as well as investigating how to overcome challenges they might face. After half term the children will be looking at what is means to be healthy.

Computing

In term 3, we will be taking a journey into a computer to see what actually makes up a computer and how computers work. In term 4, we will be programming animations using SCRATCH.

PE

PE will take place on a Tuesday morning with Miss Zara who will be looking at dance and gym skills. PE will also take place on a Thursday afternoons where the children will be developing their golf skills in term 3 and dodgeball in term 4.

Notices

PE kits

Our PE lessons are on Tuesday and Thursdays, so please make sure children have their full kits. Children can wear tracksuit bottoms up to half term whilst it is still cold, then after half term children will be expected to wear shorts. Please make sure your child has a spare pair of socks in their PE kit if they are wearing skirts and tights to school. Thank you.

Reading

Your children will be choosing a reading book from our year 3 library that will be sent home with them and they are able to change these books are regularly as necessary. We expect children to read every night, even if it is only for a short while. Please continue to record all reading in their Reading Records. The Reading Records will be stamped once a page is completed. Children will receive a certificate in assembly when they fill up their Reading Record. We will be checking children’s Reading Records once a week, so please do make sure it is in their schoolbags.

Homework

Homework is to be completed once a week and children will be able to choose a piece of homework from a Homework menu. The orange Homework books will be handed out to children to take home on a Wednesday afternoon and will be expected back in school on a Monday morning. Please make sure you ask your child about their homework for the week and are working with them to complete it.

TT Rockstars

Please encourage your children to use TT Rockstars when they can. Children will need to practice their 3,4 and 8 times tables regularly; this will be of a huge help to them in our daily maths lesson and consolidate our class learning.

Uniform

Please make sure children’s names are on their uniform so that we know exactly who owns what! In Class 3 children are expected to wear ties with their winter uniform. Please make sure your child has a tie and that it is named.

Water bottles

Please make sure your child’s water bottle is clearly named and that they bring them home with them every day.