Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome to Y3 and Silver Birch Class.

The Autumn Term is always exciting and busy and in Y3 we endeavour to make the transition as easy as possible. With this in mind we like to begin our year with a topic called ‘Ourselves’. This gives us an opportunity to get to know the children and for them to get to know us whilst concentrating on familiar content. In line with the new curriculum this topic will include poetry in English, locating Bridgwater on a map in Geography and the skeleton in Science. Storytellers will be visiting on Monday 18th September to retell the local legend – ‘The Gurt Worm of Shervage Wood’. On Wednesday 18th October we will be visiting Steart Marshes as part of Y3 topic work.

The final week of HT1 is Creativity Week. In Y3 we will be studying the United Kingdom.

Mr Boucher will teach Forest School in HT1 and Music in HT2.

Below is a list of subjects and areas to cover throughout the term.

Subject / HT1 / HT2
English / Poetry – List poems about self/Harvest poem
Narrative – Familiar Settings – The Selfish Giant/The BFG/The Gurt Wurm of Shervage Wood (Som)
Passport to success
Description of setting
Grammar – Sentence structure/Word functions / Non-Fiction – Information Texts – Stone Age/Magnets/Rocks
Traditional Tale – Peter and the Wolf
Play scripts – traditional tales/Elf/Ug
Poetry – poems for Christmas
Grammar – Word functions
Mathematics / Place Value – three digit numbers
Addition and Subtraction – mental strategies
Reasoning about number / Addition and Subtraction – column method
Multiplication and Division – mental strategies
Reasoning about number
Science / Animals including humans
Diet and Health – food groups/food diary
Skeletons / Magnets – forces in the environment/magnets and their uses
Rocks – types of rock/uses of rocks
History / All about me – my past/my timeline / The Stone Age – paeleolithic – Mesolithic – Neolithic Food/Clothing/Shelter/Animals/Art
Geography / Where I live – my town. / Map work – the British Isles – Regions/Counties
Computing / Word processing – keyboard skills 2Simple (family)
Computing - Scratch / Purple Mash – Stone Age Britain
PE / Invasion Games – hockey
Fitness Circuits / Invasion Games – netball/football
Dance - Dinosaurs
Music / Vivaldi – Four Seasons – Autumn
Link to Once Upon an Ordinary School Day
Music that interests me / Using technologies – garage band/beamz
Vocabulary of music
RE / What it is to be me – Christianity/Judaism
Life in a local church / As HT1
Christmas Story

PE is on Monday (outdoor) and Thursday (indoor). Please provide the children with suitable clothing for the colder weather. Mr Kirk will lead some lessons at other times so it is important that the children have their PE kit in school throughout the week.

Homework

1.  Read for about 10 minutes each day.

2.  Practise multiplication tables.

3.  Weekly Spelling – given out on a Friday back on a Wednesday.

4.  Number work – given out on a Friday, back on a Tuesday.

In Silver Birch we are fortunate to have two volunteers who come in to hear children read weekly. However it is important that children are able to read to someone at home as it is continual practise that improves reading. We keep a tally of those children who read regularly – the child/children with the most points at the end of the term win a small prize. When your child is ready to change their reading book they need to leave it in the prescribed tray in the morning. Mrs Rogers will then endeavour to change the book during the day. Those children who do not read regularly at home will read during Golden Time. This will be explained to the children so they understand the system. In KS2 we work on encouraging children to greater independence and taking responsibility. Please encourage your child to remember to bring their book to school every day.

The school has a Homework Zone for children who do not hand their homework in. This will be on Wednesdays and will be run by Mrs Weller, myself and occasionally Mrs Good.

Mrs Rogers and I are always happy to speak with you and we are generally available before the bell goes in the morning and after the children have left the classroom in the afternoons.

Helen Bell and Lynn Rogers

Silver Birch Class