Maths in Year 3

We have enjoyed working together in a group to solve number problems in maths this week.

We have been learning about place value and adding and subtracting ones, tens and hundreds.  Sometimes we have had to exchange and using the number frames really helps.

What’s that Sound?

We have been investigating pitch in Year 3 Science today.

We used different sizes and shapes of container to see whether the pitch was different when we plucked the elastic bands.

Pitch is how high or low a sound is.

Volume is how loud a sound is.

It was great fun playing our elastic band guitars!

Spellings for Friday 18th November

continue

regular

popular

knew

rescue

would

really

with

Practice spellings with the ‘ue’ phoneme.  Try writing some sentences using ‘ue’ words.

18 November

Below are the new spellings for the next two weeks. On the first week, use the look, say, cover, write, check method.

• of
• once
• pull
• one
• our

Author visit – Alex Willmore

This afternoon, we watched and listened to the author and illustrator Alex Willmore reading his story I did see a mammoth, live on zoom.

Afterwards, we helped Alex draw a mammoth coming up with lots of different ideas. We suggested he could draw the mammoth wearing a Christmas jumper and elf shoes.

Challenge: Have a go at drawing a mammoth at home. Think about what they might be wearing, where they are, is there anyone/anything else around them? Bring your drawings in to share with your friends.

Topic

In our Topic lesson today, Year 1 and Year 2 came together! We compared works of art by one of our feature artists Bridget Riley, who specialised in ‘optical art’. She made flat images look like they are moving, creating a visual illusion.

At home, why not create your own optical illusion? We talked about how this could be done in irregular patterns. We’d love to see these in class if you do!

What’s that Sound? Science in Year 3

Year 3 have been physicists this half term. We have been exploring sound and this week we thought about vibration and how sound is produced.

We made music with our bodies and felt our voice boxes vibrate as we hummed and spoke.

In groups we experimented with vibration on drums.  We could see the rice moving on top of the drum as we banged loudly, quietly, hard and softly.

Living and Learning: Anti-Bullying week in Year 3

On Monday we came to school in odd socks to start our week thinking about how we are all unique and different.

We discussed our school Junior Leadership Team’s definition of bullying and also what to do if we are being bullied. We used the acronym STOP

STOP

Bullying is: Several Times On Purpose

If you feel you are being bullied you should:  Start Telling Other People

We looked at different scenarios and thought about whether the behaviour should be defined as bullying.  We made some posters to display in the classroom to remind us all of what STOP means and we designed our own odd socks.

Year 3 were very thoughtful and respectful during these Living and Learning activities.

Living and Learning: Anti-bullying week

This week is Anti-Bullying Week and today the children thought about the seriousness of bullying. We kicked off our lesson by discussing why we were all wearing odd socks and how this celebrates what makes us all unique.

Year 4 looked at some scenarios and thought about who was being bullied and what type of bullying was taking place.  The class discussed four important words when defining bullying behaviour, and through group and class discussions, we talked about:

• what bullying is
• our Child Friendly Anti-Bullying Policy
• the different kinds of bullying including cyber bullying
• how someone being bullied may think, feel and act
• the negative impact bullying has on mental wellbeing
• how to get help including who we can talk to about bullying
• the acronym STOP

• repetition
• hurt
• power
• intention – on purpose

‘Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally (including online), several times on purpose.’

The solution to this is STOP – Start Telling Other People. We talked about which trusted adults the children could talk to if they felt they were being bullied.

STOP

Bullying can be physical and emotional. – Jayden

We need to look out for one another. I’d help someone to speak to a trusted adult if they were being bullied. – Noah

Always ask for help. – Evie

Speak to a friend or a family member. – Amelia

It takes courage to speak up  but it can change lives. 

Anti-bullying week: Odd Socks Day!

Today for our anti-bullying day, we joined the nation by focussing on the message of “reaching out”.  We talked about how this had several meanings: reaching out to a trusted adult for support/advice, reaching out to the victim to see if they are okay, or reaching out to make a change.

We looked at our school’s definition of bullying :

“Bullying is when you hurt someone physically or emotionally (including online), Several Times On Purpose”

Whilst we hope this would never be the case in our school, we also discussed  what you can do if you were to experience bullying at St James’:

“Start Telling Other People. You could use the Living and Learning box, the worry box, email stayingsafe@spherefederation.org or even call Childline (0800 1111).”

We celebrated the message that everyone is different and equal by wearing odd socks to school and creating our own socks.