Spring 2

We have had a brilliant half term of immersing ourselves in some really fantastic, purposeful learning. Our new project WE ARE Sustainable Restaurateurs afforded us the opportunity to open our very own independent, sustainable bakery where we were able to source local products in order to help bake our own goods to sell in exchange for money. We had a fantastic turn out and managed to raise £170 to put towards ensuring our school runs in a more sustainable fashion! Wow!

During Maths, we have been refining our knowledge of fractions and multiplication with a real emphasis on ensuring we are practising our times tables and utilising our ‘if I know, then I know’ knowledge. The children have absolutely risen to the challenge, demonstrating that with hard work and dedication we can all be budding mathematicians!

In English, the children focused on writing their very own pollution themed poems. The children really immersed themselves into the world of poetry! From creating vivid imagery to experimenting with sounds and rhythms, the children explored a range of techniques to craft their own unique poems. They discovered how words could show emotions, paint pictures, and tell stories in imaginative ways. Throughout the term, the children embraced the challenge of incorporating language features such as onomatopoeia, imagery, similes, personification, and alliteration into their poetry.
 

In Science, the children continued exploring plants where they looked in to seed dispersal, discovering the many ways seeds travel and spread through fun experiments and hands-on activities. They were immersed into a real life experience of witnessing the way in which a seed spreads through wind, water, air and animal dispersal! In addition to this we also planted some of our own greens which will now grow in our very own school garden. Be sure to ask them all about it!

Spring 1

Wow! What an exciting half term we have had. We embarked upon an artistic journey during our project ‘WE ARE Artistic Activists’ where we created our own statement pieces addressing the crisis that is climate change and raised awareness one brush stroke at a time!

During English we tried our hand at writing persuasive letters to Waltham Forest Council, urging them to put more sanctions in place for people polluting our planet, we hope to be hearing back from them very soon.

In Maths this half term, the children got the hang of dividing using the bus stop method whilst implementing remainders and also practiced using column method for multiplication. Measuring became a fun discovery, through lots of practical, hands on tasks as they developed a good understanding of converting between different units of measurement and applying these skills in everyday scenarios. We then went on to look at position and movement where we explored the 8 compass points and gained a deeper understanding of coordinates. Finally, the children revisited place value in which they understood the significance of digits in each number and how their position determines their value.

Overall it’s been a brilliant and dynamic half term marking our half way point into the year. We look forward to welcoming back year 3 for spring 2 and hopefully some warmer weather too!
 

Autumn 2

This has been a jam packed half term for Year 3! The children went back in time in order to embrace our project "WE ARE Curators" and we must say, they did so with great enthusiasm! We embarked upon a historical enquiry into the Stone Age and then tried our hand at making our very own Stone Age tools. We visited our local park in order to gather branches which we then moulded alongside clay and string to craft representations of Stone Age artefacts. The children then went on to showcase their tools in their very own Museum Exhibition. We had the best time revisiting the past and exploring historical events that have shaped the world we live in now, be sure to ask them all about it!

In Maths this half term, the children got the hang of the bus stop method during Division and practiced using the column method for Multiplication. Symmetry became a fun discovery, as they learned about balance during Shapes, and in fractions they were introduced to parts and wholes and to finish off the children then went on to look at both 2D and 3D shapes whilst recognising all their features. 

During English this half term we have been refining our skills by deep diving into two different genres.

Our first written outcome was a cross curricular piece of learning which coincided with our project WE ARE Curators. We read Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age and wrote some diary entries from the viewpoint of the characters we learnt about. In addition to our diary entries we also learned all about fact files and their features and produced some very high quality end outcomes.

We wish all of Year 3 a very Merry Christmas, New Year and well deserved break! Well done for all of your hard work and we will see you again in January!

Autumn 1

This half term has been brilliant and full of excitement, enquiry, and exploration. We kick started a year of fantastic learning by deep diving into natural disasters and their causes with our Project ‘WE ARE Geophysicists’. The children were able to showcase their expertise at our amazing end of half term Science Fair where they demonstrated their geographical and artistic skills to Parents, Carers, and fellow Staff Members.

In Maths we have been getting to grips with the beginning of Key Stage 2 and rising to the challenge of working with some slightly trickier concepts. We started off by consolidating our knowledge of Place Value before moving onto Addition and Subtraction, Measures and Time. The children have enjoyed a mixture of practical and written Maths lessons this half term as they continue developing their mathematical skills.

In English This term our focus has been on writing newspaper reports, with a particular emphasis on natural disasters! The children have learned to structure reports effectively, incorporate relevant facts, and create attention-grabbing headlines. We're thrilled with the progress made and are excited to see their continued growth in the coming year.

We’ve also carried out some brilliant Scientific Investigations around rocks and fossils and spent some time reading, analysing, and classifying them by their appearances.

In addition to all this amazing learning, the children have also had the pleasure of gaining expert knowledge from specialist Music, French and Performing Arts teachers through our new programme entitled ‘Junior Jam’ here at Ainslie Wood.

We have had a brilliant and dynamic start to the year and are incredibly proud of all the hard work carried out by both Enquire and Investigate class. Well done everyone, we look forward to seeing you next half term!