Year Three have had a busy start to the year! They have settled into their new routines and have enjoyed exploring a range of subjects, including Spanish. With a new year comes a range of exciting new topics to learn about… so let’s have a look at what they’ve been up to:

Term One began with our topic ‘Dover’. In History, the children explored how our town has changed over time and why its location has made it so important for defending Britain against invaders. They learnt about the role of Dover Castle in local and national history and had the opportunity to build on this learning through a visit to the castle itself.

In English, the children used their learning about Dover Castle to create informative fact files, organising interesting details about this important local landmark. Following their visit, they worked on recounts of their trip, practising how to describe events in order. In Guided Reading, they continued to develop their fluency, expression and comprehension skills, while GPS lessons focused on noun phrases, sentence types, commas, apostrophes and past and present tense.

In Science, the children investigated plants and the different jobs carried out by their roots, stems, leaves and flowers. They explored what plants need to grow, including the role of water and how it moves through a plant. They also learnt about how flowering plants produce food and how seeds are made and dispersed.

The children have also been busy developing their mathematical skills. They revisited place value with numbers up to 1,000, using hundreds, tens and ones to represent, count and change numbers. They practised estimation and counting in steps of 50 before using number bonds and their understanding of place value to add and subtract one-, two- and three-digit numbers.

In Art this term, the children explored colour theory, learning about the colour wheel and contrasting and complementary colours. Inspired by the floral artwork of Georgia O’Keeffe, they developed their own flower artwork using colour to make their designs stand out. Across the wider curriculum, they explored Christian faith in Britain in RE, learnt about emails and online safety in Computing, and began their Spanish learning with greetings and counting to ten.

Overall, it’s been a fantastic first term for Year Three, full of learning, creativity and memorable experiences. The children have worked incredibly hard and have made a brilliant start to the year. We are all looking forward to continuing our learning about Dover in Term Two.