grafton primary  Spring 2 2025

In Literacy, Badger class has been learning about the text Look Up by Nathan Bryant. As part of our hook, the children explored a telescope, some stars and a globe. The children came up with some lovely ideas on how these items relate to time travel and how it might connect to our new literacy book. When writing, the children have made lots of progress by using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.

In Maths, the children have been working on addition and subtraction within 50. The children have also learned number bonds to 20 using the part whole model. Badger class have been working hard on solving word problems relating to length and height, using rulers and non standard units of measure such as cubes. They have also been able to show their reasoning skills when working with their learning partners. 

In History, the children have been learning about travellers through time. They have learned about Ibn Battuta, who travelled the world for 30 years from 1325 to 1354. They have learned about famous astronauts such as Neil Armstrong and Mae Jemison. Badger class were able to compare these extraordinary explorers by identifying similarities and differences. 

In Science, Badger class has been learning about plants. The children were able to name parts of a plant and tree and explain the similarities. During Science week, the children made wormeries by placing soil, coloured sand and leaves in a plastic bottle. They then added real worms and waited patiently for them to make tunnels. The children now know how important worms are to making our soil healthy for plants and crops to grow.

For World Book Day, the children dressed up as a character from their favourite book. The children had a lovely day and enjoyed an exciting World Book Day menu made by our lovely catering team.

We have had a busy term in Year 3! 

In Literacy, we read a book called 'Malala’s Magic Pencil', a story of a young girl who had big dreams to change the world for the better. We wrote a diary entry as Malala to experience her feelings and emotions and wrote her dreams for a better world, especially for children. We also wrote a biography about Malala, stating all her achievements and reasons why she’s such an inspirational figure. Malala found her magic in her voice and believed that we all have magic too, in knowledge, beauty, peace and our words.

In Maths, we explored fractions. We learnt how to write fractions and what the denominator and numerator show us. We also found fractions that are equivalent to one-half and one-quarter using our fraction walls. 

Science has been great fun! We have been learning more about plants. During the first week, we dissected a flower to learn about the parts of a flower. We learnt a lot of new vocabulary like ‘stamen, pollen, style, stigma, carpel, germination and fertilisation’. We learnt about how flowers get pollinated and how seeds get formed and dispersed. In the final week, we ordered the stages of the life cycle of a flowering plant. 

We really enjoyed dressing up as our favourite book character on World Book Day. We celebrated the love for reading and enjoyed activities related to World Book Day. We also participated in a competition where we had to create our favourite book character on a potato and we had a winner in our class!

History has been exciting, we are still learning about the Ancient Egyptians, who they were and what was important to them. Last week, we really enjoyed learning about how Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the famous Pharaoh King Tutankhamun. 

In Computing, we created a branching database. Firstly, we explored questions with a ‘yes or no’ answer, and how these can be used to identify and compare objects. Then using those questions, we sorted objects into groups. We used our chromebooks to create a database. 

We have had a very productive half term with many exciting activities that have taken place. Everyone has worked very hard and we all have learnt a lot!

Fascinating Fieldwork!

At the beginning of this half term, we visited our local Valence Park with a clear purpose - ‘Let’s make our park better!’ Walking through the park, we were completing a survey, in which we expressed our opinions about different aspects and areas of the place. We were looking at things, such as the state of the pavements, the amount of green space or safety. Then, we decided to rate each issue that we observed, hoping to change things for the better in the near future. We also drew the maps of the new, improved Valance Park and wrote persuasive letters to our school governor, Mr Ghani. We hope he reads some of our letters and helps us address the problems that our local park faces. 

Science Week

Earlier this half term, we celebrated  British Science Week at Grafton. It was a very fruitful week for all of us.  We had lots of  fun looking for the camouflaged butterflies around the school and we all enjoyed our practical Science lessons. During that week, we received a letter from a girl called Ineda, who asked us for some advice. Ineda was making a box card and wanted to know which type of glue would be the most waterproof, the strongest and easily removable from her clothes. Eagerly, we decided to help her and made three different types of glue, which we then tested. As a class, we agreed that the most effective glue would be the one made out of flour and water. It was a very educational experience and we were glad we could help Ineda. 

World Book Day in our Class

On the 6th March, we celebrated World Book Day. Most of us dressed up as different book characters. We were also sharing our favourite books and explained why we liked them. Furthermore, we designed alternative book covers for some of the books we enjoy reading over and over again. It was such a magical day!

This half term has really flown by and we have had so much fun while learning new things. Now, we are looking forward to our Easter holidays believing we will gain a lot of knowledge of the new topics and concepts in the summer term.

This week in the Hub, we have been supporting some of our children with social and emotional needs.  Children have been working hard to earn their Golden Time.

We celebrate our successes on Friday with a Hub Celebration Morning with staff and pupils.  The children receive a certificate to acknowledge their resilience working through their own personal challenges.  We have been talking about our dreams and aspirations for their future.

The children have been creative over the past two weeks, junk modelling, creating puppets with recycled resources.

We were excited to receive a donation of an Air Hockey Table that children are accessing at break and lunch times - even the adults are having fun with it!

Have a safe and enjoyable Easter break from the Hub Team.