Mr France

Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is constantly evolving  and this year the emphasis will be on thinking skills, philosophy for children (P4C) and outdoor learning. The school values of kindness, creativity, resilience and resourcefulness are interwoven throughout all subject areas and we encourage these skills as much as possible through a range of learning opportunities. The children enjoy the cross curricular nature of our topics and it often inspires them to continue their learning at home. Our learning is focused around five main topics, but there are also stand alone lessons to ensure comprehensive coverage of all subject areas. 

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Our focus for the first half term will be ‘Healthy Body, Healthy Mind’, an exciting Science topic. Year 3 examine the main food groups, skeleton bones and muscles. Children research nutrition and design their own healthy balanced lunch. Children also consider food hygiene and cleanliness, before cooking their own healthy meal, Spaghetti Pomodoro (Italy class) or Spicy Noodles (China class). As Scientists, children also design their own fair test to investigate which foods contain the most fat. As artists children sketch their own fruit and vegetables, using shading and water colours to blend and create shadows. To develop creativity, children study the Italian artist Arcimboldo (who uses fruit and vegetables in his art) and design their own interpretation of his work. As philosophers Year 3 consider the statement, ‘The greatest health is wealth’. 

Pole to Pole (Explorers)

We aim to embrace the cold in this topic, where we learn about the Arctic and the Antarctic. The children learn about how animals have adapted to live in cold climates and find out about food chains and food webs. As Scientists they read and record temperatures and weather graphs and make comparisons to our own climate. Also, children learn how to recognise and compare natural resources to man-made resources, and how these link to our knowledge and understanding of climate change and global warming. Children explore the seasons and how the Earth's axis and its position around the sun creates our seasons and how it affects the seasons in the poles. As well as this, our learning also covers the human geography of the poles: how people live and survive the extreme temperatures and how their cultures and traditions are different from our own. As artists they re-create the northern lights and use different textures and materials to collage polar animals. In English the children discover all about Sir Robert Falcon Scott, studying his final diary entrees and his attempt to be the first explorer to the south pole.    

From the Mists of Time (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age)

In this exciting historical topic the children investigate our ancestors, from as far back as 7 million years ago, and how our species have adapted and changed over the past 200,000 years. As historians children make comparisons between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens and think about some of the theories about why the Neanderthals did not survive. Children explore life in the Stone Age, through the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Paleolithic stages and how our use of stone tools and types of homes changed. We then progress onto learning about life in the Bronze Age, when humans first learned to smelt metal, and how this significantly changed their way of life. Finally, we move on to learning about the Iron Age, and make comparisons between artefacts found in all three of these eras. The children have the exciting opportunity to visit Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge honeycombed with caves and smaller fissures, which the children can explore and learn about the stone age artefacts found there. As artists children have the opportunity to create their own 'cave paintings', and in D&T they play at hunter-gatherers and make pancakes 'stone-age' style. 

How Does Your Garden Grow? (Plants)

As the weather (hopefully) heats up Year 3 tackle a bright and colourful topic. As Scientists children identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants. Children explore the requirements of plants for life and growth. Year 3 investigate the way in which water is transported within plants and explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal. To promote creativity children study the artists Klimt and Picasso and create their own art connected to flowers and plants. Detailed observational drawings are made after exploring Dore's wildlife garden. We also hope to be able to grow our own beans, cress and conduct numerous fair tests to understand how plants grow well. As philosophers children consider the issues regarding climate change and genetically modified foods. 

Maths

All maths lessons in Y3 are carefully differentiated to offer children an appropriate level of challenge to ensure that they make excellent progress. We regularly use a range of practical apparatus such as Numicon, Base 10, place value grids and place value arrows to help children fully understand new concepts and deepen their understanding of each calculation method. Additionally, learning is regularly linked to real life scenarios through the use of measures, money and time to ensure that maths learning is exciting, relevant and applicable to every day life. 

By the end of Y3, children are expected to know their 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 times tables and the linked division facts. Each child has their own Timestables Rockstars login, where they can practise their times tables regularly and try to beat their own score and improve their recall speed. Three times a week the children also complete a 3 minute times table challenge. If they score 55 or more out of this 60 question challenge twice then they get to move up to the next times table.

English

We use our topics to inspire the children in their writing; enabling them to write in context and with real purpose. Throughout the year we will cover many different types of writing such as: letters, explanations, stories, non-chronological reports, poetry and many more.

The teaching sequence for writing is used to teach english throughout the school. The key stages of the sequence include immersion (ensuring that children have a wide knowledge of the topic), analysis (looking at key features of texts), SPAG (learning the key spelling, punctuation and grammar skills required) planning, writing and reviewing. In Year 3 we ensure that writing has a purpose and children often have the opportunity to present their writing to other children across the school.

Science

Our science teaching encourages children to develop many skills including observing, predicting and explaining. In Y3, children design experiments and begin to recognise the importance of ensuring that variables are carefully considered to ensure that a fair test is conducted. The main topics include: Light and Dark, Rocks and Soils, Plants, Animals (including humans) and Magnets and Forces. There are many opportunities to engage with science learning at home through every day life and we welcome all children to present and share these discoveries during weekly show and tell time.

Music

As well as regular music lessons in Year 3, children have the opportunity to learn the violin with a specialist music teacher. We invite Year 3 parents to a performance after our lessons. 

Learning at Home

We love to see and hear about any learning at home, particularly when it is linked to the topics that we are learning about in school. In Y3, we have regular sessions for show and tell during the week and this is a fantastic opportunity for children to learn from each other. Children regularly present their learning and ask one another questions to deepen their understanding. This work takes pride of place in the Learning at Home area in the Year 3 cloakroom. 

Spellings

In Y3 pupils will receive weekly spellings to practise at home. Spellings usually follow a spelling rule and are sent home on Monday. Children are tested on these spellings in a sentence on Friday, which also includes high frequency words. Children are expected to join their handwriting in this sentence and include the correct punctuation. 

Reading Records

‘The most important skill any child can leave primary school with is the ability to read independently and effectively for meaning.’ Rose Review.

In Y3, children should be reading at home every day.  It is helpful for you to have conversations with your child about their reading, asking them questions about different characters and particularly provoking them to infer answers by "reading between the lines".  We would hope that adults at home record a comment at least once a week.  Reading records will be collected in weekly to monitor progress and certificates will be awarded for children who read at least three times a week.

P.E.

Each child should have a PE top (Sports Day T-shirt is ideal), shorts, a track suit (jogging bottoms and jumper) and outdoor trainers. All these must be clearly labelled with your child’s name and stored in a suitable named bag. Long hair (boys as well) should be tied back and earrings removed or covered with tape.  Typically PE lessons will be on a Monday and Wednesday but as we often have to change our PE timetable, it is really helpful if children have their PE kit in school every day. These will be sent home every half term to be washed. 

Communication

Creswell Crags Trip

As part of our topic ‘From the Mists of Time’ (Stone, Bronze and Iron Age topic), Year 3 children will visit Creswell Crags, a museum and visitor centre located near Worksop. Children will have the opportunity to learn about Stone Age life through two exciting workshops plus a "Life In The Ice Age Cave Tour". The workshops vary each year, but this year included: an opportunity to build a shelter, spear hunt a reindeer, examine skeleton bones and attempt to make a fire. The tour of the Robin Hood cave, one of 26 caves, allows children to experience real darkness and imagine what life would really have been like as a cave woman or man. 

Y3 Austerfield Residential: (two days, one night)

We are delighted to be able to offer the Y3 year group a short one night residential at Austerfield Field Study Centre near Doncaster. This is a fantastic opportunity to support our creative curriculum whilst offering the children a good introduction to the longer residentials in Y4, Y5 and Y6. This visit supports the 'Rocks and Soils' Science learning objectives from the National Curriculum.

Austerfield is a village school converted to a secure site residential centre, ideally placed to use the surrounding natural habitats for a range of field studies. It also provides a wonderful tropical animal house, an opportunity to complete orienteering activities and visit a real quarry. The centre is contained, cosy and ideal for a first trip away from home.