Spring 2
The Spring term has been jampacked with so much learning. Over the term, we have seen the children mature and become more resilient when they are faced with challenges. We have taken part in fun events such as Red Nose Day and World Book Day.
Over the course of the term, the children have enjoyed developing their writing skills and have produced more exciting stories which include speech. The children have explored another non-fiction genre which has taught them more about instructional texts. We are certainly experts on how to trap a variety of weird and wonderful things now.
In Numeracy, the children continue to develop their understanding of fractions. The children have a good understanding of key vocabulary related to fractions. Throughout the term, the children have taken part in many TT Rockstar battles. The teachers are impressed by the speed of recall from the 3,4 and 8 times tables. The children understand the importance of keeping the facts bubbling. This will prepare them for the MTC test in Y4.
The children have been developing their skills across the foundation subjects. In Geography, the children have been learning about Europe. They can identify the five primary rivers and describe the journey which a river goes on from source to sea. In Design and Technology, children have enjoyed making money containers. They have tested out their sewing skills and overcome the difficulties of threading a needle.
At Redscope, the Spring term always has a big focus on Science. We had a visit from the Royal Institute of Science which taught us lots about what we put into our bodies and how we digest food. We then went on to further develop our understanding of plants during the national Science week. We conducted our own investigations and tried to change the colour of the teacher’s favourite flowers.
Our music lessons have started with Mr Kinsmann and we are learning how to play the recorder. We have learnt lots of fun warm up songs and can and play different rhythms. This will continue into the summer term.
In computing, we have been learning how to touch type. The children have access to Purple Mash at home and at school. Activities will continue to be set on the ‘to do’ list.
In RE, we have concluded our learning of the Hindu faith. The children have enjoyed learning about worship in the home and in the Mandir. We explored the festival of Diwali and made our own Rangoli patterns.
The Summer term is fast approaching. We can’t wait to see what the children achieve next.
Spring 1
This term in year 3, in our English lessons, we continued to develop our story writing. The fiction model text that we learnt Pie Corbett style was a story from another culture, ‘How the Tortoise Got His Shell’. We explored the story structure where one character meets another and wishes for something they don’t have. We then explored similar texts and their features. The children learnt how to develop their writing of opening and endings. The children have developed consistency in writing by using a range of sentence types, which included questions and exclamations to hook the reader’s interest.
We also explored recount texts. Children learnt a model text, which recounted key events and modelled the structure. Following this, the children wrote their own diary based on the model text before writing their own independent piece. The children have shown they are able to link paragraphs effectively using a range of connectives.
Our class text for the term was ‘Mr Stink’ by David Walliams. This text gave us the opportunity to discuss key themes around homelessness and the kindness of others.
In mathematics, our focus for this half term has been further work on multiplication and division. This unit has developed the children’s multiplicative and divisive reasoning by linking their prior knowledge to 2-digit calculations which involve the expanded method and partitioning to divide. They have developed their understanding of multiplication facts to link this knowledge to related multiplication and division calculations.
This half term, our history focus was the Bronze Age and Iron Age. We explored how life changed for early humans during this time and made links back to our previous topic, The Stone Age. Children learnt that the Bronze Age is the period immediately after the Stone Age and is the time when metals like bronze started to be commonly used.
In PE, the children developed balance and agility with a focus on balancing on a line. During these sessions, the children developed cognitive skills as we worked on the cognitive cog. Throughout the unit, the children identified specific parts of their performance, which they needed to work on and developed understanding of ways in which they could judge a performance. A highlight in PE this term has been how their confidence has grown in gym using the apparatus perform a number of jumps and balances.
In RE, children have explored how the Hindu religion is practiced. The children have had opportunities to explore how religious artefacts and texts can be a source for learning and for beliefs. They also got a chance to explore ways in which the five senses play a part in our everyday lives, and in particular, how they make Hindu worship an important time for many Hindus, where worship is linked to the whole of life, not simply to some brief ritual actions.
In computing the children have enjoyed learning about online safety and sharing their increasing knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. They learnt the importance of a password and how this can limit the people who can see their information. Additionally, the children explored how the internet can help us communicate with a wider audience. They created their own blog.
The children have worked really hard this half term and this is reflected in their growing confidence and the progress they are making across all areas of the curriculum.
Autumn 2
In our English lessons this half term, we have continued to use the talk for writing scheme. We began by exploring a range of wishing tales that included a character flaw. Before learning the story ‘King Midas’, we explored the features and then focused on developing a character toolkit to develop our writing skills. The children learnt how to use a variety of sentence openers, express how a character is feeling through their actions and to use a five-part story structure. The children then learnt a discussion text. They learnt a text, which discussed the pros and cons of wearing school uniform. They then wrote their own discussion based on whether playtimes should be banned. This proved to be a stimulating discussion as the children became immersed, following a very convincing hook for writing where they thought that this might actually happen.
In maths this half term, the children completed further work on addition and subtraction. Deepening their understanding of the key skills of formal addition and subtraction through place value, checking strategies and mental methods. Children used their growing understanding to explore calculations, which do or do not require exchange, developing fluency, accuracy and confidence in their ability to perform these calculations. They then applied checking strategies to decide for themselves whether their answer was reasonable or likely to be an error. Following on from this, the children worked on multiplication and division. This learning built on recognising equal groups. Three lessons were spent exploring in depth each of the times-tables that children need to know in Year 3, encouraging rapid recall. Children were reminded of the difference between equal sharing and equal grouping and then moved on to look at when division problems may have a remainder.
In science, children learnt that a force is a push or a pull. They then had the opportunity to explore magnets. They handled different magnets and carried out activities with them. They found out that a magnet attracts magnetic material and investigated materials to decide if they were magnetic or not. They found out that the strongest parts of a magnet are the poles. Children also learnt that magnets have two poles – a north pole and a south pole and if two like poles, e.g. two north poles, are brought together, they
will push away from each other – repel. If two unlike poles, e.g. a north and south, are brought together they will pull together – attract.
During our geography unit, children learnt that near to the equator, there are two imaginary lines called the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Additionally, the children found out that between these lines the places have a tropical climate. They then compared the tropics to the climate in the UK. Children also enjoyed using maps and globes to locate countries within this area. They also found out about another line called the Prime Meridian and the importance of this and that latitude and longitude are a system of lines used to describe the location of any place on Earth.
In P.E, the children enjoyed developing their balance and agility when jumping and landing. During these sessions, the children developed social skills. They had the opportunity to share roles and responsibilities fairly, cooperate with others and share positive feedback. In dance, the children practised their disco moves before using these to learn a dance to music.
To end the term, the children performed Christmas songs from Top of the Pops for parents and some children performed at the Minster. In addition to this, some children sang at the Black Hut and received a selection box from the Mayor of Rotherham. They all enjoyed the end of term Christmas fair and had a lovely time at the Christmas party! After a wonderful start to the school year, we are looking forward to what the next term brings.
