Nightingales - Year 3

Welcome to the Summer Term!

We are looking forward to a fantastic term here in Year 3. Please find a term overview of what we will be learning, as well as the KIRFS for this term. The KIRFS for Summer 1 have already been sent home.

Thanks

Mrs Ryker 

Visit to Hampton Court 22.3.24

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 the historic and grand 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 spotting things that we had been learning about. It was a fantastic day, enjoyed by all! 

Enjoy the photos of our special day!

Mrs Ryker 

Science Investigation - Testing the Permeability of Different Soils - March 2024

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. See below for a slideshow of some photos from this session!

Mrs Ryker 

RE - The Last Supper - March 2024

In R.E. this week, we learned about the events leading up to The Last Supper.  The children heard the story and watched an dramatisation 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 - 7.3.24

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 from Harry Potter, Hermione, Mulan, Mr Twit, Willy Wonka, along with a smattering of Wonka Bars and a Golden Ticket! Also featured were: The Enormous Crocodile, The Tiger who came to Tea, Little Red Riding Hood, Sailor Moon, Horrid Henry, a couple of Wallys, Matilda, and a footballer. The children enjoyed lots of fun book-related activities, including watching a BBC Live Lesson and sketching George from 'George and his Marvellous Medicine' by Roald Dahl.

Enjoy a few photos of our special day! You may notice that our young wizards and witch were magically transported to Hogwarts in one of them!

Mrs Ryker 

P.E. - Gymnastics  6.2.24

The children have been really enjoying learning lots of Gymnastics skills this term. Within their routines, the children have also been incorporating some interesting movements inspired by exciting vocabulary - 'Rotation', 'Symmetry' and 'Asymmetry'

Mrs Higgins and I have been delighted with their hard work and progress - enjoy seeing what they have achieved!

Mrs Ryker 

Science - Fantastic Fossils!  2.2.24

As part of our topic on 'Rocks and Soils', Nightingale Class have been learning all about fossils. Naturally, the children are finding this absolutely fascinating and it was lovely to learn where fossil-hunting all started, finding out about the life of Mary Anning.

The children have explored and handled some replica and real fossils. We are also privileged that a young man in our class has a particular interest in fossils and was kind enough to bring some from his vast collection at home. He spoke so eloquently and with such knowledge and the children were so fascinated by his specimens! We looked at: a trilobite, around 3-400 million years old, ammonites around 200 million years old, a Paleozoic Brachiopod around 450 million years old and a fossil of a dinosaur tooth around 100 million years old. There was even an example of 'coprolite', which, put simply is fossilised dinosaur poo!

Enjoy the photos!

Mrs Ryker 

Maths Measuring Madness! 31.1.24

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 action shots!

Mrs Ryker 

Science

Investigating the Properties of Rocks - 12.1.24

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 2024!

I hope that you all had a wonderful break with families and friends.

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

Please do look at the documents below as they contain important information with regard to the Spring Term.

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 the lovely gifts, both collective and individual, that you and the children have so kindly given me. They will look very festive under my Christmas Tree! The children had a lovely chilled day, enjoying 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!

With Love and Best Wishes 

Mrs Ryker 

Iron Age Crimewatch AD50! Who killed the 52 bodies at Maiden Castle? December 2023

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!

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

Diwali Celebration!

In Year 3, we have been learning all about Diwali, which 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'. 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?' 

The children were then surprised with a Diwali celebration in class, which was an immersive experience to support them in understanding how a Hindu child might feel during this celebration. 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.  We then watched a spectacular laser light show and fireworks display online and listened to traditional Indian music. During this, the children were treated to cake, sweets and squash and shared poppadom snacks. Finally, the children were able to answer their question, having experienced it a little themselves!

Science Investigation 9.10.22

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! 

Roald Dahl Day - 13th September 2023

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 animations of 'The Enormous Crocodile' and ‘The Magic Finger’.We also had a True or False Quiz to see what the children had learned.

A highlight of the day was sketching an image of Willy Wonka along with Quentin Blake hinmself.  The children could see how anyone can be a fabulous artist by drawing this way!

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, Willie Wonkas, Fantastic Mr Foxes and a wonderfully authentic Farmer Boggis 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 - enjoy!

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, including our daily timetable and the Autumn Topic Overview.

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 

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

Next 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 Monday 18th 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.)

Reading

In Year 3, it is our expectation that children should please be reading every day as part of their homework.  Wherever possible, this should involve reading to/with an adult and, although this may only be for a short time, it is vital for your child's progress. 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 passion for reading.  To support the choosing of appropriate books, please find some recommended texts for Year 3 children below.

Spelling

Each week, (starting next week), your child will bring home a sheet with the week's spellings. The idea is that they practise these spellings daily please. 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, commencing Tuesday 19th September.

Please see below for lists of the Years 1&2 and Years 3&4 Common Exception Words, as well as some useful tips for supporting your child when practising spelling.