Welcome to Year 3

Mrs Dunn and Mrs Brecht - Class Teachers

Contact email: willow@inspiresmat.co.uk

Our class is made up of amazing and enthusiastic children. We have discussed the code of conduct and used these to create our own class promise and display. Our classroom is a welcoming, supportive and engaging space where every class member feels valued, safe and listened to. We thrive with a supportive team work ethic and we know the value of learning from making mistakes and gaining valuable feedback. We look forward to supporting your children as they learn new skills and develop their knowledge and understanding of a variety of engaging topics. 

Things to remember;

PE days

Willow class are scheduled to have PE on Tuesday's, however sometimes they may do additional PE sessions so we encourage all children to have their PE kit in school all week. 

Spring Term 2025:

Homework: We will be setting the children arithmetic/maths and reading homework each week. The children are expected to bring their completed homework books by the Tuesday where they will be given their new homework for the following week on Thursday or Friday. Please continue to read with your child and encourage them to play TTRS at home as this makes a significant difference across the year, especially when transitioning into year 4. We also have access to Letter Join, please see their reading diaries for log in details. 

Spellings. 

Children will receive a list of spelling words in their spelling diaries which link to the phase 5 sounds. You child will also receive some tricky words and some words from the year 3/4 statutory spelling list below. Please ensure your child learns these each week for a weekly test. 

English:

This term we will be focusing on "The Pied Piper" and "Escape from Pompeii" where we'll focus on Hopes and Healing. This is a new framework so we are very excited to see what the children can produce. 

As we continue our class books, please feel free to ask your child for book updates on the story so far! 

Reading;

As we use a new framework 'Literacy Tree' we now have new story books in school. This means that as we study a book in class, we have 1 book between 2. Which means the children can access the text throughout the day and share the book closely with a friend to discuss various details. We focus on Retrieval skills, Vocabulary, Prediction, Explanation, Inference and summarising. Here are the books we will be studying in the Spring term. 

Maths:

We are currently learning about multiplication and division. We will also be focusing on times tables, so please encourage them to learn them, they can also do this on Times Table Rockstars (TTRS).

In Maths, we are following the structure of the White Rose scheme. White Rose is a UK curriculum mastery programme designed to spark curiosity and excitement and nurture confidence in maths, well linked to the developing of a positive growth mindset and strong reasoning and problem solving skills. ALL children have access to Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) so please download the app and begin (or continue) practicing at home- we cannot stress enough the importance of the children's arithmetic and times table skills, especially as they move further up KS2. 

Science:

This term we are studying 'forces and magnets'. This project teaches children about contact and non-contact forces, including friction and magnetism. They investigate frictional and magnetic forces, and identify parts of a magnet and magnetic materials.

Geography: Rocks, Relics and Rumbles

In the Rocks, Relics and Rumbles project, your child will learn about the different layers of the Earth, including plate tectonics and their potential effects on the Earth's surface. They will investigate different types of rock to learn about their uses and properties. They will also investigate soil and fossils, including learning about the work of Mary Anning. They will have the opportunity to use maps to learn about the lines of latitude and longitude and a compass to learn about the cardinal and intercardinal points. They will also learn about volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis and the long and short-term consequences that these can have.

RE:

We will be exploring key questions during RE and this term our focus will be on 'What is Philosophy?'.

Art:

We are studying ammonites. We look at various art skills, including sketching and printing in this unit. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to updating you with all the things we're doing during a busy, engaging rest of the year here in Willow class!