Welcome to Year 3 

Autumn Term

Year 3 have been learning all about the Stone Age this Autumn Term. In history, we have been learning about the three main periods of the Stone Age (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and taken a virtual tour of one of the best preserved Stone Age settlements, Skara Brae.  We have been reading about the Stone Age and also written a character description based on the story ‘The Stone Age Boy’.  We've used our vocabulary to describe the main character ‘Om’ and what her appearance, personality, thoughts and feelings are throughout the story.

To celebrate Black History Month the children joined a live assembly with special guest Swarzy Macaly.

Check out some of our Stone Age Tunics!  We have experimented with cutting, sewing and dyeing to create some amazing pieces of art.  

In science, we've learned about animals (including humans).  We found the skeleton particularly fascinating and enjoyed using our Oracy skills to present some of our research projects to each other.

We've also enjoyed learning about the importance of Diwali to Hindus and Sikhs.  Celebrating together helps to create a sense of belonging.

Now we're back for a new half-term, and have kicked things off with a puppet show about Anti-Bullying.  The children used their empathy to advise their puppet friends on how to act more kindly in school and learned tactics they could use if they are upset by anything.  

We've also started reading our new book 'The Street Beneath my Feet,' which links to our science topic 'rocks'.  Do you know what goes on beneath our feet?  Here are some of the children's interpretations.

We enjoyed watching Snow White as a special treat - the dancing and singing was amazing!

At the end of term, we enjoyed a visit to St Anselm's Parish Church in Hayes.  This linked to our RE topic, Christianity, where we have been exploring the meaning of Christmas.  We enjoyed hearing the Nativity story, which was brought to life for us in a lively retelling, and also enjoyed spotting features of the church, including this beautiful, stained-glass window.

Spring Term

Happy New Year from all of us here at Minet Juniors.  We are beginning the Spring Term with a whole host of exciting learning that the children will enjoy centred around our topic of 'Brilliant Britain'. We will begin by exploring the stories of Paddington Bear and the Royal Family in English, whilst also studying the properties of light in Science.  We will be consolidating our knowledge of multiplication and division in maths before moving on to units of measure.  In art, we will be studying various landscape artists so that we can create our own, stylised, paintings of London.  Through our topics: History and Geography, we will learn about the United Kingdom and the changes that have taken place here over time.  A fun and exciting term!

We have been increasing our prosody by reading fluently to each other in groups and also using our acting skills to bring stories to life.  Can you spot a little Paddington Bear asking the Browns to help him?

In Science, we've also made use of freeze frames to explore how light moves.  Here, our beam of light travels in a straight line towards our object.  Will she be absorbed or reflected?

We then worked in groups to present our learning by designing an effective pair of sunglasses using absorbent material to protect our eyes.

Year 3 threw themselves into Cultural Week with real enthusiasm, exploring traditions, art, and music from around the world. They kicked things off with an energetic drumming workshop, then dived into the vibrant world of Pakistani truck art, discovering the colours and stories behind these beautifully decorated vehicles. The class also became young researchers, investigating the UAE and creating their own fact files to share what they learned. To round off the week, they explored the Arabic alphabet and experimented with patterns inspired by Islamic art. It was a lively, creative week that opened their eyes to new cultures and ideas.