Welcome to our Year 3 Class Page.  

Curriculum Information for Parents and Carers – Year 3 Autumn Term 2023

The Autumn Term is here and we would like to share with you a summary of what your child is learning in class. We would also like to share some ways that you can support your child at home.

Detailed information about the topics can be found in the Knowledge Organisers at the bottom of this page.  The Knowledge Organisers contain the key vocabulary and learning for each topic and you can look at these with your child over the course of the term. 

English

In English, we will be reading Zoo by Anthony Browne and comparing it with our own experiences of days out.  We will focus on writing a letter of complaint, retelling a story from a given point of view, and writing a non-chronological report.  We will then read The Iron Man by Ted Hughes.  Based on this book we will be writing a diary entry, writing instructions and writing poetry.  In grammar, we will be focusing on sentence punctuation, word classes and plurals.

We will practise writing using the school handwriting style focusing on letter shape, size and joins.

Our spellings will focus on spelling patterns which make a long vowel sound.  We will also look at homophones and near homophones, suffixes (word endings) and the statutory Y3 spelling words.

Mathematics

In Mathematics, we will be focusing on deepening our knowledge of place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and problem solving.  This will extend the children’s knowledge of the x2, x5 and x10 times tables to include x3, x4 and x8.

RE

In RE, we will be using our knowledge from the topics to link to the scriptures used and to our prayers.  In our Family topic on Homes, we will be exploring why we have rules and how they help us to live together happily.  We will explore what Jesus asks us to do and how we can live this out in our daily lives. 

In our Belonging topic on Promises, we explore what it means to make a promise and study the promises made during the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. 

In Advent, our final topic for the Autumn term is Visitors.  We explore the joyful coming of God in the person of Jesus, who was not a passing visitor but came to dwell among us. 

As part of looking at Other Faiths we will be looking at Judaism and where Jewish people worship.          

Science

In Science, we will be learning about Movement and Nutrition.  The children will extend their knowledge of skeletons and movement.  They will also learn about eating for survival and the nutrient groups.  We will then study the topic of forces and magnets building on the children’s knowledge of pushes, pulls and twists, as well as investigating friction and magnetic strength.

History

In History, we will be exploring the Stone Age from the time of the first people to arrive in Britain through to the end of this era.  We will be having a ‘Stone-Age’ visitor to the class who will speak to the children about their life and times.

Geography

In Geography, we will be finding out why people live near volcanoes.  We will be learning about how the Earth is constructed, as well as how mountains and volcanoes are formed.  We will also look at the effects of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Computing

In Computing, we will first be looking at networks and the internet and then we will be learning how to code using Scratch.

French

As new learners in French, the children will first learn to locate France.  They will learn French words for class instructions, greetings and salutations, numbers 1-12, days of the week, the date and words associated with Christmas.  They will learn how to introduce themselves and answer questions such as: How are you? What is your name? How old are you?

Music

Autumn Half Term 1: We will be studying the Xylophone and Glockenspiel.

Autumn Half Term 2: We will be learning carols ready to perform at the Christmas Morning.

PE

In PE, we will be developing our Football, Basketball, Swimming and Dance skills.

Art

In Art, we will be looking at drawing in our topic ‘Growing Artists’ and learning about shading, creating texture and botanical drawing.  We will be undertaking an educational visit to Kew Garden to practise drawing nature.

Design and Technology

In Design and Technology, we will be looking at pneumatic toys and creating our own pneumatically operated toy.

RHSE (Relationship, Health and Sex Education)

In RHE, we will be looking at our relationship with family friends and others.  We will also look at cyber-safety, in particular sharing online information and chatting online safely.

Educational Visits

We will be undertaking a visit to Kew Gardens to learn about Art in nature.

We will also have a visit from an expert on Stone Age Man.

Our Geography fieldwork will involve exploring our school grounds.

How you can help your child at home

• Reading daily and talking about the book - recalling what has happened
• Completing Spelling Homework
• Supporting their Maths homework
• Providing support with half termly projects
• Lots of talking and discussing! This helps build understanding of the world around us, as well as vocabulary