End of Term!

We have had quite a hot end of term this year and the children have been really resilient dealing with the heat.

Amethyst Class would like to thank the PTA for organising such lovely end of term treats for us. We had a hilarious morning watching the magician and cooled off in the afternoon with a delicious ice cream from the ice cream van. The children really enjoyed these treats (as did the teachers!)

As we approach our final day in year 3, I just wanted to say a massive well done to all of Amethyst Class for their incredible achievements this year. They have worked hard, learnt a lot and really made me proud.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you very much indeed for the lovely gifts that were passed on to me. I am extremely grateful for your generosity and look forward to enjoying them over the summer...although I don't think the delicious biscuits will hang around long!

Thank you for a fantastic year!

Miss Newns

Big Breakfast

For our Big Breakfast this year, Amethyst Class have made breakfast flapjacks!

I have attached the recipe below if you would like to try them (we did adapt the recipe to ensure all allergies were acommodated).

Stone Age Stewed Fruit

As part of our Stone Age topic, and coinciding with our Health and Well-being week, we made some Stone Age Stewed Fruit. Please see our photos below.

We started by tasting the ingredients and chopping up the fruit. Then we boiled it in a pot for about 20-30 mins.

Below is the recipe we used if you would like to try at home and I have attached a document with an alternative recipe if you fancy a change!

Add the following ingredients in order to a pan and simmer gently for 20-30 mins until fruit is soft:

140g blueberries

140g blackberries

3 plums

1 tbsp honey

Bug Club

We have now completed the lengthy process of re-assessing all the children in their reading and have a clearer idea of your child's reading ability. Today, the Bug Club online reading library will be updated to reflect this.

Any children reading above 'lime' will be allocated the 'lime' books on Bug Club but will have access to the specific colour book in school.

Children are of course also able to take other library books of interest and read books from home too. However, we expect your child to also access the Bug Club resources as part of their home learning and as an additional intervention.

Children will keep their Bug Club book for a week and then change it. They will need to take responsibility for doing this.

Please can I ask that all reading diaries are brought in to school so we can stick a label in them with the updated Bug Club level for your reference.

Many thanks

Miss Newns

Friday 10th June 2022

We have had a good first week back from half term and got stuck in to a new book in English; its called 'The First Drawing'. We continue the theme of The Stone Age and this book poses a theory as to how/why the first cave painting was created. We are working towards writing a report around the discovery of the cave.

In maths, we have moved on to angles and turns. We have used our knowledge on time to help with this, thinking about the movement around a clock as a turn.

As you can see from the photos below, we had a nice trip to the local church to look at an exhibition, which included the mosaics we created last half term.

We also had some more interesting visitors to the class! Thanks again to Ella and her mum for bringing in Cucumber, Lettuce and Strawberry the Second for us to meet!

Please can I ask that the children bring a shoe box (or similar) in to school for an upcoming project. This will be happening wc 04/07/22, but I wanted to give you all plenty of warning to start sourcing your box!

Many thanks.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Newns

Happy Jubilee!

On our final day of Summer Term 1, we got in to the Jubilee spirit once more and made t-shirts to wear for the celebrations!

Please allow 24 hours for the the t-shirt to air dry and then iron it to ensure the colour does not disappear!

Year 3 have worked really hard this half term and thoroughly deserve a rest before we embark on our last 6 weeks together! 

Next half term, we continue our topic of the Stone Age and we will be looking at two books in English; 'Ug Boy Genius of the Stone Age' and 'The First Drawing'. In Maths, we will be working through the topics of shape, mass and capacity.

Have a wonderful week, stay safe, and enjoy!

Miss Newns

Washing a Woolly Mammoth!

We have been working hard on how to write instructions in English, and we looked at this example to help us. I though the children might like to have a go at doing this at home to see if they could follow the instructions.

We will be building up to writing our own set of instructions this week.

In Maths, we have been learning about 'time' and how the analogue clock is laid out. Please do use every day opportunities to help your child tell the time accurately so they can see and understand it in context.

We have lots of Jubilee craft activities this week and we look forward to seeing parents on Thursday for the celebrations!

Chick Visit

We were lucky enough to have a few visitors yesterday!

Ella very kindly offered to bring in her brand new silky chicks who have just recently been born 15 days ago. They ere called Munchkin and Apricot and the children loved giving them a little cuddle! 

Firefighter Visit

Last week, we had a visit from some local firefighters who came to tell us about what they do and some safety tips.

They spoke to us about some of the issues they are able to help with and also how important fire safety is. One of the most important things they told us about, was the need for a working smoke alarm in our homes. The showed us how to test them and how they work.

One of the firefighters came dressed in all his safety gear including a helmet, fire retardant clothing, breathing apparatus, tether and cutters.

The most exciting part of their visit however, was when we were lucky enough to go and see the fire engine, sit in the cabin and fire the water hose!

See our photos below!

This week, we continue to look at the Stone Age through the eyes of an archaeologist as we conduct our own mini digs and look at prehistoric artefacts!

We also continue our work on fractions and start work on our narratives as part of our learning linked to the 'Stone Age Boy' book.

Welcome Back to Summer Term!

I hope you all had a fantastic and restful Easter break. We had some beautiful weather...lets hope it stays with us!

I am really excited to crack on with the Summer Term of learning. This term's topic is called 'Journey Through the Ages' and focusses on the Stone Age. We have a variety of exciting lessons planned and to give you an idea of what is being covered, I have put the latest 'topic web' below for your reference.

To support your child's learning, I have also put below the new home learning grid. Everything is explained on the document, but if you have any questions or need any online log on details, please don't hesitate to ask.

Please can I also politely request that children return to school with the correct PE kit and equipment ready for their learning. PE will continue to be on Wednesdays but please ensure your child has their PE in school everyday in case. Please ensure things are named and your child comes to school only with the things they need; a small bag with a pencil case is all their require. Please encourage your child to leave toys and notepads and personal items at home. Many thanks.

World Book Day 2022

Well, I would say this has been our most exciting World Book Day yet!

We have had a slightly unusual day and as a result we will be continuing with a couple of reading activities tomorrow to finish off the week.

Well done to everybody for the amazing effort you all put in to your costumes.

Please find below some photos of our shared reading session with Reception class, and also a document about how to share the joy and love of reading with your child.

Happy World Book Day!

Miss Newns

Tuesday 1st March 2022

Welcome back to the second half of the Spring Term and what an exciting week and a half it's been!

Last week, we celebrated International Mother Tongue Day where we shared the different languages we speak within our community. This led us to describe different traditions and foods as well.

The Book Fair has begun in full swing in time for World Book Day this week; I can not wait to see you all in your chosen costumes/outfits!

If you missed your chance to attend the book fair on the Year 3 allotted day, do not fear as there is another opportunity as well as the option to order books too.

Please find below a link that may be of interest linked to World Book Day:

https://www.worldbookday.com/reading-recommendations/

Every Tuesday morning from this week up until the end of Spring Term, Year 3 have a special treat! We are lucky enough to have visitors come in and teach us how to play squash in an hour long session! This will be in addition to our weekly PE lesson so please make sure your child has their full PE kit on Tuesday and Wednesday (although if it can remain in school for adhoc requirements, that would be even better!) Please see below some photos from our first session today!

We have been working hard to assess the children's reading under the new Bug Club scheme. All children are now up to date and have been allocated their new book band colour (with a few exceptions that we are working on!) Please log on to Bug Club at home using the login details in the reading diaries and use this as your library to choose from. One physical book will be sent home and changed on a weekly basis, in addition to a non-fiction text that has been chosen by your child from the library.

Finally, we are continuing with our theme of 'Under The Sea' and have begun to look at the legend that is David Attenborough! We are working on creating a non-fiction text detailing a new, undiscovered species (that we have created!)

In Maths, we have been working on statistics and looking at pictograms, bar charts and tallys. Next, we move on to length and perimeter.

STEM Week

Thank you so much to everybody who came to our STEM Week sale, we really enjoyed ourselves and had great fun developing our product from start to finish. Please have a look at the photos below to see what we did!

Wednesday 2nd February 2022

We are in the process of sorting out our books across the school and checking the children's progress in Year 3, and will be using more of the Bug Club website to support reading.

The website for Bug Club can be found here and the children all have their log in details in their reading diaries.

https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/login?c=0

It is really important to spend time on each book to ensure full comprehension and to develop reading skills as well as reading fluency.

Below I have provided a range of questions that cover each of the reading skills, which you can use when you read at home together.

I hope they are of some use.

Miss Newns

Monday 24th January 2022

This week we are continuing to look at our book 'The Mousehole Cat' in English. We are working towards writing a similar version but from a different character perspective.

In Maths, we are starting a new topic all about 'money', which will come in handy for our upcoming STEM week!

Today, the children have revisited some of the spelling rules we learnt last term. For the rest of the week, we will be learning a new spelling rule and doing a spelling test on Thursday morning to see if we can apply it. The rule we will be learning is adding the suffix 'ful' and 'ness' to root words.

The spelling words will be as follows if you want to practise at home, however we will be practising in school too as part of our morning work:

Wishful

Fitness

Tidiness

Beautiful

Hateful

I have provided your child with a red A4 home learning book and stuck in the Spring home learning grid. When your child completes a piece of learning at home, please send in the book to be looked at. I will then return it once I have issued feedback.

I have been trying to organise the Edshed spelling and maths challenges, however there has been a slight technical issue, which I am in the process of sorting. There may be some assignments that are not intended for the year 3 class, so in the mean time, please feel free to work on learning the year 3/4 spelling words, as outlined in the National Curriculum. I have attached a list for your reference below. Please start at the top and work through in order and remember, these are for year 3 AND 4 so your child doesn't need to know them all yet.

The children will be attending the forest on Friday, so as always, please ensure they come equipped with lots of layers and socks!

Thanks

Miss Newns

Friday 7th Jan 2022

We have reached the end of our first week and I have to say I am really impressed by the enthusiastic attitude from the whole class. Many children have been making really positive choices about their learning and seem to be making links and applying things they have learnt previously to our new topics.

Next week, we will be continuing to look at the book 'The Mousehole Cat' in English with a focus on writing descriptively for poetry.

In Maths, we will be looking in more depth at division methods and what division means.

Our topic of 'Under the Sea' continues where we will be 'diving' in to a lesson about the layers of the ocean (sorry about the pun!)

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Newns

Spring is here!

Spring is here...we will pretend we didn't see the slight amount of snow we had today!

Welcome back to a new term and lots of exciting new learning. I hope you all had a restful break and enjoyed some new year celebrations. 

This term we start our new topic of 'Under the Sea'. I am really looking forward to exploring the learning with the class and so you know what we plan to cover, please find below the topic web for your reference.

I have also attached our new home learning grid. All the information you need is on the sheet and you may recall a letter went out at the end of last term with further details too. Any questions, please get in contact.

To start the term off with a twist, we explored some different ways to complete our reading! The aim was to promote a love of learning and be free to get lost in the book by being comfortable and relaxed! Very rarely are we sat at desk when we read for pleasure at home so why not at school!

Merry Christmas!

We have had a great term in Amethyst class and I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone!

Here are a few photos of our Christmas activities (we made Santa masks and played a game where we had to draw a snowman on top of our head!)

Thank you once again for all the wonderful cards and generous gifts you have given us all, it is very much appreciated.

From all the team in Year 3 we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Stay safe and relax!

Parents Evening

It was so lovely to meet many of you at parents evening last week and catch up about how everyone has progressed over the first half term.

I am so proud of the whole class, they have transitioned in to Year 3 brilliantly and it is a pleasure to be supporting them in their learning.

several families asked how they could support at home. Please continue with regular reading, Edshed and TT Rockstars, but should you wish to work on something else, please find below some maths reasoning challenges. This is a whole school focus and we are working hard to support the children's mathematical explanations.

Hit The Button!

If your child wants to have a go at their times tables, division facts and/or number bonds, feel free to use this link and play the game!

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Forest Alternative 01/10/21

Although we were unable to attend the forest today, and the weather started off rather wet (!) we did manage to get outside and have a beautiful walk around Dormansland! Having not explored Dormansland much myself...it was a good job Mrs Wood was with us! We went for a beautiful walk past some gorgeous cottages, through some leafy woodland and across the green golf course. Before we left, we wrote one thing for each letter of the alphabet that we thought we might see on our walk. Then, looked for them and ticked them off. You can see our photos below.

Miss Newns

Friday 9th September 2021

It has been a wonderful week back with the children and they have continued to impress me throughout! 

We have started delving in to our topic of the Ancient Egyptians and this week we conducted a tomato mummification experiment! We will be monitoring the results each week to see the changes!

If you wish to conduct this experiment at home for some fun over the weekend, please find the instructions below. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Newns

Hello and welcome!

It is so wonderful to be back and starting a new year! I hope you all had a fantastic summer and have enjoyed a well-deserved rest!

I look forward to getting to know all the new Amethyst children and families over the next few weeks, as well as delving in to some new learning and hopefully returning to a bit of normality compared to last year!

As with every new year, there comes lots of new things to get used to and I have to say, I have already been blown away by my lovely new class! They have come back to school with lots of enthusiasm and curiosity for learning as well as finding their feet quickly in their new classroom. Although, as you can see from the photos below, our classroom briefly transformed in to an Egyptian tomb on Friday! We had a lot of fun exploring the tombs with torches and trying to find the hidden treasures that the Ancient Egyptians had hidden! Thankfully it is back to a classroom now, ready for us to continue delving in to our topic!

Please find below a welcome letter (which has lots of details about some of the practicalities of Year 3) and a topic web (showing what we will be learning over the term). There will be a 'meet the teacher' session this week on Wednesday 8th September at 9:15am, which will give more details about the term to come. This will be online as well for those that can not make it and the PowerPoint will be uploaded to the class webpage as well.

Should you have any questions or need to contact me, please don't hesitate to email the office, pop a note in the reading diary or catch me briefly after school.

I look forward to working with all your children and hope they are as excited for the year ahead as I am!

Best wishes,

Miss Newns