8th September 2017
Dear Parents,
We would like to welcome you and your child to Year 3 and hope that you had a wonderful summer holiday. We are very much looking forward to getting to know your children over the coming weeks and are sure that they will settle quickly into the Juniors. This letter will hopefully clarify some of your questions about curriculum coverage and classroom routines this year.
In Literacy, we will be exploring aspects of story writing focusing on traditional tales and fables as well as reading, writing and enjoying a range of poetry. Our non-fiction focus will be on recount texts and instructions. Due to the Curriculum requirement that ‘pupils should be using joined handwriting throughout their independent writing,’
handwriting will also be a particular focus in the early stages of the term with the aim to increase legibility, consistency and the quality of the childrens’ writing.
During Maths we will continue to build on prior learning from Year 2, developing skills in understanding number, calculating, shape, measuring and handling data. Mrs Day will be teaching the children for one of their lessons each week on a Thursday morning.
In Science, the children will study two topics this term, ‘Rocks’ and ‘Forces and Magnets’. We will be learning about ‘The Romans’ in History and this will link nicely with our work on ‘Mosaics’ in Art and Design.
The children will be learning about Christianity and Islam throughout the year in their RE lessons. This term the focus will be on ‘The Life of Mohammad’ and ‘Christmas Journeys’. Music lessons will be taught by Mrs Constantin on a Wednesday afternoon and French will be with Mrs Day on a Thursday morning.
Spellings will be given out each week on a Monday and tested on the Friday. The children will be given their learning logs each Friday, to be returned by the following Wednesday (unless stated otherwise). Your child/children will be issued with a Reading and Homework diary which will be completed each time they read to an adult in school. Please also feel free to comment in the diary. Please feel free to use these diaries as a means of communication. Also, the new spellings will be written in the diary each week. Please work with your child/children to learn their spellings and to generate any new spellings associated with the rule.
Year 3 are timetabled for PE on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but it would be helpful if they have their PE kits in school all week in case an extra PE lesson is arranged. Please can you ensure all kit is clearly named before it is brought into school to minimise lost property. When possible we will be outside for PE lessons so please ensure your children also have appropriate outdoor kit and footwear for this purpose. The children will begin swimming lessons in the Summer Term as part of the PE curriculum. Further information will be given during the Spring Term.
During the year, we will be taking Year 3 on class trips to support their learning and we will keep you informed of any costs when the details of each trip have been finalised. At present, we are planning to visit RomanVerulamium this term, Celtic Harmony Camp in the Spring Term and Affinity Water Treatment Works in the Summer Term.
It would be very helpful if any parents are able to assist in the classroom during the year. Parent helpers are always greatly appreciated for support with times tables and hearing the children read. We are focusing on reading for enjoyment as a whole school and would greatly appreciate any support in order to listen to the children read. We are very flexible and would be happy to arrange times after drop off and just before collection of the children.
We hope that your child will be very happy in Year 3. We would like to thank you for your help and support in advance and if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us.
Kind regards,
Mrs Heidi Lewis and Mrs Julie McVeigh