Welcome to Year 3!

To contact the year leader please email: 

heatherlands.office@coastalpartnership.co.uk

Please phone the office if you have an urgent message or enquiry.

The Heatherlands Way

PE days: Tuesday (indoor)  & Wednesday (outdoor) Children to come into school dressed in PE kits.

As we return after our half-term break, we are excited to dive into the second part of the spring term. With the mornings and evenings becoming lighter, we can definitely feel that spring is on its way!

This week, we began our new topic on the Romans. We have set a homework project on Thursday, 27th February 2025, which is due in on 10th March 2025. We encourage all parents to support their children with this! Please ask your child’s class teacher for more information.

We had a special visitor this week from AFC Bournemouth who ran a Healthy Eating Workshop. The students enjoyed learning about nutrition, and we explored ways to maintain a balanced diet.

In PE, we started playing Dodgeball, which has been a fun way to keep active and develop our teamwork skills!

In English, we have started a new book titled 'The Cloud Tea Monkeys.' To hook us into the story, we explored different types of tea in class using all of our senses; we smelt them and discussed how different types of tea can affect us.

Meanwhile, in Science, our exploration of forces continues with exciting experiments using magnets!

We look forward to sharing more about our journey this term. Thank you for your continued support!

Years 3's week in a few words

Firstly, we would like to congratulate Maple Class on their fantastic assembly. Well done, Maple Class, and a huge thank you to Mrs Cruttenden, Mrs Webster, and Miss Drudge for their hard work.

Additionally, thank you for your support in some wonderful ‘show what you know’ homework, the year 3 team have been very impressed. We will be setting the next homework task on Monday 3^rd February.

In English, we began reading our new book, The Misadventures of Frederick. The story has sparked lively discussions among the pupils. This week, our focus has been on mastering the plural possessive apostrophe, which can be tricky but is essential for clear writing.

In Maths, we tackled length and measure. Students have been measuring objects in centimetres, millimetres, and metres, which is an essential skill for everyday life. The hands-on activities, involving rulers and tape measures, really helped everyone engage with the topic.

In Science, we explored forces, particularly friction. We experimented with rolling marbles across different surfaces to see how distance was affected. The children were fascinated to discover how some surfaces allowed the marbles to roll further than others.

Finally, in our Topic lessons, we travelled back in time to the Bronze Age. We learned about how smelting was used to create bronze and discussed its importance.

Year 3’s week in a few words

This week has been an exciting one in Year 3 as we dive deeper into our 'From Stone to Rome' topic. On Wednesday, we set new homework related to this fascinating period in history, this homework is due Monday 27th January so we would appreciate your support in reinforcing to the children the importance of completing this task on time. Please check our school website for further details on this.

In English, the children have been working on diary entries from the perspective of a Stone Age boy going fishing and hunting!

In Maths, we've been focusing on multiplication, please continue to encourage them to practise their times tables at home (2, 5, 10, 3, 4, 8’s).

This week in RE, we introduced the teachings of Buddhism. The children have shown great curiosity and respect as they learn about this diverse religion. Discussions in class have encouraged them to reflect on values of compassion and mindfulness.

In PE, the children have been enjoying gymnastics! They've been mastering various skills, including balance, coordination, and flexibility.

Finally, please can we remind you that we check reading journals every Monday so please ensure that children are sent to school with at least 3 home reads so that we can check them each week.

Year 3’s week in a few words

The children have settled really well back into routine for our first school week in 2025! We have started our new topic From Stone to Rome. Homework will be set next week so please keep your eyes peeled for that. Linked to this, we have begun our new text in English called ‘The Stone Age Boy’, which the children are really enjoying.

In maths we are focusing on multiplication, we would appreciate it if you could support us with this by logging into ‘Emile’ at home to keep the times tables practice up!

Finally, please could we make two requests, firstly for any more empty egg boxes to be brought into school to use in our upcoming DT project, and secondly that the children are sent to school with water rather than squash in keeping with our school policy, thank you!

This has been a jam packed week!

In English we have been introduced to a new poem called 'The Magic Box' all about senses. Next week, we will be writing our own version and performing at it at the Year 3 poetry festival!

In maths we are continuing our times tables work, improving our 3’s, 4’s and 8’s.

Finally in topic we have been learning about the damage volcanoes create and making volcano models out of crepe paper!

We also had Sycamore’s brilliant class assembly, well done for all your hard work children (and Mrs McDonald and Miss James!).

Finally, just a reminder, topic project homework is due in Monday 9th December! If you need any guidance please speak to your child’s class teacher. 

We have been busy this week in year 3!

Last Friday we had forest school, we made some creative leaf art including a huge welly boot, measured the trunks of trees to see how old they were and learnt about what bins certain pieces of rubbish go in. In our shake, rattle and roll topic we have been learning about tectonic plate boundaries using oreos, and coordinates on maps. We even went on a scavenger hunt around the school using coordinates! In maths we are focusing on multiplication and division, and we have started using ‘Emile’ in school to support this (more information to follow at parents evening)! Finally, in English we have been writing our ‘See How Far You’ve Come’ piece, which is a job advert for Marwell Zoo for a zoo keeper, which is pretty roarsome…!

Today Year 3 had a visit from a geologist. Jacob used to come to Heatherlands and he is now studying geology in London. He came to talk to year 3 about rocks and minerals as part of their 'Shake, rattle and roll' topic. The children got to examine lots of different types of rocks and investigated them to try to answer the questions Jacob had given them. 

We have had a wonderful start to the half term and it is great to see how hard all of the children have been working! We have enjoyed reading ‘The Tin Forest’ by Helen Ward in our English lessons and have engaged in lots of discussions about reducing, reusing or recycling our rubbish as a result.

We have written persuasive letters in role as the character from the story urging the council to help tidy up all of the rubbish.

In maths we are focusing on addition and subtraction and beginning to record our calculations in a formal column method. The children are learning how to exchange tens and ones and have enjoyed using practical resources to support this process.

We have been fully engaged in our art topic and the children have produced their own fantastic prints of flowers in the style of Andy Warhol.

Key questions to ask:

What are the three Rs and how can we follow them?

How do I know if I need to exchange tens or ones when I am subtracting?

How does Andy Warhol use colour in his artwork?