Year 3 Trip to The Etches Fossil Museum

This week we were very fortunate to visit The Etches Fossil Museum to continue our learning about Rocks and Fossils. We began the day by travelling to Kimmeridge on the minibus and were greeted by the lovely Nick who did a short presentation on where the fossils from the museum had come from and a lesson about Mary Anning. 

We then took part in a quiz about the three different types of soils and we got most of the answers correct! We really enjoyed discussing our answers and learning more about how fossils are formed. 

Next, we split into two groups. One group had the opportunity to explore the museum and take in all of the amazing fossils that have been collected over 150 million years. The other group looked closely at rocks and fossils under a microscope and took part in a 'Design a Dinosaur' competition. 

Towards the end of the day, we had chance to ask Nick, the museum guide, any questions we had about what we had learnt on the day. 

It was a fantastic trip and it's safe to say we would all like to go back again to learn more!

Topic- Stone Age to Iron Age (Autumn 2)

Our topic this half term is The Stone Age to Iron Age. We started by learning about chronological timelines and putting dates into order and then moved on to learning how a hunter-gatherer would have survived. We practised throwing 'spears' to see if we could catch some wild animals and spent some time in the Forest School with Mr Johnson. 

Art and DT

This week in Art, the children learnt how to use the 'Pinch and Coil' method to make clay pots. They worked really hard at trying to keep the coils the same size and we think they look great! 
In a couple of weeks time, we will be creating a human sculpture using this method. 

Religious Education

In RE, we are learning about the Creation Story. This week, we went up to our beautiful reflection garden to see all of the wonderful things God created. Some of the most wonderful things the children thought of were the flowers, the animals in the sea and on the land, and people because we get to have friends and family. 

Topic- UK and it's Counties

Our Topic this half term is the UK and it's Counties where we will be looking at maps to find different counties, reading OS maps and designing our own, orienteering outside around the school grounds and also reading 4- figure grid references. This week, the children did an excellent job of using the 8 points on a compass to find different places on a map. 

Edward Tulane

In Literacy, the children have started reading the book Edward Tulane which is a story about a peculiar toy rabbit who goes on many adventurous journeys. 

Lessons started with creating character descriptions, thinking in character and making inferences, and now the children have begun to plan a diary entry as Edward himself. 

Maths- Place Value

In Year 3, we have started our first maths topic which is Place Value. The children have been learning where to place digits on a place value grid using hundreds, tens and ones and how to flexibly partition. 

The use of practical equipment have been helping them to visually see the digits of a number easily before writing them down and answering some problem solving questions.