Welcome to Year 3

It's so lovely to have you all back in school and ready to learn again! 

Marvellous Me 

If you no longer have the app on your phone or tablet, please reinstall it and ask for a joining code. This is the only way we can contact you with messages, news and updates. Please email or get in touch with the office to request a code and one will be sent home with your child.  Thank you for your continued support. 

The Year 3 Team

Mrs Ballinger - Class Teacher 3BC - (email:julie.ballinger@racemeadow.org )

Mrs Cross - Class Teacher 3BC - (email: jacqui.cross@racemeadow.org)

Miss Morning - Class Teacher 3M - (email: lucy.morning@racemeadow.org)

Mrs Smith and Mrs Mellors - Year 3 Learning Support Assistants

Please use school emails to contact us about any non-urgent issues.

Anything more urgent can be passed to us via the main school office.

Key information

• Diaries and reading books should be in school every day.
• Water bottles will be sent home everyday to be washed and refilled. 
• Children can bring in their own pencil cases which should be left in school.
• Please provide a healthy snack (fruit, cereal bar, cheese etc)  or change for the tuck shop. 
• PE is on Wednesday when children should come to school in their PE kit - white t-shirt, black shorts or joggers, school jumper, black pumps or black trainers. 

Homework will be given out on a Friday and should be handed in by the following Wednesday. Homework consists of Arithmetic, Grammar and a short reading activity. Homework should be completed in pencil or a black or blue pen. In addition to this, children are expected to have read at home 3 times each week and have this signed by an adult in their diary.

Weekly spellings are stuck in the spellings section at the front of your child's diary, new spellings are given out on a Friday and will be tested on the following Friday. 

Looking after our children’s Mental health and Wellbeing

At primary school age, children are developing the emotional and social foundations that will support them throughout life. Their mental health and wellbeing play a vital role in how they learn, build friendships, and cope with challenges. When children feel safe, valued, and supported, they are more confident, engaged, and ready to learn. As parents and educators, we can work together to create nurturing environments where children feel comfortable expressing their feelings and developing resilience. By prioritising wellbeing early on, we help set children up for long-term success both in and out of the classroom.

Tips for you to Support your child’s Wellbeing at Home

• 🗣️ Talk regularly: Encourage your child to share how they’re feeling. Listen without judgment and reassure them that all feelings are okay.
• 🛏️ Establish routines: Consistent sleep, mealtimes, and downtime help children feel secure and balanced.
• 🧸 Play together: Play is a powerful way for children to express emotions and build confidence.
• 🌳 Get outside: Fresh air and physical activity support both mental and physical health.
• 🎨 Encourage creativity: Drawing, music, and storytelling can help children process emotions.
• 💬 Model calm and kindness: Children learn emotional regulation by watching how adults respond to stress.
• 🧘 Teach simple coping strategies: Breathing exercises, quiet time, or a “calm corner” can help children

"The best way to make children good is to make them happy" —Oscar Wilde 

Autumn 1 Mini-Mission: Charlie Small Gorilla City

One morning, Year 3 arrived at school to find that there were vines and creepers in the classroom! Mrs Cross found a backpack that didn't belong to anyone with some strange things inside it. There was an enormous gorilla's face on the wall and a monkey! Then a letter arrived from someone called Charlie's mum asking for help to find her lost son, Charlie! After that, a cut up picture arrived with a note asking which ocean someone had sailed over! Things were getting curious...the map was a map of the world which we used to find out where Charlie could have gone. Wherever could he be? Mrs Collinson gave us a book to read all about Charlie Small and we discovered that he had been struck by lightning while sailing his raft down the stream at the bottom of his garden. We can't wait to find out more! 

We are Geographers!

As Geographers, we have learnt the location of the 7 continents , the 5 oceans of the world and located climate zones and the biomes of the world using atlases. To locate Charlie Small we have learned the points of the compass and looked closely at the rainforest biome, its layers and its importance. We have also learnt about deforestation and the impacts on the physical environment.

We are Scientists!

In Science we have learnt about Plants. We have studied the different parts of a plant, the roles of the roots and the stem and carried out an investigation to demonstrate how water travels up the stem to the petals of a flower.  We did this by adding food colouring to water and waiting to see if the white petals of the flower changed colour.

We have also learned how plants reproduce and even acted out this process by some of us being the stigma collecting the pollen from the bee and the style carrying the pollen into the ovary! Finally we learned how seeds from plants are dispersed by the wind, water, animals and explosion! 

We are Artists!

As Artists we studied the work of the famous artist, William Morris. We then practised our sketching skills to replicate his style and finally designed a pattern to print using natural materials: leaves and twigs.

Autumn 2 Mini-Mission-

From Stone Age to Iron Age

On Immersion Day we had a great morning being hunters, cave men and Archaeologists! We practised our hunting skills using a bow & arrow and throwing axes. Some us would have gone very hungry were we hunters in the Stone Age! 

We also had a go at making our own axes, using leather thread to tie stones to twigs. This was rather tricky but we did our best! Next, we crawled into our caves (under our desks) to copy images of cave drawings and then finally we were Archaeologists discovering artefacts linked to the Stone Age in trays of sand, using a fine brush so as not to damage our findings. We found berries, fur, seeds and bones! 

ODD SOCKS DAY!

To mark the start of Anti-bullying week we came to school wearing odd socks, to show that we are all different and unique. In PSHE this week, we also discussed what bullying is and how it's important to treat everyone with respect and kindness, no matter how different to you they may seem.