Our Lady of Grace Junior School

Love, Opportunity, Growth

Dear Parents & Carers,

We would like to warmly welcome you to our Year 3 team. Our team include Mrs Foley and Miss Stanworth , who are the two class teachers. Miss Ashley, Miss Veronika and Mrs Marshall will assist in supporting the children in all areas of their learning while Mrs Kevane will continue to teach French, Music and Computing.  Year 3 is an exciting and challenging year and we are very enthusiastic about the year ahead. It may be useful to have some information regarding routine, expectations and home learning.

Reading

Reading is a very important part of your child’s development and is a key indicator of success later in life. In Year 3 the expectations are very high and all children should be reading every day for at least 20 minutes at home. It is important that children develop their comprehension skills as well as their ability to decode words and read fluently. Therefore it is important to ask your child questions about their reading to confirm their understanding of a text. Your child should be completing detailed entries in their reading record nightly to reflect what they have read and understood that day.

Key Facts

It is very important that children develop a quick recall of their key mathematical facts in order to carry out a range of calculations quickly and accurately. All children in Year 3 should be able to fluently recall their multiplication facts and the related division facts with speed. This will help them to prepare for the National end of Year 4 times tables test in June 2021. Please ensure these are practised regularly.

Homework

The children will be set homework twice a week and this is designed to support and develop their learning in school. It is essential that all homework is completed to a high standard and is handed in on time.

English and Maths homework:  This is set on Monday and is due on Friday. English homework consists of either a reading comprehension activity or a grammar, punctuation and spelling activity. Maths homework consists of an online MyMaths activity based on the weekly Maths topic.

Spelling: The children will be given a set of spellings every Monday to be practised throughout the week for a test on Friday.

Weekend Homework: This is set on Friday and will either cover RE, Topic or Science. This should be handed back on the following Monday.

PE

Please ensure your child has their PE kit  in school every day including trainers.

We hope that your child has a successful and enjoyable year in Year 3 and we look forward to working with you more closely,

Mrs Foley and Miss Stanworth.

Christmas Play - Gold to Bethlehem

Well done to all of the Year 3 children on their fantastic Christmas play. All of the children worked incredibly hard to prepare for their play by learning their lines and songs and made a fantastic effort with their acting and dancing!

Monday 4th June - Roman Day

The children really enjoyed taking part in Roman Day as part of their current Topic work. The children came in dressed as Romans and learnt a lot of new facts as well as exploring lots of Roman artefacts! See below for pictures of the children enjoying the day!

Tate Britain - Year 3 Project

This year the children have been taking part in a national project with Tate Britain. Steve McQueen is creating an exhibition of photographs at the Tate Britain with photos of thousands of Year 3 children around the country. The Year 3 children in our school started this journey by posing for a whole class photo which will be displayed in this exhibit. Yesterday, representatives from the museum lead a full day workshop with the children on the theme 'Exploring Identity'. This workshop showed the children that a photograph can only tell so much about a person so they discussed and performed through drama the type of person they think they are and hope to be in the future! The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and put pieces of the work they created into their own special 'Class Vault' which will be opened by the children next year when the exhibition is ready to be displayed. See below for some pictures of this exciting workshop!

Year 3  are Reading Wizards! 

To complete our Year 3 Reading Challenge, we need to read ten books from the Reading Challenge Box.  Look out for these books as they have special stickers. There are a selection of books from different authors and different genres.

If we succeed and read all ten, we will be presented with a certificate and badge at the end of the year.  If any of the books are too challenging, then they can be shared at home as a family book. Look at the Year 3 badge below. 

Year 3 are Computer Experts

Beginning our computing journey in year 3, we need to become very familiar with SMART e-safety rules.  We need to enjoy using computing devices but know how to stay safe online.  During our learning we will develop confidence so that we can try new software and games while remaining safe.   Our first term is quite a challenge as we learn to sign on quickly to the school server and practice typing with two hands!  Our learning focuses on Multimedia where we use software to design a simple page about our self. 

Our learning continues with Multimedia.  We are creating a multimedia document about ourselves.  Using a free software called J2E, we have learned to add text, pictures, photos and now video in a safe and controlled programme.  Soon we will display our learning here.

Year 3 are Musicians!

Year 3 are using the music of Bob Marley as a means of discovering lots about music.  We are developing musical language including pitch and beat.  We are developing our aural skills and discipline to follow guided practice by watching the leaders hand signals.  Music takes lots of practice and sometimes many, many resets before we can sing together.   However, when we manage it, the effort is well worth the practice.  Well done year 3.

Year 3 are Linguists!

This term year 3 begin their French learning by "travelling" to Paris.  We used technology to get a bird's eye view of la Tour Eiffel.  While in Paris, we learned to greet each other and our greeting phrases will be used over and over for our register.  We even took the time to visit a very beautiful place called Versailles and took a quick peep at Disneyland Paris.  France is very close to us.  In fact, did you know we could travel to Paris in time for lunch if we hopped on a train in Paddington!

Year 3 Are Expert Learners

Today year 3 used a programme call Busy Things to learn French.  Busy Things is free and available to use from home.  Follow the instructions below.

Find the site my.uso.im  Choose easy login to access the site.  When you arrive at the start screen, choose Resources, OLOG Juniors quick links.  You will see Busy Things like below.  

The French games are at Key Stage 2, Year 3/4, French.  Have fun!