Class Teachers - Mrs Roberts / Mr Prior (3D) and Mrs Burr/ Mr Prior (3C)

• September - Respect and Responsibility 

• October - Compassion and Hope 

• November -  Friendship and Forgiveness 

• December - Understanding and Patience

This year we continue to build on the success of the Literacy Tree. This curriculum consists of Guided Group Reading, Writing Roots and Spelling Seeds. 

The Literacy Tree is a complete book-based approach designed to immerse children into a literary world; creating strong levels of engagement to provide meaningful and authentic contexts for learning. 

We are reading 'A Necklace of Raindrops' by Joan Aiken as a guided group reading book. Pupils will participate in a rotation of activities related to the book, including reading with the teacher to delve deeper into the text. We have chosen this book as it contains a collection of short stories that are whimsical yet moralistic and have such lovely examples of literary language interwoven with humour that is perfect for Year 3. As each story is relatively short, this will help children who are less confident in their reading to feel a sense of achievement as well as supporting comprehension- development and understanding of story- plot and structure. Because Joan Aiken is the sole author of the anthology, this affords us a great opportunity to compare pieces by the same author in terms of style, use of literary devices and themes. 

To lead our writing, spelling and grammar lessons, we will study the core text: 'The Last Garden' by Rachel Ip and Anneli Bray, which will engage, challenge and support children to be critical readers and confident, informed writers. Children will go on to write a range of genres, building towards writing their version of a narrative about a community overcoming adversity. 

As part of this programme, children will be introduced to Spelling Seeds, designed to work alongside the texts within the Literacy Tree curriculum by providing opportunities to practice spelling rules and patterns.  This term we will be exploring word classes and suffixes. 

Throughout the week, we will also be focusing on phonic awareness and becoming confident in using sounds accurately within reading and writing. We continue to use Read, Write, Inc. as a hook for phonic lessons. 

To enhance our Welsh language skills this year, we will participate in daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions. We plan to provide the children with many opportunities to deepen their knowledge and confidence when using incidental Welsh in and out of the classroom.  Phrases such as 'eisteddwch', os gwelwch yn dda' and 'beth sy'n bod?' will become commonplace in everyday language. We will be focusing on ensuring that we engage in regular Welsh reading and writing alongside oracy when we study the theme 'Sut mae'r twywdd heddiw?' developing language patterns into using the third person, past and future tense. 

Children will also choose a reading book from the school library to read at home and school. Please ensure that reading books are brought to school every day. Children may bring their own books into school to read during class reading time. 

During the start of the Autumn term pupils will develop their understanding of Place Value; the value of a digit within a number. Pupils will use a range of concrete materials such as Numicon, Base-10 and counters to explore the value of numbers up to four digits.

The children will reinforce their knowledge of odd and even numbers and recall number facts within 20 and beyond. They will focus on place value to recognise the value of a digit in a number alongside reading, writing and making numbers up to 1000 before using their reasoning skills to solve place value problems.  

As the term progresses, pupils will begin to compare numbers when reinforcing the meaning of equal to and not equal to and read statements about numbers expressed using an inequality sign, e.g. 6 > 4. The children will also learn to recognise, write and order negative numbers.  They will use a range of approaches to demonstrate their mathematical understanding and be encouraged to use a varied mathematical vocabulary through the use of sentence stems.

As pupils develop their confidence they will use mental strategies and the traditional column method to add and subtract with 2-digit numbers. They will problem solve by finding an ‘unknown’ in one-step equations and use this to derive other facts, e.g. 37 + ☐ = 100 therefore; 100 – 37 = ☐.  The children will also use different combinations of money to pay for items up to and beyond £2 and calculate change, using their growing knowledge of addition and subtraction to solve problems. 

Pupils will be encouraged to practise times tables daily at home. This will support them in calculating problems more efficiently. Pupils should be confident to recall their 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 times tables in Year 3. 

This term, we will be making use of the learning lodge to develop our outdoor experiences, whilst Mr. Murdoch, our Wellbeing Champion will be taking small groups of children to complete outdoor learning activities. Parents will be informed before this to ensure that wet-weather and appropriate clothing can be provided. We will incorporate the 4D room into our learning experiences wherever possible to capture the children's interest and imagination. The children will contribute to creating class rules and continue to embed the school token reward system into their daily routine. During Friday's enrichment, the children will experience a range of indoor and outdoor activities to enhance their well-being, e.g. playing an instrument, art and craft and sport.

As part of our Unit of Work: Exploring the Past pupils will explore identity and change. 

The unit incorporates content that celebrates Wales' rich cultural heritage and promotes understanding and respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Specifically, pupils will build on their knowledge of the 1910s by exploring how the Industrial Revolution (pre-1900s) shaped the community in which they live today. Throughout lessons, pupils will have the opportunity to study ground-breaking inventions, the rise of the railways, transportation, cultural diversity, the rise and fall of the Welsh language and population growth across towns and cities. Examples of inventions to explore relate to agriculture, power and fuel generation and communication. Pupils will be encouraged to ask a range of questions about the past, demonstrating curiosity and engagement, and begin to develop an understanding of human societies as being complex and diverse.  Pupils will link the growth of the industry with key inventions, exploring forces, materials and sustainability. 

Additionally, pupils will explore how the geography of their local area in South Wales has changed and adapted from the pre-1900s to modern-day Wales. 

By asking questions and seeking answers, pupils will develop their awareness of emotions and what is right and wrong. Pupils will investigate the life of a miner, child, human and animal rights during the Industrial Revolution. 

Woven throughout the unit, pupils will develop an understanding of artists who were inspired by the Industrial Revolution. Pupils will study the work of LS Lowry and use this as a basis to create their pieces. 

During Health and Well-being sessions, we will focus on gymnastics, recognising our emotions, forming positive relationships and healthy living. Year 3 will work on a rotation of theory and physical health and well-being. Pupils should wear appropriate sports kit to school on Mondays. 

• PE will take place on a Monday and children should come to school in their PE kits on this day.  Please avoid wearing jewellery on this day if possible and ensure long hair is tied back.

• Children should bring a water bottle to school with them every day, this should be a sufficient amount to last them the whole day. 

• Children should bring their reading books to school with them every day. We read in class every day. 

• Please ensure that all school uniform and pupil property is clearly labelled with your child’s name. This will enable us to return any lost property. 

• We have a number of children in school with a nut allergy.  We strive to be a nut-free school so please do not send in nut products in packed lunches such as nutella.

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To contact your child's teacher please drop us an email via ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or call us 01656 815790.  

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