Year 3

Friday 14th July

As we reach the end of the year, the children never fail to impress me.  They have worked so hard this week and I imagine they are all feeling quite exhausted. 

In maths, the children have been learning about 3D and 2D shapes and their properties.  It would be great if you pick up on this at home, pointing out shapes and asking them to name in their every day lives.

In English, I am revising all areas of year 3 grammar and punctuation with the children to ensure they are ready for Year 4.  This week, we have been working hard on prepositions but also being able to recognise a noun, verb, adjective and adverb in a sentence.  This is something that many children find hard to identify so again, when reading at home, please do point out these different word classes.

Many thanks for all your contributions of cardboard rolls and bottle tops this week.  See if you are able to spot yours during next week's production!  We have had great fun making costumes this week and all the children have enjoyed making their very own. 

Finally, we had a splendid afternoon at Mill farm on Thursday.  Despite some heavy showers, the children played lots of games and really enjoyed the 'party food' that you so kindly organised - many thnaks.

Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing some of you at the fete on Sunday.

Mrs Glover

Friday 7th July

It was lovely to chat with so many of you at Open Evening on Thursday and to see the children proudly showing their work. 

We have had a very busy week in class ploughing through the last maths topics, developing our knowledge of angles and shapes.  The class have continued their learning about pollination and plants in science. In English, we finished off our narrative stories which had to be full of suspense. 

The children have been busy preparing songs and a dance for the summer production which we are all really looking forward to.  A reminder that I would be very grateful if you could sending in costumes this week.  (grey leggings/tights/trousers and a grey t shirt) 

This Thursday, we hope to walk to Mill Farm for our postponed afternoon of fun.  Fingers crossed the rain stays away.

A reminder that the Summer Reading Challenge opens on 8th July.  We would be thrilled if over the summer holidays, all children could register at a library using their library card. 

Have a good weekend.

Mrs G

Friday 30th June

In maths this week we have moved on from fractions to angles. We have been investigating what an angle is and the children are now able to identify a right angle as well as obtuse and acute angles.  Clockwise and anticlockwise turns have also been a part of the maths lessons this week and the children have been working hard to recognise quarter, half and three quarter turns and how many degrees are in each one. Another maths lesson involved the understanding that lines that are horizonal and vertical are known as perpendicular lines when they meet and form a right angle.

The children have enjoyed lots of science this week. Last week, they studied the parts of the flower and this week, they have looked at these parts in more detail.  We completed a study of the stem by conducting an experiment to observe how the xylem absorb water and transport it around the plant.  Children also know that the stem supports the leaves so that they are able to absorb light and turn it into food. The stem also supports the flower/fruit in order to be pollinated. Pollination has been a very interesting lesson in class this week and the children now clearly understand the importance of bees! 

In writing activities, the class is busy preparing a narrative story full of suspense. They have also completed a fact file about a world famous greenhouse which are on display in the classroom.  We look forward to showing these to you at Open Evening next week.

PRODUCTION COSTUMES
Finally, we are busy preparing for the production of the Wizard of Oz and class 3 will be in the role of the 'Tin Man'.  I would be very grateful for your support with costume help.  The children will need a pair of grey leggings or tights and a plain grey t shirt.  They should wear black school shoes. We will organise the other parts of the costume in school.  Please could you send the grey components in a named plastic bag by Friday 14th July.

With many thanks and have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Glover 

Friday 23rd June

This week has been a science and computing week in Class 3.  We have been exploring our new topic 'Greenhouse' and the children enjoyed making their own greenhouses and sewing cress seeds.  We are hoping for some fast results! As part of the topic, we have been researching famous greenhouses around the world which has been fascinating. 

Class 3 has also started the second science topic for this term, 'Plant Nutrition and Reproduction.'   During the introductory lesson, children enjoyed making a collage to identify the main parts of a flower and we look forward to showing our display work to you at Open Evening in July.

We have had a brilliant day today celebrating STEM day.  Class 3 enjoyed workshops learning about different careers led by Chidd's own parents (many thanks!). We also had great fun learning about the strongest structures and solving logic puzzles - I hope your children will tell you all about it.  This week, we have been very lucky to have 2 sessions with our Computing teacher Mr Miles.  The children learnt about CAD designs and as you will see, they have produced the most amazing key rings using a 3D printer. 

In maths, we continue with fractions.  This week we have been working on equivalent fractions, adding fractions and comparing fractions.  The children are really now understanding how times tables can help with their fluency and they are making links to fractions which is pleasing.

Next week, we have Sports Day on Tuesday (no PE on Tuesday morning and no Forest School in the afternoon).  We will also be visiting Mill Farm on Thursday afternoon - please refer to the letter about this trip for more info.

Homework this weekend - GL GPS book - I have asked the children to complete the next worksheet in their books.  If anyone is keen to do more than this, they are very welcome.

Have a great weekend, 

Mrs G 

Friday 16th June

It has been super to welcome the children back to school for our last term of Class 3.   I hope that you all had a restful and enjoyable half term break.

The children have been in for a treat this week as we have had assessment week in school!  Cruel to be kind!  I am very pleased with the progress that all children have made and their determination to show me this by working so hard in their assessments.

In History, we have been working on the withdrawal of the Romans and the children have written some very imaginative letters from the point of view of a Roman soldier.  This term we will be working on two separate science topics - 'Greenhouse' and 'Plant Nutrition and Reproduction.'  Perhaps your child might like to look at famous greenhouses this weekend such as Kew and The Eden Project. 

In maths, we continue to work on fractions.  Today we have been using our times table knowledge to help us work out a fraction of an amount eg: 3/10 of 30.

I am attaching this term's spelling.  The first test will be on Tuesday and we have been practising for this in class every day.

Have  a super weekend,

Mrs G

Friday 26/5/23 Half term

As the culmination of our learning about The Romans, we enjoyed a Roman feast up on the Astro this afternoon. It was such a shame Mrs Glover wasn't here to join in, but we hope that she got to enjoy some French delicacies while she was in Paris with Year 6.

Back in the classroom, we made 'Wanted' posters offering large rewards of golden Aureus or silver Denarius for the successful capture of Boudicca, the Iceni warrior queen and arch enemy of the Romans. We also designed a Roman mosaic and then created it using lots of fiddly bits of cut-up paper.

In English, we have taken inspiration from various newspaper articles to create a report of out Bushcraft camping trip, while in maths, we have continued in our endeavour to master fractions. We have focused on identifying fractions, other than halves and quarters, and have compared them using a fraction wall. e.g. two quarters = one half. 

Mr Miles joined us on Tuesday for Scratch to create interactions between Romans soldiers. Great for using our history knowledge to think creatively. 

There is no homework for half term, but Mrs Glover would like you to continue to read over the break. This can be your usual reading book or you might like to visit the library; you may find new texts there that you might not ordinarily consider. Don't forget the Year 3/4 Book Club text: The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes. You will have plenty of time over the half term break to great stuck into it. The final club get-together of the year will be on Tuesday 20^th June at 12.30pm in the usual place (Class 4).

Have a lovely holiday. See you in June.

Mrs Haysom

PS Mrs Pullen has just asked me to remind you to restock your pencil cases - some of you have been without a working pen this week. Thank you.

Friday 19th May

This week, we have been writing a newspaper article all about our camping trip last week.  The children have been learning how to formulate paragraphs and given a plan on what they should include in each one.  This helped them create successful paragraphs which they have now pieced together to make a newspaper page. 

In maths, the children have now finished the data collection topic and have learnt to draw and inter information a bar graph.  We have now moved on to fractions which can be quite difficult for some children.  We have gone right back to basics and so far, so good.  Any extra work you can do on fractions of an amount would be very helpful but please make this practical. For example, you could ask your child to share food out into quarters, halves, thirds and even tenths!  They should be able to tell you that a fraction is an equal part of a whole.

In history we have had a great time learning all about Boudicca.  The children have created some super 'Wanted' posters for Boudicca.  Do ask your child all about her and see what they are able to tell you.

The rest of the week was spent perfecting our dance for the May day festivities which I hope you all enjoyed!

Homework:  Please complete Worksheet 6 in the GL GPS book which came home with your child on Friday.  It is the next worksheet.  As always, any problems, please do let me know.  I did talk it through with the children and told them not to spend more than 20 mins on the task.

Next week, I will be wont be in class from Tuesday - Friday as I will be accompanying he Year 6 trip to Paris.  Please know that I will still be contactable via email through the office should you need to contact me.

Have a lovely weekend in the sunshine.

Mrs G

13th May, 2023

We had the most incredible time during our camping trip and I am very proud of all the children for completing their first residential trip.  It was a superb experience and I hope that your child has enjoyed sharing all the stories with you.  We will be completing a 'camping trip' book which will come home so you will be able to enjoy all the photos then.

Obviously, there is no homework this weekend - just lots of rest as I am sure all the children were exhausted.

Many thanks

Mrs Glover

5th May 2023

It has been fabulous to see more sunshine and warmth this week.  In hope that this warm weather begins to remain, a reminder please to send your child with a water bottle as to wear sun cream as and when necessary.

Today, we have started the coronation celebrations with a fabulous festive street party lunch.  In class, we have been creating lots of coronation crafts which I hope you will find in the school bags!  The children also completed a piece of writing 'If I were King for the day I would...'  I am looking forward to reading these over the weekend.

This week in maths we have moved on to collecting data and the children have been introduced to graphs.  We have started with pictograms which they have all enjoyed and I have really stressed the importance of reading the key.  We continue to work on the 4 and 8 times tables and many children are now completing a grid in their own time which is pleasing.  I do encourage the children to take a grid home so please keep practising.

In English, the children imagined what it would be like to be a soldier in the Roman Army and they wrote a fantastic recount of 'a day in the life of a soldier.'   In history, we had great fun making our own roman shields which helped us to understand the formation of the army which became such a success.  We created our own formation using our shields.

Next week is of course our camping trip in Penshurst. I hope that you have seen my email confirming times etc.  Children will need to be dropped at school at normal time on Thursday 11th with their overnight bag and kit in their home clothes. I would be very grateful if children could be collected from Bushcraft at 2:45pm on Friday 12th.

I am not setting any official homework this weekend as I imagine everyone will be busy.  However, please do practise the 4 and 8 times table and I would be grateful if you could ask your child the following 'tea time questions'

1) Why is a 'key' important in a pictogram?

2) How far did a roman soldier march each day?

3) Where did a roman soldier sleep at night and what did they use goat skin for?

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and I look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday.

Mrs Glover

Friday 28th April

Another super week in Class 3.  

In maths, we have continued our work on time.  We are now able to read clocks with roman numerals (and had great fun learning our roman numerals at the same time) and have been working out long an activity takes in both minutes and seconds. The children have been studying the 24hour clock which is really tricky so any work that you can do on this at home would be super eg: 2pm is the same as 14:00.

In English, we have been working really hard on our writing compositions. The children have made huge progress on their writing skills; they are all trying to use ambitious vocabulary and have improved their sentence structure and punctuation enormously. At the same time, their imaginations are running wild, which I love!  This week, we have worked really hard in GPS on making nouns plural and learning when to add an s, es or ies. (the rule is that words that end in s, ch, sh, ss, x and z need an 'es')

In history, we have had a superb time exploring the Roman Army this week and learning about their formation.  We now understand a little more about how they were so successful.  Marching 20 miles a day in heavy armor and then having to build a camp at the end of each day (with a ditch around it) is no means feat!

A reminder that it is Bank Holiday on Monday.  I have sent home the GPS books and would like children to work on Worksheet number 5.  I appreciate many of you will be busy over the bank holiday so please send this back to me by Thursday.  The coronation bunting needs to be back by 2nd May.

Have a very enjoyable weekend.

Mrs Glover 

Friday 20th April

Welcome back to Term 5.  It has been lovely to chat with the children and find out about their holidays. 

We have got stuck straight into our new topic 'Emperors and Empires' which has stirred lots of history excitement in class. The children now have a good understanding of when the Romans ruled, which countries they ruled, how an emperor was deemed successful and who the main emperors were. In our English lessons, we studied the legend of Romulas and Remus which suggests the theory behind how Rome got its name. The children have written their own version of the story focusing on paragraphs.

In maths, we have started learning how to tell the time. In year 3, we really move on from some of basics of reading an analogue clock eg: o'clock, quarter past, quarter to, half past.  Children are expected to read any given time on an analogue clock.  On the whole, they have done really well this week but any extra practise at home would be beneficial.  If you have an analogue clock at home, do ask your child to tell the time.  They should know that 6:35am can also be be said as 25 minutes to 7 etc.  We have also started learning the 24 hour clock and will continue with this next week.  I taught them the trick that to know 3pm is 15:00 add 12hours to 3hours, to know 6pm is 18:00 add 12hours to 6hours. 

This weekend, I am sending the GL GPS books home.  Please could you child work on Test 4 which we have discussed in class.  As always, any problems, do let me know.  I have also attached this term's spelling plan which I emailed out earlier in the week,

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Glover 

31st March 2023

Happy holidays!
 

I cant believe how quickly this term has passed by.  The children should all feel very proud of themselves for their achievements this term.  We have spent this last week finishing off our L.S Lowry project, writing about the Iron Man (and finishing the text!) as well as perfecting our Easter dance. 

I hope that you all have a restful and enjoyable break over the Easter holidays. I look forward to welcoming the children back for our penultimate term in Year 3 and hearing about all their adventures over holidays.  Next term, we will be studying the Romans as well as completing some fabulous Science topics relating to growing plants.

Happy holidays, 

Mrs G

Friday 24th March

A very, big well done to all the children for getting through their first swimming week at Chiddingstone School.  I am very proud of all the children for all the progress that they have made this week and the way that they have continued with their learning, despite being tired.

We have been working on a mini art topic this week, 'People & Places' influenced by the artist L.S Lowry. We have been learning about drawing in perspective and the children have all been focusing on drawing simple figures in the style of Lowry.  Today, they have created fantastic pastel drawings which are now on display in the classroom.  Perhaps they will tell you about their artwork over the weekend? Next week, we will be writing a biography about Lowry in class.  If children would like to do some research about the artist over the weekend, they can bring in a few facts next week.
 

Due to swimming, maths and English lessons have been shortened this week.  We have therefore been completing daily arithmetic and next week we will return to money. I have shortened this week's spellings to:

chef, chalet, champagne, machine, moustache, brochure, parachute, extreme, forwards

I am not setting any formal homework in the GPS books this week.  Instead, can I introduce some 'tea time questions' for you to ask your child over the weekend?

1)  Tell me about LS Lowry?  Do you like any thing about his paintings?

2) Which songs are you learning for Easter?  Can you sing one to me?  Shall we have a look at the words (attached)

3) Do you know any of your dance moves for the Easter dance?  Can you show me any of the moves?

4) Why do I sometimes need to be given change when I buy something in a shop?

Have a super weekend

Mrs G

Friday 17th March

A back to front end to the week, created all sorts of fun in the classroom today.

In maths, Class 3 has continued with the chapter on money. The children have been investigating giving change by using subtraction. On occasions, there are sums which can be completed using mental maths but I always encourage the children to use column subtraction with the emphasis to lay out their workings accurately. Times tables are coming on very nicely for the majority of children - thank you very much for your continued support with these. Every Friday, we complete a times table grid in class and the children are becoming quicker and more confident which is excellent. 

In English, we have been studying direct speech and the rules to using inverted commas correctly.  The children have been identifying inverted commas and using them in their writing. We have a read a variety of texts in class this week including the Iron Man, who the children are becoming increasing close to! They all wrote excellent letters of apology to the Iron Man from the point of view of the character Hogarth, for luring him into a colossal pit to trap him. 

We have welcomed some fantastic mystery readers in class over the last few weeks.  Many thanks to everyone who has volunteered and to the class reps for organising this.  The children love 'mystery reader' and I know it means so much to them. 

Thank you for your support completing the first workout in the GGP homework book.  This weekend, please could your child complete Workout 2.  As always, any problems, please let me know.  

A reminder that we are swimming every day next week.  Children will need their swimming costume, towel, hat and goggles as well as a good snack every day.  It's also not long until Easter bonnet / wellies day which will take place on the last day of term - just a little reminder for those of you who like me, need a little time to deal with such creations!

Have a good weekend, 

Mrs G

Firstly, thanks to all of you for supporting your children with work and entertainment on Wednesday.  It has been lovely to receive your photos and work from the children which is now up in the classroom.

This week in maths, as some of you may have gathered, we have started learning about money.  We started by working through basic coin/note recognition. In an almost cashless society, I was delighted that so many children still have a piggy bank and know their coins so well.  We had great fun trying to make an amount of money using a certain amount of coins.  We have also looked at pounds and pence and the decimal point that separates them.  Towards the end of this week, the children have started adding amounts together. Any practise that the children can continue to do at home would be hugely beneficial.

In English GPS, we have been studying prefixes and how they change the meaning of a word.  I have minimised this week’s spellings to the following as some of them were a little OTT! The main understanding is that children are able to recognise a prefix and how changes the meaning of the word. 

SPELLINGS

bicycle

biplane

reappear

redecorate

rebuild

fruit

breathe

We have also started a new writing journal in class.  Every morning, when the children arrive at school, they work on a short writing task.  The following day, they look at my marking and edit their work using a purple pen.  We are only in week 1 but so far, so good! We are working on quality over quantity.

This week, we have moved on to a new Science topic; light and shadows. We have explored how day and night happen and how the tilt of the earth changes the season for parts of the planet.  We have also started to investigate shadows and the children can now explain how they form, why they change size and position. 

On Thursday, we had a super STEM morning at Sevenoaks School on Thursday. The children learnt all about gases and watched many fun experiments that brought the science alive. Thank you to the parents who helped with lifts and allowed the trip to take place.

We have made good headway with our new class text; The Iron Man.  The children are really engaged in the text.

HOMEWORK

This week, I am sending home a new CGP GPS book with your child.  Please could they complete Workout 1.  We have had a look through the questions already.  If your child struggles or has any issues, please do let me know by writing a little note and popping it in their book.  Please do feel free to support and talk through the questions with them.  If this could be returned by Tuesday, I would be very grateful.  Many thanks.

Have a restful weekend,

Mrs G

SNOW DAY - Wednesday 8th March

Good morning Class 3.  When I say goodbye to you at the end of the day yesterday, I wasn't expecting not to see you all this morning and to wake up to a blanket of white snow!  I've planned some OPTIONAL activities for you to do today while you at home which should keep you very busy 

MATHS

Home is the perfect place for you to investigate money further. 

1) If you have a piggy bank, you could count up your money as we have talked about in class.  Can you stack 1ps into groups of 10, 2ps into groups to make 10p, 10ps into groups to make 50p, 20ps into groups to make £1.  Take a photo and send it to me. You could make a note of your stacks and work out how much you have in total.

2)  Make some coin rubbings.  Using a pencil, place your coins under a piece of paper and then shade over the top with a pencil.  You should be able to see the coins appear on the paper.

3) Carry on our coin investigation to see how many different ways there are to make an amount of money:

* How many different ways can you make 50p using up to 6 coins

*How many different ways can you make £1 using up to 10 coins

*How many different ways can you make £2 using up to 10 coins

*How many different ways can you make £10 using notes and up to 10 coins

Please feel free to keep going with your own investigation!

ENGLISH

Following our GPS lesson yesterday, you could create a poster about prefixes.  See how many words you can find with a prefix at the beginning eg: unhappy, reappear, bicycle, preview, misbehave, disappear.  We can put the posters up on our GPS target wall. 

Here is a little video clip from the BBC to remind you about prefixes www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8mxrwx/articles/z9hjwxs

SCIENCE

Following our Science lesson on Monday, could you draw a picture of planet Earth (tilted preferably!) and the sun to explain how we have day and night.  The tilt is important to show why the northern and southern hemispheres have seasons at different times of the year. You could use a Science book or in google kids to help you.  Here is a clip that might help:  www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/science-ks2-day-and-night/z9gqm39

Friday 3rd March

A very busy week in Class 3.

On Monday, the children enjoyed a music day with Sally Higham.  They played percussion instruments, created their own compositions, studied different types of music, learnt the instruments of the orchestra through Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and learnt and performed two songs; Happy and I'm Still Standing.  It was an outstanding day which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 

World Book Day was a spectacular event - I was overwhelmed by the Year 3 costumes - many thanks for your support with these.  We had great fun creating book covers, book marks and learning how to be an illustrator.  We went to visit the children at nursery and read stories to them - great fun was had by all.  Thank you to Mrs Toynton who came in to read to the class before the Matilda dance at the end of the day.

In maths this week, the children have started to look at money.  We have revisited coin and note types but this might be useful to go over with your child in a practical way.  They can use coins to investigate different  ways to make an amount.

In English, we have been learning about prefixes in GPS and looking at how contractions are formed.  

Magnets have been the focus of Science lessons this week. Children have been learning about how magnets work and their north and south poles.  On Friday, the class took part in an excellent science workshop all about big magnets.

Homework this weekend is to learn spellings, practise 4 times tables and complete the GPS activity in the yellow homework book.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs G

24th February 2023

Welcome back to the second half of Year 3.  It has been super to see the children again this week.

We have got stuck into our new Science topic Forces & Magnets by exploring how and why things move.  The children have learnt that forces can make something move, change its direction or change the speed of an object. Today, the children designed and made a miniature playground by observing pushes, pulls, gravity and friction (from their slides!).  We will be also be working on a another science topic this term 'Light and Shadows.'  Next week, we are very lucky to have Sally Higham working with us for a day of music with the focus on light and shadows.  I look forward to telling you more about this next week.  Next Friday, the children have a 'Big Magnet' Science show to look forward to.  So it's all action packed!

In maths, Class 3 has been studying volume and capacity and should now be able to explain the difference between the two.  They have been learning about ml and litres. 

In English, the children have been reading traditional tales with Mrs Haysom.  I would be so grateful if you could talk to your children about their lesson.  Perhaps some of the children may like to dress up as a character from a traditional tale for World Book Day!  For homework this week, I have set a fun 'collective noun' activity in the yellow homework book.  I hope it generates some interesting conversations. 

Thank you to all of you who have so kindly restocked pencil cases over half term.  There are still a number of children who do not have a writing pen.  I'd be very grateful if you could check with your child this weekend.  Thanks in advance.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs G

10 February 2023

HAPPY HALF TERM TO YOU ALL!

We have had a super week in class.  Today, we had an exciting visit from My Haysom which the children loved.  Photos to follow!

We have continued learning about Pompeii this week.  The children wrote a diary entry as if they were witnessing the explosion and had to use their senses to create descriptive language. I was very proud of the pieces that they produced.

In maths, the children have been learning about mass and reading scales which involved working out the increments.  Obviously, when learning about mass, it is important to weigh real things. So, this meant that we had to make volcano cupcakes!  Lots of fun had by all.

We finished our topic this week by learning about earthquakes and tsunamis.  We were also very lucky and grateful to Mr Basdeo who very kindly organised for his colleague, Sarah, who is geologist, to talk to Class 3 all about rocks, volcanoes, earthquakes and extinction.  It was the most fascinating presentation and everyone learnt so much which I imagine they will remember for a long time. 

I hope you all have a very restful and enjoyable half term break.  There is no official homework but please do keep up the times tables practise.  I would also be very grateful if could ensure your child has a blue writing pen and a well stocked pencil case.

Happy half-term

Mrs G

2nd February, 2023

January has flown by and we have welcomed the new month with another busy week.

Class 3 are now all experts in volcanoes - in fact, they really are volcanologists.  Not only are the children able to locate and name volcanoes around the world, they can identify the different volcano types and shapes and label all their parts and features. Today, we have had an exciting time exploring the lost city of Pompeii. The children were flabbergasted during the lesson and I apologise in advance if anyone now asks to go there for a holiday! They really have been fascinated by the topic and look forward to moving on to earthquakes next week.

In maths, we have continued to learn about measuring length and have compared mm, cm and m.  The children have worked hard to convert measurements of length which is always tricky eg: 12mm = 1cm and 2 mm,  32 cm = 320mm, 123cm = 1m 23 and 2m 78 = 278cm.  Homework this weekend links to reinforcing this learning.  You will find the homework in your child's yellow maths book. We have now moved on to our next area of measurement - mass.  The children have learnt that we weigh in grams and kilograms.  After some unusual estimates, the children now have a better idea about how much they may weigh and how heavy a pen, book is etc 

This week, the children have been exploring our class text further in written activities.  We have now reached the action of the story and the class are on the edge of their seats each time we read.  We have also been exploring noun types in GPS. 

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Mrs G

Homework:

Maths: Please spend 20 mins max on the maths conversion sheet cm / m. Any problems, please annotate your child's work.  I would be grateful if this could be handed in by Tuesday 7th.

Spellings: see term plan - ch diagraph makes the k sound eg: stomach, scheme

Times tables: 2, 5, 10, 4, 8, 

Friday 27/1/23

I have loved being with you over the past couple of days, Year 3. It has given me the chance to observe all of the very pleasing progress that you've made since being with Mrs Glover in KS2. 

In English, you have worked so hard on your diary entries, inspired by the class text: The Firework-Maker's Daughter by Philip Pullman. We looked at some successful diary entries, discussed what made them interesting to read and then focused on including plenty of thoughts and feelings in our own to engage our reader.

Our maths lessons have involved doing some classroom measuring to help us with converting mm and cm - any more practice of this you could do at home would be useful as well as fun. 

We are now pretty adept at describing the status of a volcano as well as using technical vocabulary e.g. dormant, extinct, lava etc. Everyone is very excited about erupting our own model volcano with Miss Smart in the playground later today!

The homework projects on Asian countries have been completed to such a high standard - impressive stuff! We are now taking turns in presenting our research to the class and discovering some very interesting facts in the process.

Mrs Haysom

Homework

Spellings: see term's overview below.

Reading - as usual.

Please continue to practise your times tables at home, especially 4x and 8x..

Firstly, I am very sorry for the late arrival of this week's class page.  Due to an illness in my family, I haven't been able to update the page with all the exciting news from class 3 until now.

Thank you for all the fabulous fact sheets on a country in Asia.  I have been thrilled with the research projects so far and look forward to receiving more next week.

This week in maths, class 3 have carried on practising lots of bus stop division and column multiplication as well as perfecting their times tables.  I wonder if your child would be able to show you a bus stop division sum? For example 84 divided by 4 or how about 84 divided by 3 which would involve renaming?

In English, the children have been studying sentence structures, identifying main clauses versus subordinate clauses. The main clause is like a chicken and makes sense all on its own.  The subordinate clause is like a chick, which cant make sense without the chicken!  We are also really enjoying 'The Firework Maker's Daughter' - it really is a page turner, full of adventure which has inspired some our writing activities this week.

As you may have heard, fossils have been the theme of our Geography lessons this week.  The class finished their biography about Mary Anning which they produced on Microsoft Publisher. The children have also been looking closely at the artistic features of fossils and created some fantastic designs in their new sketch books, exploring patterns and shading.  In DT, they used these designs to help them create 3D models, using air dry clay and sculpting tools.

In between all these exciting lessons, the class have also completed a set of assessments this week. Mrs Glover is very proud of all the children this week and I look forward to seeing them all on Monday.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs G

Friday 13th January 

Nothing unlucky about today for Class 3.  It just brings us to the end of another superb week of learning in school.

In maths we have continued to work on long multiplication.  The class have done very well at using a column, however, times table facts are a problem as some children do not have the fluency needed. Please could I ask you to continue practising 2, 5, 10, 3, 4, 8 times tables at home.  5 minutes every day would be so beneficial.  The children have also been tackling division.  Not just any division...I have introduced the class to the written method 'bus stop' division and have been using the dienes to really understand the process of long division.  Today, they have learnt how to use 'short' bus stop division.  We are not yet ready to practise this at home (unless your child really wants to) but watch this space!  Look out for photos on Instagram too.

In English, our writing genre has been poetry.  To prepare for this, the children have been studying onomatopoeia and similes. Today they have created some superb poems which will be up on display in the classroom. Other areas of GPS this week have included conjunctions as I am really trying to encourage children to write with a range of sentence lengths. This week, we have started our new class book 'The Fire Work Maker's Daughter.'  This adventure story is set in Asia and is gripping from start to finish.  The attached homework task links to our new book and I hope that this will be something that the children find engaging and fun.

In topic, Class 3 became rock detectives.  We have studied the difference between sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. A rock hunt in the village obviously led us to the Chiding Stone, one of the largest examples of a sedimentary rock I could find! We conducted a little STEM experiment in class to show the formation of sedimentary rock.  We used Oreos as fragments of rock, smarties to show the smooth rocks layers, melted chocolate to show the binding together with sand and raisins to demonstrate shell particles.  Lots of fun had by all! Lots of children have asked me for the recipe so I have attached it below. Finally, the children have used their history skills to learn and create a biography all about Mary Anning. 

A very busy week in class and all children should feel very proud for everything they have accomplished this week,

Have a good weekend.

Mrs G 

Friday 6th January, 2023

Happy New Year to you all! It has been super to welcome all the children back to school and I hope you all had a good break.  

In class, we have started our new topic 'Rocks, Relics and Rumbles' by thinking about what is inside the Earth.  The children were fascinated to learn about the 4 layers of earth and made some detailed models to show this.  They are looking forward to exploring these layers further and understanding why and how earthquakes and volcanos happen.   

In maths, we have begun long multiplication - multupling a single digit by a double digit eg 13 x 6.  I have introduced the children to column multiplication which they are enjoying but we will continue to practise. 

In English, class 3 took part in a whole school 'free writing' morning. They had the oppoortunity to create their own story without any input from Mrs G - I am really looking to reading these.  I hope that you all recieved my email with the spelling plan for the term.  I have attached it to the class page too.  We will begin work on these new spellings next week.  The class enjoyed a reading lesson with Mrs Haysom where they studied the poem 'There was an old woman who swallowed a fly.' I have spent a little time looking at the children's reading books and checking whether they are happy with their current book.  If you are ever concerened that a book isn't right for your child, please do speak to me. 

No homework this weekend but as always, please please keep quick firing times tables questions - especially the 4s and 8s!

Have a good weekend.

Mrs G

Monday 12th December

Well, what an exciting day this has turned out to be!  You would think I had planned it following our learning on Friday. I really would like you to enjoy yourselves today as snow doesn't come vey often especially in the week before Christmas.  I am setting a few tasks for you to do at home but nothing to print out.

1. Literacy - writing

On Friday, we read a variety of winter poems in class.  We then focused our writing on using a simile to describe our senses and explore what we could see, hear, touch.  You came up with a few really good lines eg: 'Deer playing like children' and 'Snow floating in the sky like feathers'  and ' Robins singing as beautifully as a choir'. Could you go out in the snow today and really think about what you can hear and feel?  I would love you to write down one or two lines to bring back to class so we can put them altogether to create a class poem.  You could use a simile or just some excellent adjectives / adverbs to write a descriptive line. Touch the snow - how does it feel?  Look at the trees - how do they look?  Listen for sounds - what can you hear?   

2.  Literacy - poetry

An optional task - if you are staying in the warm have a look at your book shelf and see if you have any poetry books.  Or you could look online. See if you can find a winter poem that you like.  Remember, poetry can really vary.  Some are descriptive, funny, rhyming etc.  If you find a poem you like, you could write it out and bring it in to school to share. 

3. Literacy / Art - inference

An optional task - many of you asked if you could draw the White Witch's palace or the Christmas tree from The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe but we didn't have time.  Perhaps you could do this at home. This is an inference lesson, so your own interpretation from the description we read would be very interesting to see. 

3. Maths

Over the last few weeks, we have been working on division and multiplication. I always try to put our calculations into a word problem eg: Mrs Glover has 30 sweets.  She shares them between 5 children and herself.  How many sweets to they each get?  (Answer: 30 divided by 6 = 5)   Could you have a go at writing a word problem using multiplication or division? Perhaps you can think of something relating to snow! Jot it on a piece of paper and bring it into class - we will share some of them in our lesson and pop them on our maths board.  Make sure you know the answer!

Hopefully, the above tasks will keep you busy.  There is also the inter-house snow person competition to get involved in.  This should be number 1 on your list.  Finally, it's the perfect day to snuggle up under a blanket and enjoy a good book.  

Have a super day and I will see you all tomorrow.

Mrs G

Friday 9th December

It's been another busy week in class 3 and I am so impressed with the way the children are soldiering on with their learning despite many bugs and tiredness as we approach the end of term.

We are getting really excited with our class book.  Some of the discussions we have had about the characters and plot in The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe have really impressed me.  Today, the children have created some fabulous 'Wanted' posters from the point of view of the White Witch who is on the hunt for one of the children. 

Division has been the focus in maths this week.  The children are beginning to see the connection with their times tables and how 12 divided by 4 is the same is about knowing how many 4's make 12.  Those that are speedier with their times tables are able to see this link more easily.  

In our Geography topic, the children have been exploring the UK and now have an understanding of counties, cities, towns and hamlets.  It would be interesting to see if your child can tell you what makes a city a city and if they are able to define a hamlet.  They have also been exploring countries around the world  - looking at capital cities and famous landmarks.

We were also fortunate to welcome Ed Miles to the classroom who led a brilliant coding session with the class.  Their understanding of coding is quite something.  If anyone would like to access coding from home, the site www.scratch.mit.edu is excellent and the children know how to use it. 

I am not setting any homework this weekend.  The children are tired and I am sure have many festive plans that will keep them busy.

Have a super weekend

Mrs G

Friday 2nd December

The weeks seem to be whizzing by and there is now great excitement that we are in the month of December.  We have so much to cram in to the next couple of weeks but we are all really looking forward to the glitter month!
 

In maths, children have continued with the multiplication chapter and have been looking at the relationship between the 2s, 4s and 8 times tables.  This weekend, I have set revision work of the 4 times tables.  If you would like to support your child with any extra maths at home, times tables really would be fantastic  - with a particular focus on the 4s and 8s. 

In literacy, the children have spent the week working towards writing a letter from the point of view of one of the children from 'The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe' to their parents in London.  For this, they have been learning the difference between formal and informal writing.  There was much excitement when a 'real' letter arrived for class 3. We have also been working on contractions - many of them the children knew but there are some misconceptions on how to form them eg: where to put the apostrophe.  Today, the class have produced some outstanding letters, rich with language and emotion. 

This week our mini topic has been 'One planet, Our World' which we will carry on with next week.  The children have explored using an atlas in order to plot continents, countries, capital cities, mountain ranges, oceans and rivers on a map.  They have also been using compasses and locating Chiddingstone on an ordnance survey map.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Christmas fair and hope you all have a good weekend.

Mrs G

Friday 25th November

It was a pleasure to chat to more of you this week for parent consultations - thank you for making the time to tlak with me.

This week in maths, to end column subtraction and addition we have been looking at how the bar model can help solve word problems.  We have now finished this chapter and have moved on to multiplication and division.  So far we have been working on the 3 times tables and therefore the homework this weekend is to practise multiples of 3. 

In literacy, the children have written a splendid diary entry from the point of view of Edmund from the Lion, the Witch and the wardrobe.  Having read the chapter when Edmund meets the 'Queen' of Narnia for the very first time, the children wrote a very descriptive piece to support this first meeting.  

We have had a busy week of science in class with our mini topic ' Animal Nutrition and the Skeletal System'.  The children did an experiment to investigate fatty foods, looked at parts of the flower and a tree, planted a class flower and have investigated the animal / skeletal system. They have had a very active and fun week.

I hope have a super weekend.

Mrs Glover

Friday 18^th November

It was lovely to see so many of you at Parent Consultations this week.  I look forward to seeing more of you via zoom next Wednesday.

This week, in maths we have carried on with using the column method for subtraction.  Children are showing confidence with the method and are able to exchange from both the tens and the hundreds column.  They have also worked on complicated column sums such as 600 – 256. Although this method is secure for the majority of children, I have noticed that their ability to recall number bonds mentally within 10 is a challenge eg: 4+3=7 8-2=6 2+3=5.  If you are able to quick fire any of these questions to your child in the car etc, that would be an enormous help. Thank you for supporting your child with the column addition homework last weekend.  This weekend, I am sending home column subtraction – please do let me know if your child has any problems, especially as the questions progressively harder.

We have started our new class text ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.’  This classic lends itself to so many super literacy activities.  The children enjoyed drawing inference from the description of Mr Tumnus and his home.  We have also noted how the length of sentences in this story are very different to modern day texts.  In GPS, the children have been studying plural nouns and hopefully they should now know that several cats do not need to be demarcated with an apostrophe (cat’s).  They have also been revising the 5 vowels in order to help with when to add ies /s to a noun ending in y to make it plural.  If the letter before the y is a vowel add an ‘s’ eg: monkey = monkeys. However, if the letter before the y is a consonant add ‘ies’ eg: country = countries.

This week, we have been working on a science topic ‘Cook well, Eat well.’ The children have investigated the different food groups and discussed the importance of a balanced diet. The class had great fun inventing their own wrap filling from a list of given ingredients.  They had to try to include as many food groups as possible.  So much fun and utterly delicious.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Glover

11 November

A very warm welcome back to Term 2.  It has been lovely to see all the children this week and hear about their half term break.

In maths, we revisited column addition before moving into subtraction.  Naturally, subtraction is always an area children find trickier but the class have worked really hard.  We have started column subtraction and today we learnt about subtraction with renaming (or borrowing as some of us may remember from our own school days!).  We used the dienes to help children with the abstract before moving into concrete columns. For homework this weekend, I have set column addition just so that children can keep practising this life skill!

In Literacy, we have been learning about adverbs in conjunction with this week’s spellings.  The children have worked really hard to identify the difference between an adverb and an adjective.  In the same activities, they have identified other word classes including nouns and subjects.  One misconception is that all adverbs end in ‘ly’ but the children now know that words such as ‘yesterday’ ‘next’ and ‘soon’ are examples of adverbs of time. We have also planned and written a narrative linked to our history topic which I am looking forward to reading this weekend.  Today in class, we discussed Remembrance and the children wrote a beautiful poem about a poppy.  I hope you will find these in their bags and enjoy reading them.

We have sadly said goodbye to our topic ‘Through the Ages’ and finished with the Iron Age.  The children will of course visit other ages in hisoty lessons further on in their learning at Chiddingstone School.  Between now and Christmas, we will be studying four mini topics.  The first of these begins next week with ‘Cook Well Eat Well.’  Further to my email, if you have any spare food magazines / pictures at home, please send them in with your child on Monday.  Perhaps keep an eye out if you’re in any supermarkets this weekend.

I hope that you all have an enjoyable weekend.

Mrs Glover

Happy half term!

In some respects, I can’t believe it is the end of our first term together.  However, we are all exhausted and in much need of a break!  I can’t thank all the children enough for their incredible start to Year 3.  They have all worked so hard and have settled well in to Key Stage 2.

In History, we have finished the Bronze Age and we are now all smelting experts.  The children have been learning about metal ores and alloys, which they found interesting.  Next term we will travel into the Iron Age.  We will then move away from history to work on a variety of mini projects including science, geography, DT and Art.

In maths this week, the children have been working really hard on column addition with renaming (or carrying as some of you, like me, may remember from our own school days!)  Although I am not setting any homework over the half term, you may like to practise adding two 3-digit numbers together in a column.  We are trying hard with the 4 times tables but I would be grateful if you could continue to practise this at home.

Instruction writing has been the theme for Literacy this week.  The children enjoyed making a jam sandwich and writing a set of instructions to go with.  These instructions had to include imperative verbs and adverbs of time.  Next term, we will finish Stig of the Dump before starting our new class text, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the wardrobe’ – all welcome to bring their own text if they would like.

I hope that you all have a very restful and enjoyable break over the half term.  I look forward to seeing all the children fully refreshed next term.

Mrs Glover

Friday 14th October

Year 3 hit Knole Park on Monday and what a fabulous day it was.  We had such an action packed day from the minute we arrived.  The children explored a range of replicas and really showed their knowledge about the Stone Age.  It was such a good experience for them to hold tools, antlers, jewelry (made from teeth) and animal furs. In the afternoon, the children may thumb pots, they weaved and they built dens in the woodland. It was an absolute pleasure to take them on the trip as they all behaved so well. I hope you enjoy the photos on our school Intsagram site. 

In maths this week we have started our new chapter - addition and subtraction.  Children have explored all the language that means 'to add' and identified that adding can be done in any order eg: 2+3=5 and 3+2 =5.  We then quickly moved into 1 more than, 10 more than and 100 more than but our place value columns really helped with this.  These columns also helped when we had to add 777 to 203.  Next week we will move on to column addition. You will see that the 'gap' homework links to time this weekend and solving problems linked to time.   Telling the time is very abstract and now we live in a digital age, children do find time challenging. 

In Literacy this week, we have been working towards writing a newspaper article. This has involved learning about the past tense and when 'ed' 'e' or 'ied' is added.  Of course our language is filled with irregular past tense verbs including saw, swam, ran so we have talked about these too.  We have also looked at inverted commas for speech and how to punctuate these correctly. A human punctuation line helped us achieve this.  Today, the children have incorporate this learning into a newspaper article about our trip to Knole. 

Finally, the class wowed me in our computing session this week.  I asked them to create an algorithm to make a shape house. They all completed this with ease and used Ctrol C to copy, Ctrol V to paste and changed the colour of their shapes.

All in all, a super week once again.  Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing all the children on Monday.

Mrs Glover

Friday 7th October

Firstly, many thanks for all your support with the 'odds and even' homework last weekend.  I was really pleased to see the homework books back and hope it wasn't too arduous.  This weekend, the focus is halves and quarters.  We have worked on this in class today and have identified that to find a quarter, you can halve and halve again.  We have also discussed how we can divide by 2 and 4 and how this links to the times tables.

In literacy this week, we have been working on adverbs and fronted adverbials in order to make our sentence structure more interesting.  In particular, we have focused on adverbials of manner for example; 'Cautiously, he entered the cave' and 'Carefully, he pick up the treasure box.'  We have also tried to improve our use of adjectives by using more adventurous vocabulary.  The writing genre this week has been a character profile (about Stig from our class text) and all these areas of grammar have been included.  I'm looking forward to reading these over the weekend.

In maths we have been working on counting in 4s and 8s.  We have looked at both the 4 and 8 times tables but the children have also worked on counting on 4/8 from any given number.  305 - 8 was tricky!  The children had a go at a 4 times table quiz today and they could choose to do this straight or mixed. 

We have now said goodbye to the Stone Age and have moved into the Bronze Age.  I think many of you may know this by all the wonderful work your children have been engaging with at home as an extra!   Today the children had a computing session with Mr Miles where they have to code a Stone Age man to move. They are all coding experts compared to Mrs Glover!

A reminder that we are going on our trip to Knole in Sevenoaks on Monday.  We will leave school just after registration and we will be back by the end of the day.  A reminder that all children will need a packed lunch, snack, water bottle.  They can wear their own clothes but will need a coat and their red school hat.  

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Glover

Friday 30th September, 2022

Another busy week in Class 3.  

Following our discussion in the curriculum meeting last week, the children have now completed a Year 3 baseline assessment in maths.  This has given me a really good idea of exactly where all children are as well as highlight some whole class gaps.  I have been trying to work out the best way to cover these gaps and hope that my plan will be well received by you all.  On a Friday, I will split our maths lesson into times tables and a 'targeted gap lesson.'  I will then send home work (in a yellow exercise book) which links to this gap for the children to work on over the weekend.  They should be able to do the work independently as we would have covered it on Friday but please, by all means, do sit with your child and help them.  Some of the work will involve mathematical discussion.  Please do feel free to annotate any of the work with any comments / feedback about that piece of work.  I would really appreciate it if this work could be returned to me by Tuesday so I can mark it.  Do feel free to speak to me if you have any questions at all and I thank you all in advance for your support.

In our other maths lessons this week, we have been looking at 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less, 100 more and 100 less than a 3 digit number.  Some intense lessons where all our heads were hurting, especially when we had to think about 10 less than 805! 

In literacy, we have been working on our first non fiction text.  The children have been writing an explanation text about the Stone Age which we hope to share with another class over the next few weeks.  We have also worked on shared text reading and dictation.  I hope you all found the pink post-it note with your child's 'spelling test' score this week.  Hopefully this system will work for you.

Spellings for Tuesday are: 

straight

contain

brain

faint

praise

complaint

afraid

Cave painting has been the theme in our topic lessons this week.  The children really enjoyed making their own creations which are now on display in the classroom.

We will be going to Knole Park to take part in their Stone Age day on Monday 10th October and I will send a separate email about this trip. 

I hope you all have a good weekend.  Look forward to seeing some of you at our Harvest Festival on Wednesday.  The words for the Key Stage 2 song are attached for any practise at home. 

Mrs Glover

Friday 23rd September

It was a pleasure to see many of you at our Curriculum Meeting on Thursday.  For those of you who were unable to attend, please find attached a powerpoint of some of the key areas we discussed.  As always, please do speak to me if you have any questions at all. These are the links to Mrs J's times tables game and 

I can’t quite believe we have only been together in Class 3 for 3 weeks.  The children have adapted so quickly and are working very hard, it feels as if we have been together for months.

We have 30 budding historians in Class 3 and this week Stone Age settlements have been our focal point, with a particular focus on Stonehenge.  I am really sorry if your children now ask for a divert to the A303 this weekend! The children have been so interested in doing their own research and Stonehenge, producing brilliant facts and some beautiful artwork, which is on display in the classroom. I wonder if they may share a fact or two with you this weekend.  There was much excitement when I told the children that Knole Park is a Neolithic site and I am looking forward to taking the children to the National Trust property in October for a ‘Stone Age day at Knole.’  More info to follow.  

The daily spelling practise and support that you are giving at home is clearly having an impact, so thank you very much.  Hopefully, you all have a copy of the spelling plan for the term.  If not, ‘ey’ is the focus this week and on Tuesday the children will be tested on: they, prey, obey, disobey, grey, address, although, again, address.  I have reattached the spelling plan below.

In maths, the children have been counting in groups of 50 and looking at how the 5 times tables can help them.  Please do go over this with them over the weekend and see if they can get to 1000!  We continue with times tables on Fridays – still focusing on 2s, 5s and 10s – some children are doing these straight while others time themselves on a mixed grid.  Attached are extra grids should you wish for a copy of these at home.

Have a good weekend.

Mrs G