Welcome to Year 3!
Our Class Teacher is Miss McAlister
Welcome back... I hope everyone is rested and ready to go!
Year 3
Summer Two
English
This term, children will delve into William Shakespeare’s classic tale, The Merchant of Venice, through the engaging, age-appropriate adaptation by Angela McAllister in A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories. This unit brings literature to life while supporting key writing skills outlined in the national curriculum.
During this unit, children will:
- Explore themes of friendship, justice, and fairness, developing their ability to express opinions and respond to character actions.
- Build a wider range of sentence structures in their writing, using both simple and more complex forms.
- Develop their skills in non-narrative writing, creating character descriptions, letters, and persuasive texts using organisational devices such as headings and subheadings.
- Practise using past and present tenses accurately, including the progressive and present perfect forms, to add variety and accuracy to their work.
This unit not only introduces children to one of Shakespeare’s most famous stories in a meaningful way, but it also deepens their comprehension, enriches their vocabulary, and strengthens their written expression.
Science
In this exciting Year 3 science unit, “Plants,” children will become young botanists as they explore the amazing world of flowering plants. Across six engaging lessons, pupils will:
- Identify and describe the key parts of a plant – including the roots, stem/trunk, leaves, and flowers – and understand the important jobs each part does.
- Discover what plants need to grow and thrive, such as air, light, water, nutrients, and space, and how these needs can vary from one plant to another.
- Investigate how water moves through a plant, helping it to stay healthy and upright.
- Explore the role of flowers in the plant’s life cycle, including how pollination happens, how seeds are formed, and how they spread to grow new plants.
Through hands-on activities and real-life investigations, this unit helps children deepen their curiosity about nature and builds their understanding of how plants live, grow, and reproduce. Parents can support learning at home by encouraging children to observe plants in the garden, go on nature walks, or grow their own small plant!
Geography
In Year 3, children embark on an exciting journey around the world as they explore the fascinating topic of biomes. This unit helps pupils understand where different plants grow and how the environment shapes the natural world. This unit encourages curiosity about the planet and inspires children to think like young geographers, environmentalists, and scientists.
Children will learn to:
- Identify major biomes such as rainforests, deserts, grasslands, and tundras.
- Locate hot and cold deserts on a world map and describe their climates.
- Understand how plants adapt to survive in different environments, including extreme conditions.
- Discover how plants support human life by providing food, medicine, clothing, and more.
- Investigate how human activities can affect plants and ecosystems, both positively and negatively.
- Learn the importance of biodiversity and what makes some countries especially rich in plant life.
PSHE
In this final Jigsaw PSHE unit of the year, “Changing Me,” Year 3 pupils will explore the changes that come with growing up, in a safe, respectful, and age-appropriate way. The focus is on helping children develop self-awareness, confidence, and understanding as they grow and change.
During this unit, children will:
- Recognise that everyone is unique and celebrate what makes them special.
- Understand and respect how bodies change as we grow older.
- Learn the correct scientific names for body parts and why it's important to use them.
- Explore how feelings can change, especially when facing new experiences or transitions.
- Talk about ways to cope with change, including moving to a new class or dealing with unfamiliar situations.
- Develop strategies to build self-esteem and confidence.
The “Changing Me” unit is delivered with care, using child-friendly language and activities that encourage positive discussion and emotional support. It forms an important part of your child’s personal, social, and emotional development.