Thanks to all the parents/guardians who helped today in Edgar's Field. It was a lovely day and the children really appreciated your support with their geography and history learning.

Autumn Term Year 3

Welcome to Year 3. You will receive a few letters over the next week to help ease your child into the juniors (Key Stage 2) and to give you information about how best to support your child throughout the year.

Our main topic focus during the first half of the Autumn Term will be our historical focus on Britain from the Stone-Age to the Iron Age. This will include researching using a range of sources including using a search engine safely and efficiently in ICT.

Our second half of the Autumn Term will be an investigation into the geographical history of the local area in Handbridge from the Stone-Age to the modern day. In particular we will be undertaking field studies at Edgar’s Field in Handbridge. We will be examining the history of Edgar’s Field from pre-historic times, through the Roman times, the Dark Ages, late Mediaeval times, Victorian era and onto the modern day. The children will find out how the use of the field has varied and the differing human impact on the area. Throughout the term we will make visits to Edgar’s Field and there will be an opportunity for parents to get involved when we spend a family learning day at the site.

During literacy our writing will support our topic work by studying adventure and mystery stories based on the Stone-Age using the book ‘Stone-Age Boy’, researching and producing information texts about both the Stone-Age and Edgar’s Field whilst also taking the opportunity to write recounts about key trips or visits. We will complete the term’s work by creating poetry based on the local environment.

In mathematics, we will begin by investigating place value. This will be followed up by further developing the children’s ability to add and subtract with the introduction of some formal column methods. We will also enhance the children’s ability to use times tables to solve multiplication and division problems before Christmas. At all times the children will be asked to apply their knowledge to cover the key development of their mathematical fluency, reasoning and ability to solve problems in a range of contexts.

Our main focus in science will be investigating and experimenting with rocks. We will compare and group different rocks and look at their properties. There will also be an opportunity to explore how rocks develop over time, with a particular interest in fossils, by using our computing research skills. Our key scientist profiled during this work will be Mary Anning who played a key role in the discovery of, and research into, fossils during the early part of the 19th century. Part of our work will also investigate the formation of different soils.

In Religious Education we start the year by examining Christianity. We look at the importance of the Bible to Christians, read and discuss some biblical stories about Jesus as a healer and conclude the term by finding out about Christmas traditions across Christian European countries.

In art we will examine cave art created in Stone-Age times providing the opportunity for the children to produce images of their own. Later on in the term we will focus in on artists who specialise in landscape painting both from the past and present then use our study of Edgar’s Field to produce landscapes based on our observations.

In games we will focus on developing skills to participate in different team sports including basketball, netball and rugby whilst Ms McCormick will continue to develop gymnastics skills in PE. The children will build on their excellent music work with Mrs Atherton.

The children will continue to learn French throughout the term on a regular basis.

Please look out for lots of new sporting clubs, our field study family learning day and music opportunities this term.