Welcome to Year 3!

2026-27

In Year 3, our teachers are Mr Cameron (Class 1), Miss Allen (Class 2) and Miss Ferguson (Class 3). We are also supported by our dedicated Learning Support Assistants (LSAs): Mrs Bridgeman and Mrs Bright.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your child's teacher. If they are not around at pick-up, you can speak to them by phoning the school office and requesting an appointment.

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

Curriculum Newsletters

Year 3 Autumn 1 Curriculum Newsletter

Update – Friday 18th September 2026

Year 3 has had another busy and enjoyable week, with the children continuing to settle confidently into their new routines and showing great enthusiasm for their learning. This week has brought plenty of hands-on learning, from bringing Bronze Age Britain to life through drama and experimenting with colour mixing in Art to investigating shadows in Science. It has been lovely to see the children work collaboratively, ask thoughtful questions, and become increasingly confident in sharing their ideas. We have been really pleased with the positive attitude they continue to show as they tackle new challenges across the curriculum!

In Science, the children continued their Sunlight and Shadows project by investigating how shadows are formed. They learnt that a shadow forms when an object blocks light, and explored how opaque, translucent, and transparent materials produce different types of shadows. Working practically with torches and a range of objects, the children tested and sorted materials according to the shadows they created. They also explored where shadows appear in relation to a light source and discovered that shadows move when the light source changes position.

In Maths, the children continued developing their understanding of place value. They explored the relationship between hundreds, tens and ones, using their knowledge of partitioning to understand how three-digit numbers are composed. The children then investigated how numbers change when finding 1, 10 or 100 more or less, paying close attention to which digits change. Finally, they began using number lines up to 1,000, identifying and placing numbers accurately by using their understanding of intervals and place value.

In PSHE, the children continued their Being Me in My World learning by revisiting the Zones of Regulation and considering how different situations can affect our emotions. Building on last week’s ‘nightmare school’, the children worked together to create their own ‘dream school’, thinking about what would help everyone to feel safe, valued, happy and ready to learn. They compared their dream and nightmare schools before discussing the rights and responsibilities we all share within our school community. This helped the children understand why agreed rules, courtesy and respect are so important in creating a positive environment where everyone can learn and thrive.

In Art, the children continued their Colour Masters project by looking more closely at how artists use different types of colour within their work. They selected a painting to study and carefully identified the colours the artist had chosen. The children then developed their practical colour-mixing skills, experimenting with paint to recreate colours they could see in the original artwork and recording their mixtures in their sketchbooks. At the end of the lesson, they reflected on their work, discussing which colours had been more challenging to create and how they adapted their mixtures to achieve a closer match.

   

In History, the children continued their From Stone to Iron project by exploring everyday life during the Bronze Age. They discovered more about Bronze Age homes, farming, food, crafts and the lives of different people within their communities. The children then worked collaboratively to bring their learning to life through drama, acting out scenes such as a family cooking in a roundhouse, people farming, craftspeople making wooden boats and a powerful chief displaying their wealth. Afterwards, they reflected on what their performances had taught them and began comparing Bronze Age life with life in the Stone Age, identifying some of the important changes that had taken place.

Update – Friday 11th September 2026

Year 3 has had another busy and exciting week, with the children continuing to settle brilliantly into their new routines and showing lots of enthusiasm for their learning. They have enjoyed getting stuck into several of their new topics, from becoming history detectives and exploring prehistoric Britain to investigating colour in Art. Across the curriculum, it has been lovely to see the children working together, sharing their ideas and growing in confidence. We have been really impressed with the positive start they have made and are looking forward to another exciting week ahead!

In English, the children continued their instructional writing unit inspired by George’s Marvellous Medicine. They explored how determiners can make ingredients clear and specific before learning to create detailed expanded noun phrases using the DAAN structure (Determiner, Adjective, Adjective, Noun). The children then investigated time conjunctions and imperative ‘bossy’ verbs to help organise instructions clearly and in the correct order. At the end of the week, they brought these skills together in their apprentice piece, writing their own wonderfully gruesome instructions for making a poisonous pie!

In Maths, the children continued their work on place value, developing their understanding of three-digit numbers. They explored hundreds and learnt that 10 tens are equivalent to 1 hundred, before using practical resources and place value charts to represent numbers up to 1,000. The children then developed their understanding of hundreds, tens and ones, learning how to partition three-digit numbers and recognise the value of each digit. They also began exploring different ways that numbers can be partitioned, helping to deepen their understanding of how numbers are composed.

In PSHE, the children continued their Being Me in My World learning by thinking about their emotions and revisiting the Zones of Regulation. They considered how different situations might make them feel before imagining what a ‘nightmare school’ might be like if there were no adults to help, no break or lunchtime, and no rules to keep everyone safe. Working in teams, the children created their own nightmare schools and discussed how these would make them feel. This helped them appreciate why rules, routines and trusted adults are so important for helping us to feel safe, happy and ready to learn at school

In Art, the children continued their Colour Masters project by exploring how different artists use colour in their work. They looked closely at pairs of paintings, discussing their similarities and differences and using artistic vocabulary to explain how colour had been used to create different effects, moods and feelings. Working with a partner, the children then chose artworks to study in more detail, applying their developing understanding of colour theory to compare and evaluate them. They recorded their ideas in their sketchbooks before sharing and discussing their findings as a class.

In History, the children began their exciting new From Stone to Iron project, which will explore how life in prehistoric Britain changed from the Stone Age through to the Iron Age. To launch the topic, the children became history detectives, examining images of prehistoric artefacts and thinking carefully about what these objects could tell us about people’s lives in the past. We also celebrated the fantastic history homework completed over the summer by bringing the whole year group together for a prehistoric artefact exhibition. The children had the opportunity to explore each other’s creations, share what they had discovered and admire the creativity and effort that had gone into them. It was a brilliant way to bring our new history topic to life!

Update – Friday 4th September 2026

A very warm welcome back to everyone after the summer holidays! We hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed plenty of time to relax and recharge. It has been fantastic to welcome the children into Year 3 and see them settling so positively into their new classes and routines. They have made a brilliant start to the new school year, approaching their learning with enthusiasm and beginning to build new friendships and relationships with the adults around them. We are really looking forward to an exciting year ahead and all the learning, experiences and memories we will share together.

English

This week in English, the children began our new unit on instructional writing, inspired by George’s Marvellous Medicine. We started with a fun practical activity where the children had to give their class teacher instructions for making a jam sandwich! The teachers followed the children’s initial instructions exactly as they were given, which resulted in a few funny mistakes and some rather unusual sandwiches! This helped the children quickly discover why instructions need to be clear, detailed and given in the correct order. They then worked together to improve their instructions so that the jam sandwich could be made successfully.

 

Following our potion experiment, the children explored the key features of instructional writing by reading and annotating a model set of instructions. They identified features such as a clear title, a list of what is needed, time words and imperative (bossy) verbs. Finally, the children began looking more closely at ingredients lists and learnt how determiners can help us be more precise about how much or how many of each ingredient is needed.

Maths

In Maths, the children began their first unit of the year on place value. They started by revisiting their understanding of tens and ones before beginning to explore hundreds and how three-digit numbers are made. The children used practical resources and place value representations to recognise the value of each digit and explored different ways of partitioning numbers into hundreds, tens and ones. These first lessons have provided an important opportunity to revisit previous learning while beginning to build the strong place value understanding that will underpin much of our Maths work this year.

PSHE

This week in PSHE, the children began by exploring the Zones of Regulation, discussing different emotions and making links to the Colour Monster characters. We then focused on pride and achievements, with the children sharing things they feel proud of. Finally, we discussed what a goal is and each child recorded a personal goal they would like to achieve during Year 3 in their PSHE journal.

RE

In RE, the children began their new unit exploring trees as symbols. During the first Communicate stage of the learning cycle, they thought about their own experiences of trees and used their senses to consider what trees look, feel, sound and smell like. The children shared their ideas and discussed the different feelings and thoughts that trees can inspire, beginning to explore how something familiar from the natural world can have a deeper meaning and be used as a symbol. This provided a thoughtful starting point for the children’s learning and will lead into exploring the significance of trees within Christianity as the unit develops.