Y3 Weekly News 12.09.25

What a brilliant week of learning we've had in Year 3! The children have shown fantastic enthusiasm, teamwork and creativity across all subjects. It has been wonderful to see them settling into routines and supporting each other so well. Here's a look at what we've been doing:

This week we were introduced to three-digit numbers. Using concrete resources such as Dienes, place value counters, arrow cards and Numicon, we built and represented different numbers to secure a solid understanding of the value of each digit. The children really enjoyed the hands-on activities and worked brilliantly in partners and small groups, explaining their thinking to one another. It was fantastic to see them problem-solving together and discovering how the same number can be represented in lots of different ways. Bringing maths to life in this way has helped us all feel more confident about place value as we move forward.

In English, we started our exciting new text, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Before opening the book, we explored a mysterious collection of objects, including light bulbs, wires, metal cars and even a golden star. This sparked lots of predictions about what the story might include and who the characters could be. Once we read Chapter 2, the children wrote wonderfully eerie setting descriptions to capture the fear Hogarth feels as he walks through the forest alone at night. They worked hard to include expanded noun phrases and a range of sentence types to engage the reader. We were blown away by their imagination--Mrs Roney's favourite line was: "Hogarth suddenly became aware that he was a very small boy in a very big world." Wow!

Our spelling focus this week was on prefixes. We explored un, dis and in, learning how they can completely change the meaning of a word while never altering the spelling of the root word. The children practised these in their spelling books and then challenged themselves to use the words in context, weaving them into their written work. It was great to see them spotting opportunities to apply their new spelling knowledge independently.

In RE, we learnt about the Harvest Festival and how Christians celebrate it as a way of giving thanks. The children enjoyed discussing what they were most grateful for, and it was heart-warming to hear such thoughtful answers. Many were thankful for their families, friends and pets, while others spoke about the importance of having food, a home and people who care for them. We had some wonderful discussions about kindness, gratitude and the things that matter most.

We also began our new Science topic on rocks. The children became geologists for the afternoon as they investigated the properties of sandstone, basalt, slate, granite, marble and chalk. Working in groups, they tested how hard each rock was, whether it was permeable, and whether it could float. There was lots of excitement and curiosity as they made predictions, carried out their tests and compared results. We loved how scientific vocabulary and questioning skills came to life in the classroom!

In DT, we have been learning about castles. The children have enjoyed exploring the different parts of a castle, including curtain walls, moats, drawbridges, towers, turrets and battlements. Every morning, Mrs Roney has been quizzing us to see if we can remember the features--and we can! Using this knowledge, the children then designed their own castles, making sure to include the distinct features that make them strong and secure. The creativity and attention to detail in their designs was brilliant to see.

It has been a busy and exciting week full of discovery, collaboration and creativity. I am so proud of how curious and hardworking the children have been, and we can't wait to continue building on all this wonderful learning next week.

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Mrs Roney.