Transitions 2024- 2025

Mrs Middleton and Miss Hailes are the Year 3 teachers at Harlaxton CE Primary School. Below is a transition booklet informing you of a little bit about Year 3 before you begin. We look forward to seeing you soon.

School Year 2023 - 2024

Summer Term - 2025

How can we protect and promote wildlife in our local area?

Welcome back! I hope you had a super Easter break and enjoyed your time off. 

This term, we are going to be looking at the Stone Age to the Iron Age as well as Habitats. Our essential question is, 'How can we promote and protect wildlife in our local area?' We are going to be exploring what life was like in Stone Age Britain, how they survived and how tools and weapons developed over time. We will compare the Stone Age to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. 

In Summer term 2, we will be looking at our local area, creating sketch maps and conducting field work. During DT, we will be designing and creating our own bug houses. 

PE this term will be on a Wednesday, however please ensure that kits are in school all week. Please remember that for PE, earrings are to be removed and hair is to be tied back.

Homework will be given out on a Friday and should be handed in by the following Wednesday. The weekly spelling test will also take place on Fridays. We will check reading records, give out house points if you have read 4 or more times in a week and change books on Wednesday. 
 

Spelling tests - See below for the termly spelling overview. The children will be given their termly overview at the start of the term but will no longer be getting a weekly spelling grid. 
 

Please practise your times tables at home. In Year 3 we will be focussing on 3x, 4x and 8x tables as well as recapping 2x, 10x and 5x tables. 

Below is an overview of what we will be learning about this term in each subject. 

Mrs Middleton

Summer Term Curriculum Overview

Summer Term Spelling Overview

DT

Year 3 have been researching bug houses, looking at different designs and materials to generate ideas ready to design their own next lesson. 

Spring Term - 2025

Were the Vikings raiders or settlers?

Welcome back! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break and enjoyed your time off. 

This term, we are going to be looking at the Anglo-Saxons and Viking. Our essential question is, 'Were the Vikings raiders or settlers?' We are going to be exploring how the Anglo-Saxons lived in Britain, where the Vikings came from and how they raided Britain, who Alfred the Great was and exploring Edward the Confessor. We will also be looking at Anglo-Saxon art, in particular illuminated letters and we will try to recreate our own.

PE this term will be on a Wednesday, however please ensure that kits are in school all week. Please remember that for PE, earrings are to be removed and hair is to be tied back.

Homework will be given out on a Friday and should be handed in by the following Wednesday. The weekly spelling test will also take place on Fridays. We will check reading records, give out house points if you have read 4 or more times in a week and change books on Wednesday. 
 

Spelling tests - See below for the termly spelling overview. The children will be given their termly overview at the start of the term but will no longer be getting a weekly spelling grid. 
 

Please practise your times tables at home. In Year 3 we will be focussing on 3x, 4x and 8x tables as well as recapping 2x, 10x and 5x tables. 

Below is an overview of what we will be learning about this term in each subject. 

Mrs Middleton

Spring Term Curriculum Overview

Spring Term Spelling Overview

Easter Cup

Children took part in the Easter cup, collecting points for their houses. 

English

Year 3 have worked really hard to create their letters in English. Their letters describe a Viking invasion to a close friend or family member. The children have shared these letters with Y6. 

Viking Day

Our Viking Day started with a Viking story and some Kennings.

Followed by a Viking quiz…

Followed by Viking board games…

Another Viking Story…

Finally looking at Viking weapons. 

Art

Year 3 have created their final illuminated letters. They have spent a long time creating, colouring and outlining them.

British Science Week 2025

Year 3 started British Science week with a live lesson about space with astronaut Tim Peake. We discussed what it takes to stay healthy on board the International Space Station. We learnt how to keep your bones strong in microgravity, what food astronauts eat and how they stayed hydrated. 

My Styles - The Viking

Year 3 shared their amazing creations with their peers. Thank you for your hard work and support! 

History

Today, Year 3 were learning about Viking way of life. They were sorting information into different categories and shared what they had found out. 

World Book Day

Year 3 took part in the book sale and then were sharing books they chose in the classroom with their friends. 

Internet Safety Workshop

Year 3 took part in an internet safety workshop which focussed on being safe online and not sharing personal information. The children were superheroes today and had to keep their identify secret online. They discussed information which was safe to share on the internet and information which was not. 

Safer Internet Day

The slogan for this year’s Safer Internet Day is ‘Too good to be true’. The children have been learning about scams and phishing and how to spot these when online. We also discussed staying safe and having secure passwords on websites and online games. The children used the password generator to create their own safe password. 

History

In history, Year 3 have been learning about storytelling in Anglo-Saxon times. They learnt how their stories included strong warriors showing bravery, like Beowulf. These stories were shared orally. Today, Year 3 had a go at storytelling. 

English

Year 3 have been working hard to create a Kenning about Beowulf. Please see the performances on the school video page or by clicking here. Have a read through their amazing poems below. 

Art

Year 3 had another go at creating some sketches for their illuminated letters. 

Break the Rules Day!

Year 3 had their ‘Break the Rules Day’ today. They are raising money to support Diba in Kenya. Year 3 decided the rules they would break by vote. 

Maths

In today’s lesson, children used place value counters to help divide a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number with flexible partitioning.

Art

Year 3 have been learning about illuminated letters and the monks who created them. In today’s lesson, Year 3 had a go at creating their own sketch of an illuminated letter. 

Autumn Term - 2024

What would it be like to live in the Amazon Rainforest?

Hello Year 3!

I hope you have all had a wonderful summer break. I can't wait to hear all about what you have been up to. 

This term our essential question is, 'What would it be like to live in the Amazon Rainforest?' It is a really interesting topic and I know you are going to enjoy learning about it. We will be exploring and comparing physical geography and settlements of Brazil to the UK, looking at the layers of the Rainforest, deforestation and much more. 

PE this term will be on a Wednesday morning, however please ensure that kits are in school all week. Please remember that for PE, earrings are to be removed and hair is to be tied back.

Homework will be given out on a Friday and should be handed in by the following Wednesday. The weekly spelling test will take place on a Friday. We will check reading records, give out house points if you have read 4 or more times in a week and change books on Wednesday. 
 

Spelling tests - See below for the termly spelling overview. The children will be given their termly overview at the start of the term but will no longer be getting a weekly spelling grid. 
 

Please practise your times tables at home. In Year 3 we will be focussing on 3x, 4x and 8x tables as well as recapping 2x, 10x and 5x tables. 

Below is an overview of what we will be learning about this term in each subject. 

Mrs Middleton

Autumn Term Curriculum Overview

Autumn Term Spelling Overview

Art - final piece 

Year 3 have created their own Art piece inspired by Romero Britto’s ‘A New Day’ using bright bold colours. 

Year 3 and 4 Christmas party

Year 3 and 4 enjoyed their Christmas party. They played some games, such as spots and corners, danced lots and had some party food. 

Christmas Cup

Year 3 took part in the Christmas cup, completing different activities to earn points towards their houses. 

Christmas performance

Year 3 created a tableau for the Christmas story in church while Year 6 narrated. 

Art

Year 3 had created their own versions of Romero Britto’s ‘A New Day’. Today, children were adding their colour choices to their designs. 

Healthy Relationships

Year 3 took part in a health relationships workshop to develop understanding of different situation and how to understand feeling from another point of view. The children used emotional scales to identify how different characters would be feeling during scenarios. 

The Amazon Rainforest ‘My Style’ Homework

Year 3 have created and presented a piece of work relating to the rainforest. 

Children in Need

Year 3 celebrated Children in Need by dressing up and show casing their ‘crazy hair’ dos.

English

Year 3 have worked incredibly hard creating their poetry call ‘A sensory stroll’. Take a look on the school videos page to see the children performing their poems. 

Odd Socks Day 2024

‘Show respect’ is the slogan for anti-bullying week. Here are Year 3 showing their odd socks. 

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Year 3 had an amazing trip observing all of the wildlife and even got to handle some rainforest animals.

English

Year 3 have worked incredibly hard on their own versions of the Great Kapok Tree this term. They have included lots of lovely descriptive language, adverbs and conjunctions. Year 3 were very proud to share their stories with Year 2. 

Harvest festival 

Year 3 performed a harvest song at Harlaxton church for harvest festival. 

English

Year 3 have worked incredibly hard to write the own versions of ‘The Great Kapok Tree’. They have taken pride in their final pieces, ready to share with another year group. 

Art

Year 3 have been exploring tone in Art. The children have been exploring different graded pencils to create a range of effects. They noticed that 4B pencils were softer, therefore creating darker tones and 4H pencils were harder, creating lighter tones. 
The children then used this to create different tones in shapes. 

Playtime

Year 3 have been enjoying using the equipment during playtime. They have particularly enjoyed the climbing wall, challenging the whole class to move across without falling down. 

Geography

Today we were using 8-point compass references to describe to location of places in relation to Brazil. 

In today’s lesson we were learning about compass directions (NESW). We used atlases to find countries that were North and South of Brazil. 

Maths

We have started looking at place value this week. For this activity, we used base ten to help find different ways of making 41. 

Science

In Science this term, we are learning about forces including friction.

Here, we are investigating how different surfaces affect the distance a toy car can travel.

Music

In Music we have been learning about different classifications of musical instruments and about stamping tubes. We have used different lengths of tube to explore making sounds. We also invented musical 'conversations' of different pitches on tubes.

Maths guides for parents

Please find below parent ‘how to’ guides which provide information on how you can help your child understand certain mathematical topics.

If you follow this link you will be taken through to White Rose parents page called Maths with Michael. You will find short film clips to accompany the guides.

White Rose - Maths with Michael

White Rose calculation policies which are inline with our teaching.

Maths

At Harlaxton we use the White Rose Scheme of work to support our planning and teaching of Mastery Maths lesson. Mastery Maths is broken it 5 elements - please see the diagram below.

White Rose launched home-learning resources during Covid, these can be found at the following link. These resources include film clips, questions and answers.

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/
 

Top tips from White Rose for everyday maths at home.

https://whiterosemaths.com/latest-news/top-tips-for-everyday-maths-at-home/

I See Maths

Gareth Metcalfe also launched home learning lessons, where he built understanding in small steps. His website can be found at the following link.

http://www.iseemaths.com/home-lessons/

Online Learning 

Your children have their usernames and passwords in their home-learning book.

Purple Mash

https://www.purplemash.com/harlaxton

TT Rockstars

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student

Leader in Me

On a daily basis, the children try to demonstrate our core values within school. As we aim to practise them so often, they become good habits that we can use not only in school but also at home too. 

• Habit 1: Be Proactive (You’re in Charge)
• Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind (Have a Plan)
• Habit 3: Put First Things First (Work First, Then Play)
• Habit 4: Think Win-Win (Everyone Can Win)
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood(Listen Before You Talk)
• Habit 6: Synergise (Together Is Better)
• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw (Balance Feels Best)

Growth Mindset

This year we will be helping the children to develop a Growth Mindset. This aims to increase their resilience, perseverance and independence in their learning. Further information can be found by following the link below.