Year Three - Classes Capella and Vega

Teacher welcome

Hello and welcome to year 3.

In year 3, we have classes Capella and Vega. Capella is the name of the brightest star in the Auriga constellation. In Greek mythology, the star represented the goat, Amalthea. Vega is the name of the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra - Vega can be translated into Latin as Vultur Cadens, 'the falling eagle/vulture'.

Mrs O'Shea - Vega Class Teacher
Mrs Rayner and Mrs Katharada - Capella Class Teacher
Mrs Bint-Yousuf - ETA
Miss Khan - ETA
Mrs Hussain - SEND ETA
Miss Rawat - SEND ETA
Mrs Basar - HLTA

In year 3, we all have a growth mindset and try our very best in all that we do. Our learning is fun and our voices are heard. We take pride in the work we produce, and we regularly use the Secrets of Success to show positive behaviour for learning.

Information for Parents

Year 3 will continue to use the Howard Street gate as their entry and exit point - the school day will begin at 8:45am and finish at 3:15pm
PE for Capella is on Thursday and PE for Vega is on Friday. Please ensure your child comes to school wearing the correct PE kit. It is important that your child does not come to school wearing jewellery or earrings on this day as they will not be able to participate.

Homework

We will continue to assign work via Mathletics, TTRockstars, Purple Mash and Bug Club - if your child has misplaced any of their passwords, please contact us on year.two@kirkleeseducation.uk
Books will be sent home every Wednesday - please read with your child and leave a comment in their reading record. For further support with reading, please visit our 'reading' page under the 'curriculum' tab.
Spelling tests will take place every Tuesday - please find attached a list of year 3 and year 4 spellings. We will be learning these spellings and spellings containing the year 3 spelling rules.

Our ETHOS AND rules

Our mission is to ensure that staff, governors, parents and pupils are part of and ‘Exceed Expectations’ by demonstrating:

Honesty and Integrity
Consideration for others
Responsible attitudes
Generosity
Aspirational qualities
Dedication
Motivational attributes
Trustworthiness
Courtesy and Respect
Self-determination
Optimism
Self-commitment
Resilience
Confidence

Behaviour

In KS2, each class has a behaviour chart displaying red, amber, green, silver, gold and platinum (in that order).
Each day, all children who were on amber or red the previous day will begin the day again on green to demonstrate the expectation that each day will be a positive one. All children who were on green or above will remain in the same place, with the aim of building on their good behaviour.
Children are encouraged to move from green to silver and then gold and platinum.
When children have shown positive behaviours, they will move up the chart, one step at a time. When children have shown negative behaviours, they will move down the chart, one step at a time.
In KS2, all children who are at ‘gold’ at the end of the week will be entered into a prize draw. At the end of each half-term, a child will be drawn and will receive a prize. Children in KS2 who are on ‘platinum’ will receive an instant reward.
On the rare occasion when children are on amber, a phone call to parents will be made at the end of the day. When children are on red, they are taken to either the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Parents will receive a call home.
At the end of the week, all children on green or above will earn points for their house colour - these are counted on a Friday.

How parents can help at home

Listen to your child reading. Please try to read on a daily basis with your child and encourage them to answer the questions available on Bug Club.
Encourage your child to practise and learn their spellings – discuss spelling patterns or rules. The most important thing is that they know to apply the spellings to their writing.
Practise calculations at home to develop fluency. Practise written methods such as the column method and the grid method.
Encourage your child to take care of all the work they do, including homework – they should write in pencil, and keep their writing neat (preferably joined-up).
Encourage your child to talk about what they have learnt at school.
Talk about your child’s homework – discuss the work, and ask your child to explain it to you (although they should complete the work independently).

UPCOMING EVENTS

We are thrilled that school trips will begin again in the 2021/22 academic year. Year 3 will be going on two external trips, having one experience day and going on a local walk.

Stone Age: As part of our Stone Age topic, the children will be visited by a company called 'The Drama Hut'. As part of the day, they will partipate in workshops. During the workshops, the children will:

Create pictures from ‘The Stone Age’ in order to get a sense of the start, middle and end of this period
In pairs explore and vocalise how Stone Age people may have communicated with one another
Using pictures for inspiration, create a Stone Age timeline
Through a Stone Age ‘Dragon’s Den’, discuss what would have been a useful invention of the time
Imagine life in a Stone Age settlement

Ancient Egypt: As part of our Ancient Egypt topic, the children will visit Leeds City Museum. They will spend half of the day exploring the museum and half of the day taking part in workshops lead by the talented museum staff. Your child will be given the opportunity to explore the archaeology collections, go on an action-packed adventure into the tomb of the museum's mummy, Nesyamun, handle real Ancient Egyptian treasures, mummify Suny the Egyptian boy and magic up their own amulet charm!

Bronze Age to Iron Age: As part of this topic, the children will visit Herd Farm Activity Centre. Herd Farm is home to three full-sized replica Iron Age roundhouses. This exciting setting will aid your child's understanding and appreciation of the challenges of prehistoric life. They will gain the knowledge and skills that were required to survive over 2,000 years ago in Britain. During the visit to the Herd Farm roundhouses, your child will be immersed in a stimulating environment and guided through Prehistory by an experienced forest school leader and an experienced archaeologist.

Standedge Tunnel: As part of our 'Rivers' topic, the children will visit Standedge Tunnel. They will take part in a variety of workshops including a 'build your own river' workshop. The children will also have the opportunity to travel through the tunnel on a boat.

See the source image

The children will also be visiting a local park as part of our final science topic.

Our class targets are:

To increase the number of pupils achieving the greater depth standard in reading and writing.