Year Three

January 2021 

 

Dear Parents  

  

Spring Term 2021 – Year 3 Curriculum Newsletter   

  

Happy New Year to you all!  

  

We hope you had a restful Christmas and wish you all a very happy New Year!  

  

English  

In English this term, our writing will be led by our Ancient Egypt topic. There will be lots of opportunities for creative writing including writing a biography of Cleopatra, diary entries from the day Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, retelling the story of Osiris and Seth and designing our own artistic Egyptian shape poems. We will also be reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts based around this topic. We will be focusing particularly on our ability to make predictions and inferences using evidence from the text.  

  

Maths  

Over the course of the term, we will be looking at written methods of multiplication and division, measuring and comparing length, mass, volume, money and time. Please continue encouraging your child to practise their times tables: 2, 5, 10, 3, 4, 8 and beyond.  

  

Science  

This term the children will learn about animals and humans as well as exploring their diets. They will also be studying skeletons and understand the role that muscles play in supporting, protecting and moving our bodies. The children will learn to make comparisons and draw conclusions from their evidence. We will also be learning about rocks and soils, looking into how fossils are formed and what they can tell us about the past.  

  

History  

As part of our History topic, we will be travelling back in time to Ancient Egypt. This term, our History learning will tie into many other areas of the curriculum and we will be exploring what it would have been like to live in the Egyptian era. We will study The River Nile, Tutankhamun, the pyramids, Egyptian gods, hieroglyphs, the mummification process, and much more.   

  

Art/DT  

In Art and Design, the children will be painting silhouette pictures to show an Egyptian sunset. We will also be using various techniques to create Egyptian amulets, such as scarab beetles, out of clay. The children will learn how to manipulate the clay to form the shape they want and will glaze and fire their products in the kiln. In D.T. We will be designing our own Egyptian jewellery and later in the term we will be exploring how we can use nets to make 3D structures such as pyramids.   

  

IT  

In Information Technology, we will be learning how to word process our work and will also be learning how to use the internet as a safe and effective research tool. In addition to this, we will be using augmented reality apps as well as simulations to experience Egyptian artefacts and landscapes.  

  

PE & Games  

In PE this term, Year 3 will be focusing on acquiring and applying a variety of skills in Swimming and Rounders during their longer PE lessons.  In Swimming they will be learning about pool safety and water confidence, as well as stroke development in front crawl, breast stroke and back stroke.  In Rounders the children will perform a range of throwing, catching and batting techniques with increasing confidence, control and accuracy.   In their shorter PE lessons, the children will be learning more about Squash and Tag Rugby.  In Squash the children will learn what the game is, how to rally and how to perform a variety of techniques used to play the game. In Tag Rugby the children will learn how to perform and apply a variety of skills, including: running with the ball; passing; tagging; scoring; evading.  

  

RE  

In RE, our focus will be Christianity. We will be discussing our views on whether we believe Jesus could heal people and will learn the meaning behind ‘Good Friday’.   

  

Music  

This term music is still under the restrictions imposed due to Covid which means that singing is not allowed, and we will not be able to start learning the recorder. We will learn what is meant by an accompaniment and use a variety of different tuned percussion instruments to play specific parts. We will begin to learn about the notes on the stave and continue to learn about rhythm notation and symbols. We will listen to recorded music and discuss the musical elements.  

  

Thank you as always for your continued support.   

  

Kind regards  

  

Mrs Langdon            Mrs Anderson   

g.langdon@jcp.sch.je     l.anderson@jcp.sch.je