YEAR 2021-2022

Wednesday 9th March

Yesterday, we found a mysterious message in a bottle. It was from a girl called Rhodopis, and she has been kidnapped by bandits and taken across the Aegean Ocean in a vessel. This has linked to our English as we are reading ‘Cinderella of the Nile’, but we have been very intrigued to find out more about it.

Friday 4th March

What a busy few days we have had! We have had a letter from David Attenburgh asking us to find out about rivers and the pollution in them, in order for us to help him to reduce plastic waste. We began our topic by going to Selbourne to complete some river studies. We had an amazing time and the children learnt lots. Here are some comments from them:

“When we went in the river, we caught animals like a flatworm, blood worm, freshwater shrimps and water worms”.   (Darcie, Seb, Austin, Anja and Eve)

“I learnt that blood worms in the river mean that there are signs of pollution, however it is ok, because we only found one and that means the river is healthy.” (Freya)

“I liked the hike because it reminds me of when I go camping! We also saw a talking tree that said ‘HI!’” (Bea)

“I learnt that when you go hunting in a river, you don’t always see the animals because they are so small. This means you have to look really closely”  (Anja)

“I learnt that trees can communicate with their roots. They can also share nutrients.” (Sophie)

“The source of a river is normally found on the top of a hill. The river we went to was made from chalk. We know that chalk is not waterproof so there is no river source at the top of this hill. This one actually starts at the bottom of a hill!” ( Eve, Saoirse).

This week has also seen the return of World Book Day and we had a Harry Potter themed day! We made our of Platform 9 and three quarters, and made potions to learn about acidity using cabbage water! We ended the day reading with Year 1!

Wednesday 16th February

Let me take you back to last year… when we were completing our topic that was called ‘Up into the air’. We learnt about all things that fly, including owls, planes and chinooks. Unfortunately, we were unable to make this topic as immersive as we wanted due to COVID restrictions.

Well, yesterday we managed to include an experience from this topic! We had 18 squadron from RAF Odiham who landed their chinook in Hook Meadow. We even had an opportunity to go into the chinook and ask questions! The day was very rainy and wet but that didn’t dampen our spirits!

Wednesday 2nd February

It has been a couple of weeks since our last post and we have been busy! We have used Oreo biscuits to learn about tectonic plates, plasticine to learn about the layers of the earth, and have written newspaper articles about Mount Vesivuis’ eruption on Pompeii on 24th August 79AD.

Recently, we have been looking at poetry and have focussed on a poem called Volcano, written by Joshua Seigal.

This week, we have practised our skills in performance, and have learnt a verse of this poem off by heart and performed it to the class.

Wednesday 12th January

Well its a new year for Year 3, and that means only one thing…. a new topic! This term our topic is called ‘What a Disaster!’ and we begin looking at volcanoes. As part of our stunning start, we spent time using maps to locate some of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world and then we went on to make our very own volcanoes.

Of course, an active volcano wouldn’t be active without an eruption, so we spent time making lava from vinegar, washing up liquid, food colouring, water and bicarbonate of soda. The eruptions were very exciting!

In English we are reading a book called ‘Escape from Pompeii’ by Christina Balit and are finding out, through a non-fiction story, the events that occured in Italy in 79AD. In guided reading we have begun a book called ‘The Firework Maker’s Daughter’ by Phillip Pullman and in maths we have been working on multiplication and division. It is safe to say this year has begun with a bang and we cannot wait to see what learning will be happening in the weeks to come.  Stay tuned to find out!

Wednesday 8th December

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been working hard to create our very own legend, based on the Anglo-Saxon legend ‘Beowulf’. We learnt about how stories add tension and worked really hard to create this in our own stories. We have also spent lots of time thinking about how to edit our work and have been doing this successfully. The legends are absolutely brilliant and I cannot wait for you to read them all!

Also, we have been learning about illuminated letters, which were usually the first letter of a page or paragraph. It was enlarged and in colour, with gold or silver added in areas, while the rest of the text was in black. Images of people, animals, plants or mythological creatures were sometimes added to enhance the letter. During the Saxon era, many people wrote in runes and it was not until the very end of the Saxon times that some people learnt to read. Because not many people could read at this time, illuminated letters were a way of communicating a story or message without using words. We then went on to create our own. Do you like them?

We have also been looking at nets in DT, because we are working towards making a Saxon house. We took apart a cardboard box to look at its net, including the faces, edges and the tabs used to stick it all down. We then practised scoring and cutting card to make our own net.

Wednesday 17th November

On Monday, it was the start of Anti-Bullying Week! We all wore different socks to show that we are all different and that is a great thing! Being different is great because if we were all the same, the world would be a boring place and we would find it difficult to know who was who. We also started our anti-bullying week posters… we were still doing them on Wednesday too!  We also joined in with a BBC live lesson on Anti-Bullying. We met Andy and the Odd Socks and listened to their new song. The theme for this year is ‘One Kind Word’ and so in English we have been writing poems to describe what kindness look or sounds like. We can’t wait to show you them – they are AMAZING so far!

Wednesday 3rd November

Today was our Marvellous Middle! We went back through the time machine to head to Butser Ancient Farm, where we showed off all we had learnt about the Stone Age and Iron Age. Holly, who was our guide for the day, was really impressed with everything we had learnt already! We then headed to the Saxon era to learn about life in that time period. We did many activities during the day and had a great time. This is what the children said about their day:

My favourite part was when we carved chalk. Bea

I liked excavating the sand in archeology and we found horseshoes, pottery and even skulls. Eve

When we looked around the houses, it was interesting learning about how they were different.  Ella

I liked when we went inside the houses and learnt that the iron age made pottery out of clay from the ground. Anja

I liked learning with my friends.  Freya

I liked watching the goats playing! Darcie

Wednesday 20th October 

In Year 3 this week, we have been learning to write instructions in order to wash a woolly mammoth. We have found out about woolly mammoths and why washing them might be difficult, learnt about prepositions and imperative verbs and in order for us to generate creative ideas about how we would wash a woolly mammoth, we had our very own ‘woolly mammoth’ to wash after they had been in a mud bath! It was messy work but we came up with some really great instructions…

‘First lather your mammoth so it is all bubbly’.

‘Hold onto the tail and brush down to the head.’

‘Bathe your mammoth in the bath.’

‘Polish and buff the large tusks’.

We have also been finishing our Science topic on rocks for the half term. We finished by learning about soils, because it is made from rock and micro-organisms. We looked at  clay soil and sandy soil and learnt about how it is essential for life. Did you know it takes 500 years to make just 2cm of soil? We then experimented to find out which soil was the most absorbent and learnt about fair testing. We found clay soil was much more absorbant because it was thicker and it actually turned into clay.

In RE, we have been learning about why different religions believe water to be precious. We learnt about Hinduism and why Hindus travel for miles to get to the River Ganges. We then compared this to Christianity. We headed over to the church to speak to Reverend Tara about baptism. We learn about what a baptism is and then went onto look at how water is a symbol here.

Finally, we have been continuing with our Guided Reading book – ‘The Wild Way Home’ by Sophie Kirtley. Our main character, 12 year old Charlie, meets a boy from the Stone Age, and the meeting was not as friendly as Crondall Primary School children! The Stone Age boy accuses Charlie of stealing his spear, and so we spent time acting out this chapter so we could really infer the character’s emotions.

Tuesday 12th October

Over the last 2 weeks we have been very busy indeed! Last week, we led the Harvest Festival at the Church, and everyone was so impressed with our performance of the ‘Enormous Turnip’!  It was an incredibly special event, as this is the first time we have been able to perform to a real live audience since we were in Year 1!

In our English lessons, we have been reading a book called ‘The First Drawing’. We completed our learning by writing a diary as if we were the boy in the story. I was so impressed with the level of writing that the children produced here and hope you are too!

Wednesday 29th September

Welcome back time travellers! Well over the past few weeks we have been getting really busy in Year 3. Besides practising for our up and coming Harvest performance at the church next Wednesday, we have been reading a book called ‘The First Drawing’ by Mordecai Gerstein. We imagined what it would be like to be born before the invention of drawing, more than 30 thousand years ago. We looked at cave painting and then even had a go at some of our own!

We have also started our new guided reading book, called ‘ The Wild Way Home’ by Sophie Kirtley. We learnt that it is all about a boy called Charlie, who is gearing up for his 12th birthday, as well as a baby brother! In fact, he gets a new baby brother on his birthday, but it is not all good news. There is something wrong with the baby’s heart, so, feeling scared, Charlie runs into the Mandel Forest. There, he finds a deertooth necklace, which we think might transport him to the Stone Age! We spent some time making these necklaces!

As well as our learning on the Stone Age, we have been delving into the wonderful, scientific world of rocks! We began by learning the names of rocks like granite, slate, chalk, marble, sandstone and limestone. We also learnt to classify them as sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. We made our very own chocolate rocks to understand how they are formed! Miss Wood was most impressed that we managed not to eat them too! That takes a lot of will power!

We have also been looking at the durability, permeability and ability to withstand acidity by conducting some experiments. Doing this taught us that different rocks have different purposes. For example chalk is great for writing on a board with, but not so good for making buildings or kitchen work tops!

By the way, we finished our Stone Age weaponry too, but you will just have to wait until you see our classroom to be amazed at how wonderful and realistic they look!

Wednesday 8th September

Welcome to Year 3! The term has started amazingly with some beautiful weather, and alongside it, a brand new topic! Yesterday we discovered a time machine on the playground. When we went through it, we discovered lots of clues as to the time period we had found ourselves in. After a bit of discussion, we found out we had landed in 15000BC,  the Stone Age!

We then had to spend the rest of the day working out how to survive. We had to make a fire to keep us warm, a shelter to keep us dry and a container for foraging. In the afternoon we spent time designing and making a weapon to hunt animals. We are excited to find out more and can’t wait to let you know about it either!

YEAR 3 2020 – 2021

Wednesday 7th July

In science the children have been learning about about the human skeleton.  They worked in teams to work out the correct position of the bones:

In English the children have been learning about performing and have worked hard to put these skills into practise by performing a playscript:

Friday 25th June

This afternoon Year 3 visited the allotment:

It’s very tidy and organised  (Emileo)
It’s easy to recognise the different plants because of the signs (Spencer)
The plants smell lovely (Alex)
I love the variety of different plants and how we can eat the things we are growing (Florence)
The flowers are really pretty (Bryony)
I love how the parents took part in creating the new allotment.  They’ve done an amazing job (Forbes)
The parents have worked so hard (Barney)

Wednesday 23rd June

We had a fantastic morning celebrating everyone’s sporting achievements.  The children were in good voice and cheered on their fellow team mates across the school.  Here are a selection of photographs from the morning:

Tuesday 15th June

Since returning after half-term the children have been busy learning about traditional tales.  We learned the story of the Three Little Pigs, off by heart, created a story map and then acted this out.  We then moved on to learn about twisted tales and how we can create our own twist on a favourite tale.

On Friday afternoon we shared our marvellous middle with Year 4 on the school.  We thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone’s topic projects and were very impressed with the creativity of their work.

Thursday 13th May

Over the last week we have been studying The Tunnel by Anthony Browne.  The children wrote character descriptions on Rose and Jack and then crawled through a tunnel to help them imagine what it would be like.  The children completed a senses mind map and then wrote a setting description.  Below is a description written by one of the children in Year 3:

As Rose nervously crawled into the dark damp tunnel, she heard a faint drip, drip, drip.  Damp, gloomy walls loomed up ahead while the wind howled like a wolf.  Beneath her hands, jagged, bumpy stones, like sharp knives cut into her pale white skin.  Although she was really, very tired, she kept on going.  A warming speck of light glowed in the distance.

During Art and Design we have been learning to join clay by using cross-hatching and slip.  We then created 3D clay models of wolves which used the techniques we had been practising.

Wednesday 28th April

Thankfully the beautiful Easter weather held out for our woodland walk last week.  The children, along with year 4, donned their walking boots and headed out across the fields of Crondall to Lee Wood.  The stunning start was a great introduction to our new topic this term, Woodland Wonders.  With maps and compasses in hand, the chidren got a better understanding of the local area.
They took part in a nature scavenger hunt and took pictures of interesting things they noticed in nature.

10th March 2021

With smiley faces and great excitement the children returned to school on Monday.  They were greeted by a lovely ‘Welcome Back’ banner made by the children who had been in school over the last couple of months.

Looking out across the classroom it was great to see the sea of red jumpers and hear the chatter of the children catching up with each other.

Back in January, for the one day we came back for, the children had made kites ready for our new topic but sadly we didn’t get the opportunity to test them out.  So on Monday we took the opportunity as soon as we could and although there was very little breeze the children made up for it with determination and managed to get some of the kites up in the air!  They had a great time running as fast as possible to launch their kites and there were some lovely discussions about why some kites flew and others didn’t.

16th December

Yesterday we had our ‘Fabulous Finish’ and shared a selection of our work with Year 4.  It was interesting to see the different examples of projects.  We were all impressed with the quality of work.

Year 3 produced an impressive array of projects which included powerpoint presentations, quizzes, model houses and boats, a Viking song, runes, posters and shields.  The children had clearly immersed themselves in their learning which was obvious from their enthusiasm when presenting their work.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

This week, using Microsoft Word, the children have published their instructional texts on how to make soap.  They have learned lots about saving their work as they go (!), underlining headings, using bullet points and inserting pictures.  We have created a ‘recipe book’ of the children’s work.

The children have returned home from school today with their homemade soap.  They were very excited to see their finished product.  We hope you enjoy washing your hands just that little bit more now!  Click on the link to hear about our learning:  IMG_1727

The children have also completed writing and publishing their own non-chronological reports on Baghdad!  Phew, what a busy week!  The children researched the Early Islamic Civilisation and learned about the features of non-chronological reports.  They then used this knowledge to create their own report:

Finally,  we are very excited about our upcoming Christmas lunch tomorrow followed by popcorn and pantomime.  Oh yes we are!!

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

4th December 2020

During Anti-Bullying week we thought about what United Against Bullying means and what we can do to be united.  We created posters and ‘Teams’d’ up with Year 1 to share our work.  We thoroughly enjoyed listening to Year ones poems.

In English we have learned about the features of instructional texts and then created our own instructions on how to make soap.  Although soap was used by the Vikings and Muslims, from the same period of time, we decided to create our own version, which was a little more luxurious!

18th November 2020

We would like to report that our fossil excavations were a success and the children were thrilled to unearth the casts which had been left behind!

The return to school after the half-term saw the children taking part in Democracy Day and getting the chance to experience what it would be like to debate in the House of Commons.  At times Madam Speaker had an interesting job of getting the House to come to order (I think we have some budding politicians in our midst)!  Children stood for election to become school council and eco warrior reps and the class enjoyed taking part in voting for them.

Our Marvelous Middle saw the children travelling to Baghdad (c. CE 900) to experience the sights, smells and sounds of a Baghdad market. The children explored the trade network of Baghdad and its importance as a great trade centre.

21st October 2020

Over the last couple of weeks we have been creating our own portal story and have sent our characters back in time to the Viking era.
During our Science lessons we have been learning about different types of rocks and their properties.  We then classified them into different groups based on these properties.  We have also learned about Mary Anning and her fossil discoveries and how fossils are created.  We have made our own fossils and look forward to excavating them!
“We classified our rocks by texture.  They were both smooth.”
“We classified our rocks by type.  They were both slate.”

30th September 2020

This week we have been looking at archaeological evidence which challenges stereotypical ideas about the Vikings.  We learned that Vikings did not have horns on their helmets and they were not just ferocious raiders!

11th September 2020

It is great to be back at school and to welcome the children into Year 3.
Within a very short space of time, on our first day, the familiarity of being at school quickly replaced any nerves that we felt.
We have now been back for a week and the children have settled into Year 3 life, and the new routines, with confidence.
On Tuesday we enjoyed our stunning start to our topic, The Invader Factor!  The children took on the role of Saxon spies to gather intel on Viking longships which had landed on the coast.  This then generated lots of well thought through questions on the construction of Viking longships.

____________________________________________________

YEAR 3 2020 – 2021

Wednesday 7th July

In science the children have been learning about about the human skeleton.  They worked in teams to work out the correct position of the bones:

In English the children have been learning about performing and have worked hard to put these skills into practise by performing a playscript:

Friday 25th June

This afternoon Year 3 visited the allotment:

It’s very tidy and organised  (Emileo)
It’s easy to recognise the different plants because of the signs (Spencer)
The plants smell lovely (Alex)
I love the variety of different plants and how we can eat the things we are growing (Florence)
The flowers are really pretty (Bryony)
I love how the parents took part in creating the new allotment.  They’ve done an amazing job (Forbes)
The parents have worked so hard (Barney)

Wednesday 23rd June

We had a fantastic morning celebrating everyone’s sporting achievements.  The children were in good voice and cheered on their fellow team mates across the school.  Here are a selection of photographs from the morning:

Tuesday 15th June

Since returning after half-term the children have been busy learning about traditional tales.  We learned the story of the Three Little Pigs, off by heart, created a story map and then acted this out.  We then moved on to learn about twisted tales and how we can create our own twist on a favourite tale.

On Friday afternoon we shared our marvellous middle with Year 4 on the school.  We thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone’s topic projects and were very impressed with the creativity of their work.

Thursday 13th May

Over the last week we have been studying The Tunnel by Anthony Browne.  The children wrote character descriptions on Rose and Jack and then crawled through a tunnel to help them imagine what it would be like.  The children completed a senses mind map and then wrote a setting description.  Below is a description written by one of the children in Year 3:

As Rose nervously crawled into the dark damp tunnel, she heard a faint drip, drip, drip.  Damp, gloomy walls loomed up ahead while the wind howled like a wolf.  Beneath her hands, jagged, bumpy stones, like sharp knives cut into her pale white skin.  Although she was really, very tired, she kept on going.  A warming speck of light glowed in the distance.

During Art and Design we have been learning to join clay by using cross-hatching and slip.  We then created 3D clay models of wolves which used the techniques we had been practising.

Wednesday 28th April

Thankfully the beautiful Easter weather held out for our woodland walk last week.  The children, along with year 4, donned their walking boots and headed out across the fields of Crondall to Lee Wood.  The stunning start was a great introduction to our new topic this term, Woodland Wonders.  With maps and compasses in hand, the chidren got a better understanding of the local area.
They took part in a nature scavenger hunt and took pictures of interesting things they noticed in nature.

10th March 2021

With smiley faces and great excitement the children returned to school on Monday.  They were greeted by a lovely ‘Welcome Back’ banner made by the children who had been in school over the last couple of months.

Looking out across the classroom it was great to see the sea of red jumpers and hear the chatter of the children catching up with each other.

Back in January, for the one day we came back for, the children had made kites ready for our new topic but sadly we didn’t get the opportunity to test them out.  So on Monday we took the opportunity as soon as we could and although there was very little breeze the children made up for it with determination and managed to get some of the kites up in the air!  They had a great time running as fast as possible to launch their kites and there were some lovely discussions about why some kites flew and others didn’t.

16th December

Yesterday we had our ‘Fabulous Finish’ and shared a selection of our work with Year 4.  It was interesting to see the different examples of projects.  We were all impressed with the quality of work.

Year 3 produced an impressive array of projects which included powerpoint presentations, quizzes, model houses and boats, a Viking song, runes, posters and shields.  The children had clearly immersed themselves in their learning which was obvious from their enthusiasm when presenting their work.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

This week, using Microsoft Word, the children have published their instructional texts on how to make soap.  They have learned lots about saving their work as they go (!), underlining headings, using bullet points and inserting pictures.  We have created a ‘recipe book’ of the children’s work.

The children have returned home from school today with their homemade soap.  They were very excited to see their finished product.  We hope you enjoy washing your hands just that little bit more now!  Click on the link to hear about our learning:

The children have also completed writing and publishing their own non-chronological reports on Baghdad!  Phew, what a busy week!  The children researched the Early Islamic Civilisation and learned about the features of non-chronological reports.  They then used this knowledge to create their own report:

Finally,  we are very excited about our upcoming Christmas lunch tomorrow followed by popcorn and pantomime.  Oh yes we are!!

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

4th December 2020

During Anti-Bullying week we thought about what United Against Bullying means and what we can do to be united.  We created posters and ‘Teams’d’ up with Year 1 to share our work.  We thoroughly enjoyed listening to Year ones poems.

In English we have learned about the features of instructional texts and then created our own instructions on how to make soap.  Although soap was used by the Vikings and Muslims, from the same period of time, we decided to create our own version, which was a little more luxurious!

18th November 2020

We would like to report that our fossil excavations were a success and the children were thrilled to unearth the casts which had been left behind!

The return to school after the half-term saw the children taking part in Democracy Day and getting the chance to experience what it would be like to debate in the House of Commons.  At times Madam Speaker had an interesting job of getting the House to come to order (I think we have some budding politicians in our midst)!  Children stood for election to become school council and eco warrior reps and the class enjoyed taking part in voting for them.

Our Marvelous Middle saw the children travelling to Baghdad (c. CE 900) to experience the sights, smells and sounds of a Baghdad market. The children explored the trade network of Baghdad and its importance as a great trade centre.

21st October 2020

Over the last couple of weeks we have been creating our own portal story and have sent our characters back in time to the Viking era.
During our Science lessons we have been learning about different types of rocks and their properties.  We then classified them into different groups based on these properties.  We have also learned about Mary Anning and her fossil discoveries and how fossils are created.  We have made our own fossils and look forward to excavating them!
“We classified our rocks by texture.  They were both smooth.”
“We classified our rocks by type.  They were both slate.”

30th September 2020

This week we have been looking at archaeological evidence which challenges stereotypical ideas about the Vikings.  We learned that Vikings did not have horns on their helmets and they were not just ferocious raiders!

11th September 2020

It is great to be back at school and to welcome the children into Year 3.
Within a very short space of time, on our first day, the familiarity of being at school quickly replaced any nerves that we felt.
We have now been back for a week and the children have settled into Year 3 life, and the new routines, with confidence.
On Tuesday we enjoyed our stunning start to our topic, The Invader Factor!  The children took on the role of Saxon spies to gather intel on Viking longships which had landed on the coast.  This then generated lots of well thought through questions on the construction of Viking longships.

____________________________________________________

YEAR 3 2020 – 2021

Wednesday 7th July

In science the children have been learning about about the human skeleton.  They worked in teams to work out the correct position of the bones:

In English the children have been learning about performing and have worked hard to put these skills into practise by performing a playscript:

Friday 25th June

This afternoon Year 3 visited the allotment:

It’s very tidy and organised  (Emileo)
It’s easy to recognise the different plants because of the signs (Spencer)
The plants smell lovely (Alex)
I love the variety of different plants and how we can eat the things we are growing (Florence)
The flowers are really pretty (Bryony)
I love how the parents took part in creating the new allotment.  They’ve done an amazing job (Forbes)
The parents have worked so hard (Barney)

Wednesday 23rd June

We had a fantastic morning celebrating everyone’s sporting achievements.  The children were in good voice and cheered on their fellow team mates across the school.  Here are a selection of photographs from the morning:

Tuesday 15th June

Since returning after half-term the children have been busy learning about traditional tales.  We learned the story of the Three Little Pigs, off by heart, created a story map and then acted this out.  We then moved on to learn about twisted tales and how we can create our own twist on a favourite tale.

On Friday afternoon we shared our marvellous middle with Year 4 on the school.  We thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone’s topic projects and were very impressed with the creativity of their work.

Thursday 13th May

Over the last week we have been studying The Tunnel by Anthony Browne.  The children wrote character descriptions on Rose and Jack and then crawled through a tunnel to help them imagine what it would be like.  The children completed a senses mind map and then wrote a setting description.  Below is a description written by one of the children in Year 3:

As Rose nervously crawled into the dark damp tunnel, she heard a faint drip, drip, drip.  Damp, gloomy walls loomed up ahead while the wind howled like a wolf.  Beneath her hands, jagged, bumpy stones, like sharp knives cut into her pale white skin.  Although she was really, very tired, she kept on going.  A warming speck of light glowed in the distance.

During Art and Design we have been learning to join clay by using cross-hatching and slip.  We then created 3D clay models of wolves which used the techniques we had been practising.

Wednesday 28th April

Thankfully the beautiful Easter weather held out for our woodland walk last week.  The children, along with year 4, donned their walking boots and headed out across the fields of Crondall to Lee Wood.  The stunning start was a great introduction to our new topic this term, Woodland Wonders.  With maps and compasses in hand, the chidren got a better understanding of the local area.
They took part in a nature scavenger hunt and took pictures of interesting things they noticed in nature.

10th March 2021

With smiley faces and great excitement the children returned to school on Monday.  They were greeted by a lovely ‘Welcome Back’ banner made by the children who had been in school over the last couple of months.

Looking out across the classroom it was great to see the sea of red jumpers and hear the chatter of the children catching up with each other.

Back in January, for the one day we came back for, the children had made kites ready for our new topic but sadly we didn’t get the opportunity to test them out.  So on Monday we took the opportunity as soon as we could and although there was very little breeze the children made up for it with determination and managed to get some of the kites up in the air!  They had a great time running as fast as possible to launch their kites and there were some lovely discussions about why some kites flew and others didn’t.

16th December

Yesterday we had our ‘Fabulous Finish’ and shared a selection of our work with Year 4.  It was interesting to see the different examples of projects.  We were all impressed with the quality of work.

Year 3 produced an impressive array of projects which included powerpoint presentations, quizzes, model houses and boats, a Viking song, runes, posters and shields.  The children had clearly immersed themselves in their learning which was obvious from their enthusiasm when presenting their work.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

This week, using Microsoft Word, the children have published their instructional texts on how to make soap.  They have learned lots about saving their work as they go (!), underlining headings, using bullet points and inserting pictures.  We have created a ‘recipe book’ of the children’s work.

The children have returned home from school today with their homemade soap.  They were very excited to see their finished product.  We hope you enjoy washing your hands just that little bit more now!  Click on the link to hear about our learning:  IMG_1727

The children have also completed writing and publishing their own non-chronological reports on Baghdad!  Phew, what a busy week!  The children researched the Early Islamic Civilisation and learned about the features of non-chronological reports.  They then used this knowledge to create their own report:

Finally,  we are very excited about our upcoming Christmas lunch tomorrow followed by popcorn and pantomime.  Oh yes we are!!

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

4th December 2020

During Anti-Bullying week we thought about what United Against Bullying means and what we can do to be united.  We created posters and ‘Teams’d’ up with Year 1 to share our work.  We thoroughly enjoyed listening to Year ones poems.

In English we have learned about the features of instructional texts and then created our own instructions on how to make soap.  Although soap was used by the Vikings and Muslims, from the same period of time, we decided to create our own version, which was a little more luxurious!

18th November 2020

We would like to report that our fossil excavations were a success and the children were thrilled to unearth the casts which had been left behind!

The return to school after the half-term saw the children taking part in Democracy Day and getting the chance to experience what it would be like to debate in the House of Commons.  At times Madam Speaker had an interesting job of getting the House to come to order (I think we have some budding politicians in our midst)!  Children stood for election to become school council and eco warrior reps and the class enjoyed taking part in voting for them.

Our Marvelous Middle saw the children travelling to Baghdad (c. CE 900) to experience the sights, smells and sounds of a Baghdad market. The children explored the trade network of Baghdad and its importance as a great trade centre.

21st October 2020

Over the last couple of weeks we have been creating our own portal story and have sent our characters back in time to the Viking era.
During our Science lessons we have been learning about different types of rocks and their properties.  We then classified them into different groups based on these properties.  We have also learned about Mary Anning and her fossil discoveries and how fossils are created.  We have made our own fossils and look forward to excavating them!
“We classified our rocks by texture.  They were both smooth.”
“We classified our rocks by type.  They were both slate.”

30th September 2020

This week we have been looking at archaeological evidence which challenges stereotypical ideas about the Vikings.  We learned that Vikings did not have horns on their helmets and they were not just ferocious raiders!

11th September 2020

It is great to be back at school and to welcome the children into Year 3.
Within a very short space of time, on our first day, the familiarity of being at school quickly replaced any nerves that we felt.
We have now been back for a week and the children have settled into Year 3 life, and the new routines, with confidence.
On Tuesday we enjoyed our stunning start to our topic, The Invader Factor!  The children took on the role of Saxon spies to gather intel on Viking longships which had landed on the coast.  This then generated lots of well thought through questions on the construction of Viking longships.