Welcome to Year 3 with Mr Filby & Miss Shah with Miss Donaghy
Please clearly label all your child’s clothes and water bottle – check it after they’ve been washed, as they have a habit of coming off. We will be encouraging your child to look after their own possessions – so they need to know where they are at the end of the day.
If you missed the Meet the Teacher meeting, click on the link.
Autumn Topics
Select a subject
English
Learning
Most of our writing will be worked through our topics, Predator, followed by Mighty Metals. The children will start by learning how to use a dictionary and find relevant meanings. They will be , character descriptions, leaflets, diary narrative, non-chronological reports and instructions.
There will also be daily spelling, grammar or handwriting lessons to develop technical skills that they can apply to their writing.
Dictation will take place most Fridays. This tests their weekly spellings.
How you can help at home
Talk about our topics. Any additional research will make them a better writer!
Practise looking up words in a dictionary and choosing the relevant meaning.
Reading for at least 30 minutes each day makes a huge difference.
Talk about new and interesting vocabulary that they come across and make sure they understand the meanings. Use a dictionary to look them up.
Spelling for this term will be sent home each week and taken from the year 3 and 4 common exceptional words. Click for list of year 3 and 4 common exceptional words.
Make sure that anything they write is in mostly joined up handwriting (except for capital letters), the spelling is correct and the sentences make sense. Practice makes permanent!
Maths
Learning
The children will start by focusing on place value up to 3 digit numbers, then move on to carrying out calculations with all four operations. They will be shown how to manipulate numbers using concrete support, moving to pictorial representations and finally to the more abstract concept of simply using the numbers.
Each week, they will be challenged on their times tables. They will complete 30 questions on a specific times tables, in 5 minutes. To pass and move onto the next challenge, they need 30/30. After they complete six challenges, they will receive a badge in assembly. This is a Monkfrith School Challenge that they will continue through to Year 6. Children can be quite competitive and it has been a successful way to get children to learn their tables.
How you can help at home
They should know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables from year 2.
By the end of year 3, they are expected to know 3, 4 and 8s times table and division facts. E.g. 3 x 4 = 12 12 ÷ 3 = 4
Monkfrith encourages them to learn all their tables through the weekly times table challenge. Click for list of times table challenge order. http://tablestest.com/
Times Table Rock Stars is a great way to learn their tables and it records the facts they know and do not know. https://play.ttrockstars.com/ We find this is a hugely beneficial tool for learning tables and helps them enormously with the Year 3 curriculum.
MyMaths.co.uk homework will be set weekly but can also be used anytime to practise anything they have learnt.
Information about how we teach calculations is available here – Year 3 Calculation Policy Leaflet. The website below has lots of great maths games. Choose the area you want to work on at the top and select a game to play. The link takes you to the problem solving games. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/problem-solving
Hit the button is one of the children’s favourites.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Other good websites:
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/22/most-popular
Learn the number of day in each month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drH3_Flt85g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYshA2ybFdY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Ma0D-fN38
If your child enjoys song, try learning times tables through these songs:
3 times table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XzfQUXqiYY
4 times table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ue9Kux95H0
6 times table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9os1VUUp5io
7 times table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEnQbnxWtqM
8 times table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X620IeUkYE
9 times table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGsrC6ZPVGM
Creative Curriculum
Learning
In Autumn 1 our topic is called Predator and will focus on Science. The children will learn about insect predators, food chains, skeletons, and plants – how they live.
We will be drawing close ups of predator eyes, exploring different techniques when using oil pastels.
In Autumn 2 our topic is called Mighty Metals and again we will focus on Science and DT, partly through a STEM project where the children will build their own light-up Iron Man masks.
How you can help at home
Please talk about the topic and encourage your child to do additional research to help improve their knowledge, using scientific words and feel more confident to contribute in class.
In addition, you could Visit the local library to find non-fiction books about predators. Look for information using contents, glossaries and index pages. Write down any new facts you have learnt. Research a predator from each of the subgroups: mammals, birds, mini breasts, reptiles, amphibians, fish and plants.
Discuss what predator they would be for the day and why? Where would they live? What features would help them hunt, catch and kill their prey? Research what different predators eat, creating different food chains.
Computing
Learning
In Autumn term, we will start by teaching the children the importance of how to be safe online. Ensuring they remember what they have learnt in previous years and creating avatars of themselves that they can use online instead of photos.
We will also build on their understanding of what an algorithm is and create them to move, direct and control each other and objects.
How you can help at home
Please talk to them about the importance of being safe online. Ask them to tell you the Monkfrith online safety rules. Ensure that they are using these rules at home too. The following websites have more information and advice for parents on how to help your child stay safe online.
- https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
- http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/
- http://www.netsmartzkids.org/
- https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
Algorithms can be used every day when giving or following instructions and directing objects, not only through online games but with describing the movements of practical objects.
Encourage them to use word processing software and a keyboard to improve the speed and accuracy of their typing.
This website teaches them how to use all their fingers on the keyboard:
http://play.bbc.co.uk/play/pen/g8s4pb547b
Music
Learning
Starting in September, your child will have regular music lessons with Mr Filby. The lessons are a mixture of listening and appraising, performing and composing, among other activities that enhance the children’s musical abilities.
How you can help at home
Listen to music with them, talk about what you like, dance to music with them, sing with them. It doesn’t matter if you think you have no musical skill (you do, by the way, everyone does!) just let them see you enjoying music and their enthusiasm will sky rocket!
Reading
Your child will be reading regularly as part of their whole-class reading sessions and independently reading daily, encouraging reading a range of genres, including non-fiction text, from the class book corner or a book of their choice from home. Some children will be given a guided reading book and have weekly sessions while others will not. If they are, books are usually collected in and changed towards the end of the week, depending on that week’s schedule.
Home Learning
This will be set on a Friday on Google classroom and should be handed in by Wednesday.
It will consist of spellings to practice, maths and then either grammar or something related to our topic. If the piece of work is project based, it may extend across several weeks.
We also expect each child to do:
- 30 minutes of independent reading every day! Note: Children are far more likely to read for pleasure when they see their parents doing so as well, even if it’s for a short while.
- 10 minutes mental maths/times tables everyday (Year 3 are expect to know a 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 and know ALL their times tables by the end of Year 4. They will begin the Monkfrith times table challenge each week).
Workshop or Trip Dates to look forward to
- 24th and 25th September – Barnet Environment Centre
- 4th and 5th November – Science Museum
How you can help at home
Encouraging your child to stay active in their spare time is essential to their physical development (not necessarily competitive sport).
60 minutes of exercise a day is recommended.
30 minutes of this to be complete outside of school!
In addition
Any tissues would be greatly appreciated! As would any unwanted newspaper or magazines, as we use these frequently during our lessons.
Contact
If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to write us a note or make an appointment to see us.
We look forward to the term ahead.
Miss Shah, Ms Donaghy and Mr Filby and their teaching team
