Our theme this term is called "Ancient Greeks." During this time we will spend our History lessons looking at the lives and the achievements of the Ancient Greeks. We will use a variety of different sources and artefacts to discover what life might have been like and thinking about their influence on our lives today. We will learn about the city states of Sparta and Athens, beliefs and culture and also explore Greek mythology.

In Art, we will be exploring mosaics. We will look at the techniques used before designing our own and them creating them using small tiles.

In Design and Technology, we will be creating our own healthy sandwiches. First we will investigate different types of sandwiches, including the bread used and types of filling, before designing our own. After this we will practise the skills needed, including cutting, grating and spreading. Finally we will make our own sandwiches!

Core Skills

In Core Skills this half term, the whole school will be focusing on "Thinking skills".

In Year Three we will be trying particularly hard to:

1) Retrieve information from a variety of sources.

2) Use our knowledge to solve simple problems.

English

This term in English we will be reading a range of texts linked to our theme Ancient Greeks. To start with, we will find out about the country of Greece in the current day and will write an advert for a Greek holiday, using persuasive language. Next we will explore the genre of myths, using the texts “The Orchard Book of Myths” and “Greek Myths” by Marcia Williams. We will read a range of different myths and explore several of the stories using drama. We will then plan and write our own myths using our own characters and settings. Finally we will research the Ancient Greek life, using this information to write our own Information Texts.

Maths

In Maths over the half term, we will explore the use of fractions, including both fractions of shape and number. We will start by considering that a fraction is part of a whole and exploring how to represent this using diagrams and numbers. We will then explore angles and shape, using language such as obtuse, acute and right angle. We will also describe the properties of shapes, including lines of symmetry and parallel and perpendicular lines. As well as these units, we will continue to focus on key skills such as place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division during our daily Maths meetings to ensure readiness to progress into Year 4. “Maths with Parents” will be used to set fortnightly homework to complement the learning which is happening at school.

Science

In Science this half term, our theme will be “Amazing Bodies”. This unit will build on the children’s knowledge of the human body. We will consider the importance of eating the right amounts of different types of food and how this food provides us with the nutrients we need to stay healthy.

PE lessons will be on a Monday and Wednesday this term, so please ensure that your child comes to school wearing their PE kit on these days. This should be a pair of black tracksuit bottoms, a white polo shirt or a house colour polo shirt, a school jumper and trainers. If you are unsure which house your child is in, please ask.

We work with a company called SEND Supported at school and they are releasing newsletters each week offering support and guidance to parents of children who many have additional needs in school. Please find below a link to these newsletters:

There are also lots of other resources and information available on their website. The 'Things to do Issue 2 - Resources' file has some lovely activities for all children regardless of whether they have additional needs or not. There are lots of great visual puzzles and games for children to play so please have a look if you can. There are also resources available now to support with developing children's memory skills in 'Thing to do Issue 3 - Resources.'

Useful links:

English: