Maths: right angles
Last week, Year 3 were learning to recognise right angles.
A right angle is the same as a quarter turn.
There are four right angles in a full turn.
This links directly to our Computing learning where we’ve been using quarter turns in our algorithms.
Many 2D shapes, or polygons as we’ve called them, have right angles.
Squares and rectangles have four right angles.
A triangle that has a right angle is called a right angled triangle.
We’ve also had a go at drawing different polygons, some with right angles and some without.
Help at home: Can you name the polygons we’ve drawn?
Living and Learning: personal hygiene
Year 3 have been learning about how we can keep our bodies healthy. For example, we have learnt about what germs are and how to prevent spreading them.
We started off the lesson by talking about the different types of germs there are; bacteria, viruses and fungi. These can be all around us and some are helpful and some are harmful e.g. some yoghurts have ‘live cultures’ in that are good for our digestive system.
The children then discussed how quickly and easily germs can spread. We highlighted that places where germs are common.
We talked about the need to wash our hands to help prevent this spread. We could use soap or hand sanitiser and to make sure we’ve washed them thoroughly enough, you should sing happy birthday twice while you do it!
Help at home: Discuss other ways we can stop germs from spreading.
Writing – The Dragon Slayer
Across this half term, Year 3 will be writing a narrative about The Dragon Slayer. We’ve watched a short clip of an animated film that we will base our narrative on.
The purpose of a narrative is to interest and entertain.
We’ll catch the reader’s attention by describing the main character and their background. Then we’ll write about the journey he goes on to find his next dragon.
So far, we’ve learnt about what verbs we could use to help catch the reader’s attention. For example:
Tarragon, the dragon slayer, grabbed his sword.
Tarragon, the dragon slayer, clasped his sword.
Tarragon, the dragon slayer, gripped his sword.
Tarragon, the dragon slayer, held his sword.
We’re moving onto to adverbs next!
Help at home by thinking of synonyms (words of similar meaning) for ‘walked’.
World Book Day 2026!
Today is World Book Day! World Book Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Today has been filled with lots of opportunities to read and talk about books.
I asked the children to bring in their favourite books. We each shared our book and the reason why it’s our favourite…
Lots of our reasons were to do with funny stories, adventure or learning new facts!
We also had Mrs Charlesworth visit us and share her favourite books with us. The room was very calm and quiet – the perfect environment for reading! Help at home by finding or setting up a cosy place to sit and read. Is it warm? Are you in bed? Are you with someone else while you read?
We swapped with Year 6 and discussed our books with them too. We learnt about some new books that we might like to read in the future. Here’s some of us in action…
Finally, we took part in a live lesson on BBC. We heard loads of great recommendations from other children and schools.
What a fantastic day! Make sure your child reads everyday to improve their fluency and understanding.
Cross country
We’ve had two cross country events this week.
First of all, it was the final Saturday morning race at Middleton Park. Well done to all of the children who have taken part in the four races held across the year and for parents who supported at these events.
On Tuesday, five of our Key Stage 2 children represented Leeds at the West Yorkshire cross country final at Temple Newsam in the glorious sunshine.
We are very proud of all our runners who raced in tough, competitive conditions, with the best runners from across West Yorkshire. They all put in 100% effort and were a great support for each other. The children should feel proud of competing at this level.
A special mention to our Year 5 runner who finished 10th place out of 151 runners and has now qualified for the national cross country final later this month. One of our Year 4 runners narrowly missed out on this qualification by two places.
Thank you to parents who helped with transport and supported at the event.
Living and Learning: I know that some drugs can be harmful.
In L&L this term, we’re looking at drugs, alcohol and tobacco. In Year 3, we discussed what a drug is:
A substance that changes the way the body or mind works.
To begin this topic, we looked at a range of medicines and household products and spoke about their benefits.
Medicine can help us feel better when we feel unwell.
Cleaning products keep our homes clean.
Soap keeps us clean and kills bacteria.
We then discussed the importance of staying safe when using these products. We identified the risks of these items and how we can reduce these.
Always put medicines and cleaning products up high or locked up so children can’t touch them.
Never take medicine that isn’t given to you by a doctor or a trusted adult.
Always read the label on medicine to make sure you’re using it safely.
Help at home: talk about some household products or medicines you have at home and how you make sure you’re always using these safely.
World Book Day – Thursday 5th March
Thursday is World Book Day! World Book Day encourages more children and families to find the fun and enjoyment in reading, because reading for pleasure changes lives.
Read more here: https://www.worldbookday.com/about-us/
As part of World Book Day, I’d like the children to bring in their favourite books! This might be linked to the character they’re dressed as. We’ll have time to share and discuss their books which will give the rest of the class inspiration for their next book to read.
I look forward to hearing about them!
Thanks, Miss Birch
Book Club – group reading
Hello!
This week, we’re beginning group reading again.
The class have been divided into groups and each group has been given a book to read at home. This will last for this half term.
During our Book Club sessions each Friday, each group will discuss what they have read so far and share their reading record activities related to their book. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the children to explore characters and storylines more than they might do normally!
Every Friday during Book Club, each group will be given a new page to read to for the next Friday.
What to remember:
- Your child has a book that they need to read every week (up to a chosen point marked with a post-it notes).
- Make the reading work for your child. Feel free to share the reading with them or even you read it to them here and there.
- The reading record activity needs to be completed using their new book.
- A comment from a grown up needs to be written in their reading record.
- Group reading books and reading records need to be brought in every Friday.
Help at home by listening to your child read their new book and ask questions about the book to help prepare them for class discussions.
I look forward to hearing the children’s discussions next week.
Any questions – please ask. Thank you!
Y3/4 production – Sir David Hattenscarf
Hello!
We hope you’ve had a great half term. This half term, we’re going to begin rehearsing for our production – Sir David Hattenscarf!
If your child has a part in the production that has lines, please help at home by supporting them to learn their lines. We’ll be rehearsing at least once a day at school so any extra practice would be greatly appreciated.
Here are some strategies that might help…
- Repetition & “Line-by-Line” Method: Take it one line at a time. Read a line, cover it, and try to recite it without looking. When mastered, move to the next, then combine them.
- Write It Down: Write your lines out by hand, as this strengthens memory retention.
- First-Letter Mnemonics: Write down the first letter of every word in a sentence. Use this sheet to prompt your memory.
- Record and Playback: Record the other characters’ lines on your phone, leaving pauses for your lines. Play it back and speak your lines.
- Move While Memorising: Walk around or act out actions while reciting. Connecting physical movement to words helps solidify them in your memory.
Here’s a link to one of the songs to practise at home too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuSBLQ0igsE
Any questions, please ask!
Trip to the Yorkshire Museum
Year 3 and 4 visited York to go to the Yorkshire Museum and to see the flood defences (in action).
Yorkshire Museum had exhibitions that were perfect for us to link to our History and Science learning; Roman York and Mary Anning Rocks and Yorkshire’s Jurassic World!
Here’s some pictures of us exploring and learning about the artefacts.
We also took part in a Roman workshop which recapped lots of the information we’ve learnt over our History topic.
Our second reason for visiting York was for the flood defences. York gets flooded quite easily after periods of heavy rainfall so they have built many flood defences around river to help the houses and buildings near. We’ll be learning about this during our Geography topic after the Easter holidays.
To no surprise, there were floods when we visited! Here’s what we saw:
We made sure to stay safe while walking through York and around the river by walking in pairs and behind the railings.
Help at home by asking your child one new fact that they learnt while at the museum! For example, I learnt about the different under water dinosaurs that existed millions of years ago.