Happy Half Term Year 3!

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a busy final week it has been in Year 3!
We’ve worked incredibly hard across all subjects and enjoyed a wide range of
hands-on learning experiences. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to:

This week, we began our new topic on addition
and subtraction. We revisited number bonds to 10 and explored how these can
help us find number bonds to 20 and 100. We also started learning how to bridge
to the next multiple of 10 when adding, for example in the question 23 + ? =
100. The children practised making small jumps to the next multiple of 10
(30 in this example) and then jumping again from 30 to 100 before adding these
parts together. We enjoyed exploring this concept practically using bead
strings and number lines.

A very exciting week in English — we received
a letter from the ‘Mayor’ asking for our help to capture the Iron Man once and
for all! Working in teams, we designed our own traps and then pitched our ideas
in a Dragon’s Den-style presentation. Afterwards, we analysed why the previous
design, made by the villagers, failed and we thought carefully about how ours
could be improved. We also explored a WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) to
identify the language and structural features we’ll need when writing our own
versions after half term.

In RE, we explored the question “Why might
Harvest be celebrated by people of faith and people of no faith?” The children
chose three countries to research and discovered that Harvest is celebrated in
different ways — and at different times of year — depending on which hemisphere
the country is in. They were fascinated by the variety of customs and
traditions around the world.

We proudly completed our castle structures
this week! Each castle was unique, yet all included the key features we have
learned about. The children evaluated their work thoughtfully, considering what
went well and how they might improve their designs next time. We are so
impressed with the creativity and care that went into every castle — well done,
Year 3!

In Science, we concluded our unit on rocks by
learning all about soil. We discussed what soil is made of — including air,
water, organic matter and minerals — and investigated four main types: sandy,
chalk, silt, and clay. The children made great observations and asked some
brilliant scientific questions.

Our football skills were put to the test this
week as we played mini matches in teams of five. We focused on applying
everything we’ve learned — scanning, passing, dribbling, and striking — and
also discussed the importance of following the rules of the game. Everyone
showed great teamwork and sportsmanship!

In our PSHE lesson, we have continued to explore some of the effects of smoking on the body. We have also learned about passive smoking and role-played what it might be like to ask someone who is smoking to stop or move to another space.

In Geography, we reviewed our learning on the seven continents and five oceans. It was lovely to hear so many children enjoy singing our continent song too.

We were very lucky to have PC Nick visit us
this week! He spoke to us about how to keep safe and show respect over
Halloween and Bonfire Night. The children shared thoughtful suggestions and
asked some excellent questions. It was a really valuable session to prepare us
for the upcoming celebrations.

In our final music lesson of this half-term,
we played both open strings and individual strings (G, C, E, and A). We
compared our rehearsal piece “My Dog Has Fleas” with the performance
version — which was much faster! The children completed a self-assessment,
reflecting on what they enjoyed most and what they’d like to improve next term.

After a well-deserved break, we have lots to
look forward to in Autumn 2:

PE will continue on Mondays and
Thursdays, so please make sure children come to school in their PE
kits on these days.
We will also begin Forest School on Wednesday mornings,
starting the first week back. Children should come dressed in
suitable outdoor clothing — ready to get muddy and have lots of fun
exploring the outdoors!

I just want to say how incredibly proud I am
of my wonderful Year 3 class. You have all worked so hard, shown kindness,
respect and curiosity every single day, and made such fantastic progress
already. Thank you for making my first half term at Wybunbury Delves such a
special one — it has been a true joy to get to know you all and to see your
enthusiasm for learning shine through. I can’t wait to see what we achieve
together next half term!

Have a wonderful half-term break, you
absolutely deserve a well-earnt rest — I can’t wait to hear about what you have
all been up to when we return.

Warm regards,

Mrs Roney.