Summer Term

Numeracy

In our numeracy lessons this term, we will be focusing on mass and capacity and building upon our knowledge of measuring in g, kg, ml and l. We will continue to expand our understanding of fractions by looking at fractions of amounts and adding and subtracting non-unit fractions. We will be using money and using our problem-solving skills to work out change. During the second half of the term, we will be focusing on time, shape, angles, and statistics. The children will have access to Times Tables Rock Stars, which will encourage them to learn their times-tables and related division facts. This will support them when working towards the Times Tables Awards and in readiness for the Year 4 Multiplication Check. Throughout our maths sessions we will focus on having a mastery approach whereby children will have plenty of opportunities to work on their problem solving and reasoning skills. We will also incorporate concrete, abstract and pictorial approaches to help support learners grasp new topics better.

Literacy

This term, the children will continue to develop their comprehension skills with a focus on inference in our guided reading sessions. Lessons will also include specific work on grammar, particularly focusing on different sentence structures. Children will further develop their reading, writing, phonics, and grammar and spelling skills by drawing inspiration from various texts. We will explore myths, stories, and explanation texts related to our Egyptians topic. An exciting practical activity involves mummifying a tomato, creating an excellent writing opportunity on the mummification process. The children will read 'The Boy who Biked the World - Europe' by Alastair Humphreys to complement our Geography topic in the second half of the term, where we will cover non-chronological reports and letters. Additionally, the children will also read, 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' by Kate DiCamillo, to practise various writing skills like descriptions, play scripts, and making predictions and inferences about his adventures.

Science

This term Year 3 will be continuing learning about plants. They will be planting seeds and discovering the best conditions to grow plants successfully. They will invent and run their own investigations to monitor the growth of plants and use scientific skills to record their results and draw conclusions. Later in the term we will be finding out all about light. Children will investigate the terms opaque, translucent and transparent and explore how shadows are formed. They will look at staying safe in the sunshine. They will also examine how light travels in straight lines, identify natural and artificial light sources and explore reflections and reflective materials.

History

Our focus this half term will be studying Ancient Egypt. We will explore the achievements of the Egyptians in history, their societal way of living, beliefs, and investigate the chronology of the past, placing early civilisations in historical context.

Geography

In our Geography learning we will take the children on a virtual journey to Europe, where the children will unravel intriguing facts about the continent, discover European countries, capitals, and unique features. Learning will be linked to the upcoming Olympics in Paris, scheduled for this summer.

Computing

Throughout the Computing lessons, we will continue to enhance online safety skills, covering all aspects of e-safety. The children will delve into computing programming, introducing a variety of motion, sound, and event blocks to create their programs featuring sequences. Additionally, they will craft a representation of a piano. Following this, they will investigate the correlations between events and actions. The children will design their own sprites and learn how to manoeuvre them, culminating in creating and coding a maze.

PE

We recognise the importance PE plays in the curriculum and we are committed to providing all children with opportunities to engage in Physical Education. Sessions aim to develop children's basic physical competencies, build confidence in their ability and build the foundations for a lifelong love of sport, physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. PE lessons encourage children to compete against themselves and others whilst being challenged to improve their physical, social, emotional and thinking skills. We are lucky enough to have specialised sports coaches to deliver some of our PE sessions, the children this term will be covering Swimming, OAA, Rounders and Athletics.

Art

As artists we will be linking our learning in the first half-term to the Ancient Egyptians, finding out about the art they created and investigating the styles, patterns and characteristics. We will be designing our own Egyptian scrolls and making our own paper. We will also be making zines, which are small booklets. In the 2^nd half of term, our learning will be linked to our Science topics of Light and Plants, finding out about the female botanist and photographer Anna Atkins. Using the book ‘The Bluest of Blues’ as our inspiration, we will be printing, sketching and creating clay pieces. We will also try out Cyanography in the style of Anna Atkins. Throughout the whole term we will be developing our sketchbook skills and using these as a record of our work.

DT – Food and nutrition

Our DT this term will link to our topic on Ancient Egypt. We will explore the different foods Ancient Egyptians had and will roll up our sleeves and make Egyptian flatbread. We will then enjoy eating what we have created.

PSHE

In PSHE this term we will be exploring how to look after our world. We will be identifying how we can protect our planet by recycling, reusing and reducing. We will also be exploring aspects of fire safety. We will develop our understanding of the importance of being responsible and how our actions/choices can affect others through hoax calling, petty arson and texting whilst driving.

Music – Boom!

Year 3 will be using “Boom whackers” to create sounds, perform songs and understand musical concepts. We will listen to different ensembles, and understand that different groups of instruments and people can make different sounds. We will also look at some famous musicians and how they play their instruments.

RE

The unit of work for the first half of the summer term is ‘What do Sikhs Believe?’ Children will look at the main aspects of Sikhism, exploring the meaning behind the Ik Ongar symbol and thinking about which symbols are important in their own lives and faiths. They will find out about Guru Nanak and think about what equality means. They will also find out about Sikh customs and traditions.   The second half of the summer term is all about what impact faith has on the community. Children will think about how different faiths are followed in a community and how seeing how people follow different faiths and customs can enrich a community and the lives of the people in it. They will talk about what makes a good leader and think about traditions and customs that they follow in their own lives.