Nightingales - Year 3

Dear Nightingale Parents 

As another school year draws to its end, I just wanted to reflect on our incredible Nightingale Class and how brilliantly they have all done in Year 3. Each child has grown, flourished and enjoyed many successes – well done to all! 

From a personal point of view, I feel immensely privileged to have taught your amazing children in Year 3. It has been a very special year and I will miss them all very much.  Thank you also for being such friendly, smiling and supportive parents.  It means a great deal.

I also wanted the opportunity to thank you and the children for your brilliant effort and care with costumes for our recent ‘Ancient Egyptian Day’. 

Have a wonderful, restful Summer break and we look forward to welcoming the children back to Year 4 in September.

Kindest wishes always

Mrs Ryker 

Ancient Egypt Day 2023

We all had a wonderful day. I created a video to capture the excitement of the day - I think the children's smiling faces say it all!  Make sure you have your sound  turned on!

Please be assured, that although this is a youtube video (necessary for me to upload to the page because of the size), my channel and the video are unlisted, totally private and cannot be accessed by anyone else. It is only accessible via this link on this page. 

I hope you enjoy it!

Mrs Ryker 

Windsor Great Park - Estate Open Day

Years 3 and 4 were lucky enough to be invited to the Windsor Great Park Estate Open Day in May. The children enjoyed a wonderful range of very carefully-planned activities.  These included an exploration into 20 plants from around the world, with the children having to guess what the plants are used for and where they come from.  Children learned some First Aid techniques, explored a bee hive and learned about bee keeping as well as looking at (and climbing into!) displays of static machinery including tractors.

The children were fascinated by watching an expert turn a full-sized log into a chair leg, demonstrating bygone country skills.  We learned all about how to count the rings on a wood circle to determine the age of a tree and also had a lovely, shady walk through the woods, completing our Nature Bingo cards! A real highlight was also seeing the beautiful horses, used to pull timber and for carriage rides through the park.  Fun was also had picking up the film location 'rocks and boulders'!

After stopping for lunch under the shady trees, the children took part in a speed litter picking challenge, in which they had 4 minutes to collect as much litter as they could. They then had to allocate the litter items into the correct recycling area – Plastic, Paper/Card, Textile/Fabric and Metal.  Some children also enjoyed taking part in a Biodiversity activity, in which they created a food web.

Possibly the favourite area of the day was the Plumbing and Building Team.  This included an interactive ‘plumbing wall’, which allowed children to follow the passage of water through a series of obstacles, including a toilet!  Children also had great fun trying their hand at roof tiling (at ground level!) and also window puttying.  The grand finale of the day was enjoying a tractor and trailer ride, which was very popular. We are so grateful to the team at Windsor Great Park for all their hard work in organising such a fantastic event, enjoyed by all.

Enjoy some photos from the day!

Mrs Ryker 

Summer Term Information!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter break. It has been lovely to welcome the children back into school for our Summer Term.

Below, you will find an overview of all the exciting learning going on in Nightingale Class this term.  Also included are the Key Instant Recall Facts ('Kirfs') for Terms 1&2.  These are ideas to keep those Maths skills ticking over.  I have also sent home a paper copy of the Term 1 KIRFS.

We are looking forward to a really amazing final term! 
Mrs Ryker 

Visit to Hampton Court Palace 23.3.23

We had an amazing visit and the children were able to walk in the very footsteps of King Henry VIII and his wives, as they indulged in all the fascinating history which Hampton Court has to offer.  We were very engaged by learning about the 'gong scourers', the 'free divers' and other fascinating jobs at King Henry's court, before relishing in the wonderful sights in the Great Hall, the Great Watching Chamber and the kitchens. It was so interesting looking at all the portraits on the Processional Route' and visiting the calm Royal Chapel.  it was a fantastic day, enjoyed by all!  I hope you enjoy my video, made up from memories of the day. Please be assured that, although this is a Youtube video, it is created on my own private channel, shared only to this page and is unlisted on Youtube itself, so cannot be otherwise accessed.

Mrs Ryker 

R.E. - The Last Supper    March 2023

In R.E. this week, we learned about the events leading up to The Last Supper.  The children heard the story and watched an animation of the story. 

We then had an immersive experience sitting all together with red wine (summer fruit squash!) and flatbread and discussed the symbolism of these in the context of the story. The children thought about how both Jesus and the disciples may have been feeling.

Mrs Ryker 

World Book Day - 2nd March 2023

As ever in Nightingale Class, we really got into the spirit of World Book Day. Thank you so much to all parents, carers and children for making such a wonderful effort with costumes!  Appearing exclusively were book characters such as Harry Potter, Puss in Boots and Mary Poppins alongside some non-fiction characters like Frida Kahlo, Roald Dahl, Bear Grylls, Coco Chanel and Darcey Bussell with a good smattering of footballers! Wednesday Addams and Thing also made a gruesome appearance, accompanied by  an intergalactic visit from The Mandalorian and his very cute companion, Grogu! Our non-fiction focus was on trees, what they provide for the Earth and how we can protect them. During our DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) session, the children chose to either read alone or with others. It was wonderful to gather with the rest of the school at the end of the day to share what we had done during the day. Year 6 children then worked in pairs or threes with members of Nightingale Class to read to each other. A really magical experience!

Enjoy the photos of our special day!

Mrs Ryker 

Science Investigation - Testing the Permeability of Different Soils! - March 2023

For our final investigation in our 'Rocks and Soils' Topic, the children tested 5 different types of soil: Chalk, Sandy, Clay, Chalk Loam and Clay Loam.

Firstly, they made a prediction as to which soils they thought would be the most and the least permeable. Then, working together brilliantly in groups, with a Learning Mentor in each group to ensure fair allocation of tasks, they tested each soil, making observations and then recording. Once again, they were reminded how to carry out a 'fair test', keeping all variables the same, apart from changing the soil each time. The children also practised their Maths measuring skills, having to measure exactly 300ml for each stage.

At the end, representatives from each group presented their results. They used brilliant scientific vocabulary - excellent! See below for a slideshow of some photos from this session!

It's Half-Term!

It's hard to believe that we are now half-way through the school year! The children have been working so hard and have learned so much.

I just want to wish you a very happy and safe half-term and I look forward to seeing you all again in a week or so.

Mrs Ryker 

R.E. Day - 9.2.23

We had a lovely R.E. day, which was celebrated across the school. Many of the children had brought in a possession special to them and the children gathered in small groups to talk about them and why they were special. After working on

some R.E.- themed word searches, we looked at some quotes from the Bible and other holy texts. We discussed such ideas as 'It is more blessed to give than receive.', 'Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.' and 'Laughter is heard further than weeping.' All very thought-provoking! Then, our vicar, Tansley, came to visit and led a meditation session, including drawing with salt, which the children found very calming and really enjoyed! We were then treated to a presentation from one of our class members, who, with her family, went on a pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of last year. The class enjoyed photos and videos and were fascinated to see a copy of the Quran, written in Arabic and a prayer mat. It was a real privilege to share the family's precious experiences. In the afternoon, we continued with our class focus of Miracles and debated the key questions: 'Could Jesus really heal people?' and 'Were these miracles or is there some other explanation?'  Really tricky questions, which the children had lots of different views about. A great day was had by all. Enjoy the photo slideshow of our day!

Mrs Ryker 

Maths Madness - February 2023 

The children have been working incredibly hard on their Maths this half term, studying multiplication and division and then measuring lengths. I am very proud of all the children and how they apply themselves to their maths learning. We've been exploring how to measure in millimetres, centimetres and metres and converting between the three, as well as learning all about perimeter!

During one lesson last week, we conducted a fun investigation with the questions:

Do taller people have bigger feet?

and

Do taller people always jump the furthest?

Our investigation showed that neither are necessarily the case! Enjoy the pictures!

Mrs Ryker

Vibrant Volcanoes! January/February 2023

In Nightingale Class, we have loved our 'Extreme Earth' topic this half term.  All of our texts and writing has also been linked to this, with a focus on volcanoes. The children built up their vocabulary by using their senses, using a dictionary and thesaurus to enhance their language. This culminated in a fantastic piece of descriptive writing about an eyewitness account of a volcano erupting. Using a lovely story as a stimulus, the children also learned how to set out a letter. They imagined they were one of the islanders in the story, forced to leave their home, as a mighty volcano destroyed everything.  Please enjoy just a few fabulous examples of the volcano descriptive writing.

Mrs Ryker 

This term, Nightingales have been learning about the Pentatonic scale. This is a scale made up of a different set of notes - five in total.  The children have learned that the word 'Pentatonic comes from the Greek word for five - 'penta'.

The children have been playing the pentatonic scale on xylophones and glockenspiels and have also been creating their own pentatonic compositions!

Science - Rocks   10.1.23

This term, linked to our fabulous topic of 'Extreme Earth', the children are learning all about Rocks!

Today, we embarked on a full-scale investigation of grouping Rocks according to their properties. Before starting the experiment, the children made predictions and thought about their method. We also talked about what a 'Fair Test' is. They then worked in small groups with 7 different types of rock to determine the permeability, the durability and the density of each. The children did brilliantly learning all this new scientific vocabulary! They then decided whether each rock was hard or soft. Please look at the slideshow of photos below to see how brilliantly the children worked together in their groups, as they made their discoveries!

Mrs Ryker 

HAPPY 2023!

Thank you so very much for all the incredible gifts I received for Christmas, both individual and collective.  I loved opening them on Christmas morning and am overwhelmed by your kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity! 

I am really looking forward to welcoming the children back into school for this Spring Term - I have lots of exciting learning in store!

I have posted some information about the Spring Term below.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Mrs Ryker 

A Christmas Message!

Dear Nightingales and Parents

First of all, may I say an enormous thank you for all the extremely generous gifts that you and the children have so kindly given me. They will look very festive under my Christmas Tree! Mrs Lewis extends a big thank you too. The children had a lovely chilled day, enjoying squash and biscuits whilst doing Christmas maths and then a movie with popcorn!

What an absolutely wonderful term it has been! The fantastic children in Nightingale Class have all worked so hard, so happily and with such amazing commitment. I have not set any formal homework over the holiday but the children have brought home a sheet detailing some essential tasks for the break! 

I hope that you all have a fantastic break with some real downtime and here's to a healthy and Happy New Year. Merry Christmas to you all!

Love and Best Wishes 

Mrs Ryker 

Iron Age Crimewatch AD50! Who killed the 52 bodies at Maiden Castle? December 2022

As a culmination to their fabulous History topic this term, the Nightingales became archaeological detectives to solve the Iron Age mystery. They were given just the briefest of background information before being let loose to explore the evidence. 

The children worked really well, collaborating and discussing the evidence before deciding on which was the most likely theory!

First Snowfall - December 2022

As you can see from the pictures, the children absolutely loved playing out in the first snowfall of this Winter and had great fun! 

Christmas Jumper Day!

It was fantastic to see the children looking so colourful in their Christmas jumpers and to enjoy the Christmas lunch too!

History - December 2022

Bronze Age 'Blether' stations.

The children have been learning all about the Bronze Age for the last couple of weeks.  Today, the children became archaeologists as they explored pictorial evidence of Bronze Age artefacts at 10 stations! They had to decide the following:

• What the item might have been used for
• What sort of person might have owned an item like this
• What materials it might be made from

Please see photos below!

iRock Stars!

We were treated to an end of term concert by children who attend iRock sessions.

Here is the Nightingales Group - well done everyone! You were so confident being up there on stage - fabulous! 

Welcome to the second half of this busy Autumn term!

I hope you all had a fantastic half-term break. This is a wonderful term, packed full of exciting learning and of course, leading up to Christmas!

Please find below, our Autumn 2 KIRFS (Key Instant Recall Facts) to keep that maths learning ticking over.  Your child will also bring a hard copy home.

I have also posted an updated copy of our Weekly Timetable.

Please note that there will be no Times Tables or Spelling tests this week, as these normally take place on Monday and Tuesday respectively.  The children will be tested on their current work next week, commencing 7.11.22 - they were informed of this.

Enjoy the beautiful Autumn leaves!

Mrs Ryker 

Diwali Celebration - October 2022

Your children may have told you that we have been learning all about Diwali in R.E. this term. Timewise, this coincides with the time that Hindus across the world celebrate this colourful Festival of Light - a triumph of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness. The word 'diwali' means 'row of lit lamps' to represent this light. This is a time for great celebration, when Hindu families come together and share food, have parties, give gifts, watch fireworks and pray in the temple. 

The key question for the topic is: 'Would celebrating Diwali at home or in the temple bring a feeling of community to a Hindu child?' 

With no relevant and direct experience in our class, this is a very tricky question to answer, so I decided that the children should have an immersive experience to support them in understanding how a Hindu child might feel during this celebration. So, on the last Friday of term, we had a mini Diwali celebration in class! Strings of lights lit up the classroom and authentic clay candle holders (diwas or diyas) were placed around the classroom. Each with their own candle (non-flame of course!), the children took part in some Indian dancing.  As you can see, even Mr Fox joined in the celebration! We then watched a spectacular laser light show and fireworks display.  As they were watching, the children were treated to cake and squash and shared poppadum snacks. During our topic, the children have also learned about Rangoli patterns. Rangoli patterns are bright, colourful and beautiful designs that are associated with Diwali. They are placed outside the home to welcome the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth - to your house and are thought to bring good luck. These are traditionally created with coloured powders, lentils and rice. The children then created their own stunning patterns with coloured chalk, whilst listening to traditional Indian music. Finally, the children were able to answer their question, having experienced it a little themselves! Enjoy the slideshow of our celebration.

Mrs Ryker 

A new addition to the class!

Inspired by our work on 'Fantastic Mr Fox' by Roald Dahl this term, I couldn't resist acquiring this chap. What a fine, smart fellow!

(Pictured here with a 'child' fox brought in by one of our children!) 

Science Investigation 18.10.22

The children had fun with their science investigation this week! In our 'Light and Dark' topic, we have been looking at whether objects or materials are transparent, translucent or opaque.  

Today, we also learned how shadows are formed and we investigated whether different translucent, opaque and transparent materials and objects cast dark or light shadows or no shadows at all.  See some pictures from our session below! 

Hello Yellow Day 2022 - 10.10.22

Nightingale Class celebrated World Mental Health Day in style with all their fabulous yellow accessories. Throughout the morning, we had lots of discussion about why we mark the day in school.  Amongst other activities, the children thought about ways to help their brain relax and also, when things don't go right, to realise that their feelings matter and will be recognised.  The children also discussed some ideas for both Negative and Positive coping strategies. It provided a thought-provoking morning for the children which they can hopefully draw upon, should the need arise.

Year 3 Cake Sale - 8.10.22

I would like to extend a massive 'Thank You' to all the children and parents of Nightingale Class who worked so hard to bake delicious cakes for our cake sale. Special thanks go to Mrs Brady and Mrs Bell, who organised it all and sold lots of cakes! Two young ladies then raised even more money by selling some left-over cakes on the roads where they live! The PHENOMENAL sum of £263.60 was raised, which will go towards a future Nightingale Class event. Well done everyone - you are all complete stars! Just as I took the photo, the weather turned very windy, hence the windswept look!

Mrs Ryker 

National Poetry Day 6.10.22

On National Poetry Day, Nightingale Class learned all about Shape poetry and looked at lots of examples. To link to their work on Roald Dahl's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', the children then created Shape Poems/descriptive writing in Fantastic Mr Fox's tail!  Well done, children!

Roald Dahl Day - 13th September 2022

What a fantastic day we had! The children started with Roald Dahl colouring and word searches, before moving on to learning all about the life of Roald Dahl himself. We then talked about the different types of characters in his stories and the children created their own 'Dahl-esque' hero or villain. A large part of Roald Dahl's style is, of course, captured in his humour and the children enjoyed watching an animation of 'The Enormous Crocodile' version. 

The BFG captures dreams in a jar and he blows the good dreams into children's bedrooms with his dream pipe. The children drew and write about their dreams in a jar. We also had a True or False Quiz to see what the children had learned.

Then it was onto 'Gobblefunk' - the ridiculous and often hilarious words created by Roald Dahl. The Nightingales used the 'Gobblefunk Generator' to create their own words and also created their own Roald Dahl names! Throughout the day, the children also enjoyed listening to the wonderful music of the iconic film 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'.

It was all great fun and much enjoyed by all. The children - a collection of Matildas, Sophies, Willie Wonkas and Fantastic Mr Foxes to name but a few - all looked incredible in their costumes! Thank you so much to all parents and children for your wonderful efforts - the dressing up really enhanced the day.

Please see below for a slideshow of the photographs taken on the day.

Mrs Ryker 

Meet the Teacher 2022

Thank you so much to all parents and carers who were able to attend my 'Meet the Teacher' session. I do hope you found it interesting and useful.

Please find below, the presentation covered in the meeting.

Many thanks

Mrs Ryker 

Welcome to New Nightingales and Parents!

I'd like to welcome all parents, carers and children to the Nightingale Class Page and also to the brand new school year! 

On this page you will find lots of relevant information, documentation, as well as news and photos of what the children have been doing in class, so please do pop by regularly! Please see below some really useful documents to give you lots of information about different aspects of your child's learning in Year 3.

The children are managing their transition from KS1 into KS2 brilliantly and are settling quickly into our new class in Year 3.  It's fantastic to get started and to get to know all of you! We look forward to a very happy and successful year. 

Kindest wishes

Mrs Ryker 

P.E.

As you can see from the timetable, your child will be doing P.E. on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, so please can they come into school wearing their P.E. kits on those days.  

Maths

I have provided the Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFS) for Year 3 below. Daily practice of these will help to improve your child's mental calculation skills.  Your child will also be bringing home a hard copy of these.  I will post new KIRFS every half term, so please do pop back!

Times Tables

After an initial test during the first week, your child will be allocated with a Times Table sheet to practise on during the week. This sheet is not for handing in, just to use for practice. Times Tables tests will be held each Monday, starting with next Monday 12th September. Please note that this may sometimes be subject to change, depending on events in class. If your child has two mistakes or fewer, they will move on to the next Times Table. Otherwise, they will stay on the same sheet until they demonstrate that they are secure before moving on. I would like to stress that it is not a race or a competition to move through the times tables as quickly as possible. It is vital that the children are secure in both the multiplication and the corresponding division facts before they move on. 

The order that times tables are allocated is:

2, 10, 5, 3, 4, 6, 8, 7, 9, 11, 12

This is in line with the order they are taught in the curriculum.  6 and 8 come before 7 and 9 because we teach the children that they are double the 3 and 4 times tables.

A fantastic way for your child to practise their times tables in on the online resource ‘Times Tables Rock Stars’ (TTRS), which you may already be familiar with. Each week, I allocate your child their specific times table on TTRS and we would ask that you encourage your child to only work on the times tables that have been set in the Garage Section. 

As you are aware, each child has their own individual login for TTRS, which they can access from home on a suitable device (computer, phone or tablet). I am sending home another copy of these (along with a reminder of their Purple Mash login.)

Spelling

Each week, your child will bring home a sheet with the week's spellings. The idea is that they practise these spellings daily please.  They will usually be sent home on a Wednesday, but again, this may occasionally change due to circumstances.  This work does not need to be handed in. We will also practise these spellings daily in school as one of our morning tasks. The children will then have a spelling test every Tuesday. (Next week, however, the Spelling Test will take place on Wednesday 14th September, because of Roald Dahl Day!) 

Reading

In Year 3, our expectation is that children should please be reading every day as part of their homework.  Wherever possible, this should involve reading to/with an adult. In addition to supporting word reading and comprehension of the books being read, we would love you to encourage your child to develop a real love for reading.  To support the choosing of appropriate books, please find some recommended texts for Year 3 children below.