Autumn 2 Week 3- wb 17.11.25
What a fantastic week we’ve had in Year 3! We have been incredibly busy and have produced some brilliant work across all of our subjects. In English, we wrote our very own approaching threat narratives inspired by The Iron Man. The children worked so hard to build suspense and use powerful description, Mrs Harrison was amazed by the results and cannot wait to put them up on display!

In maths, we continued using dashes and dots to help us with adding and subtracting, including questions that involved exchanging. Everyone showed great determination and growing confidence.

Our science lessons took us into the world of vertebrates, where we explored different animal groups and sorted them based on their skeletons. The children loved investigating and comparing the features of each group.

In history, we learned about how the suffragettes were treated in prison. We wrote diary entries in the role of Emmeline Pankhurst, showing real empathy and understanding of her bravery and determination.

This week in DT, we began designing our cushions for our textiles unit. The children enjoyed thinking about patterns, colours and what makes a good design. In reading, we explored exciting extracts from Varjak, discussing the characters and building our comprehension skills.

Gymnastics has been full of energy as we continued working on our vaulting skills using the vault tables and the trampette. We focussed carefully on our take-offs and landings. During our circuit we practised skipping, handstand shapes and front support walking to build upper body strength, before finishing with rope climbing.

We enjoyed another lovely French lesson with Madame Wardle, practising our numbers and growing in confidence with our speaking. In computing, we continued editing our animations, improving the timing and movement in each frame. In PSHE, we explored different families and friendships and discussed how we show respect to everyone.

As part of Interfaith Week, we learned about different faiths and focussed on the Golden Rule. We made our own Golden Rule chain to remind us of the importance of kindness and treating others as we wish to be treated.

A real highlight of our week was taking part in wheelchair sports. Everyone had the chance to use a sports wheelchair and we loved playing wheelchair tig and wheelchair ball games, it was a brilliant experience for us all.

A busy, exciting and very successful week in Year 3! Well done everyone! 

Autumn 2 Week 2- wb: 10.11.25

What an action-packed week we have had in Year 3!

In English, we have continued to explore our vehicle text The Iron Man. The children have produced some fantastic character descriptions using similes to bring their writing to life. We have also focused on developing our writing knowledge by planning our very own “approaching threat” narratives. Next week we will be writing our final pieces, and we are so excited to see all the wonderful ideas come together!

In Maths, we have been working hard on expanded column addition and subtraction. We have used these methods not only to calculate, but also to reason and problem-solve, such brilliant mathematical thinking on display!

During Reading, we’ve enjoyed extracts from Charlotte’s Web. The class has been practising how to find evidence in the text to support their ideas and answers, super reading detectives!

In History, we learned all about the suffragettes and the inspirational Emmeline Pankhurst. We explored how women fought for equality and campaigned for the right to vote.

In Design and Technology, we learned how to sew a cross stitch. It was very tricky, but Year 3 showed amazing perseverance!

In Computing, the children had great fun creating their own animated movies, bringing stories to life through simple animation techniques.

In Science, we explored the human skeleton and muscular system. We discovered why we need both, how some muscles work in pairs, and even practised using a few of them ourselves!

In RE, we have begun our learning about Christmas, focusing on how Christians celebrate the arrival of Emmanuel which means Jesus, “God with us.”

This week in Gymnastics, we continued developing our vaulting skills. After practising take-offs and dismounts from a stationary position last week, we progressed to using a run-up—everyone showed brilliant control and confidence!

In French, we learnt some lively playground rhymes, which were great fun to practise together.

This week was also Anti-Bullying Week. On Monday, we proudly wore our odd socks to celebrate uniqueness and raise awareness. We took part in the BBC live lesson and learnt how we can use our power for good and stand up for others safely.

Finally, today we celebrated Children in Need! The children looked amazing in their Pudsey-inspired outfits and showed great enthusiasm for such an important cause.

Another brilliant week in Year 3, well done everyone! 🌟

Autumn 2 Week 1 - wb: 03.11.25

What a fantastic (and very busy!) first week back after half term it has been in Year 3! Everyone has returned full of energy and enthusiasm, ready for an exciting half term of learning.

In Maths, we have been recapping our understanding of odd and even numbers, as well as practising rounding, and using our skills to add and subtract mentally across 10. We’ve also been learning to use dashes and dots to help us visualise and solve addition and subtraction problems – the children have really impressed us with their focus and problem-solving skills!

In English, we have started our brand-new novel, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. The children have loved exploring the striking illustrations and have been using these to discuss the setting and main characters. We even wrote some brilliant kenning poems to describe the characters – they were creative, descriptive, and full of imagination!

Our new History topic this half term is Women Who Changed the World. We began by exploring what life was like for Victorian women and girls, comparing it to our lives today. This will help us build up to answering our big question: “Is equal always fair?” The children have already shared some thoughtful ideas and questions.

In Science, we’ve started our new topic, Animals Including Humans. We looked at the Eatwell Plate and learned about what makes a balanced diet. The children showed great understanding when discussing how to make healthy choices and why our bodies need different types of food.

In RE, we’ve been exploring different versions of the Nativity story. We noticed that, while the details can vary, all the stories share the same important message and overall plot.

In Computing, we have been learning about online safety, focusing particularly on Roblox and how to keep ourselves and others safe when playing online. We discussed how to make kind and respectful choices and what to do if we ever feel unsure or uncomfortable. This linked beautifully to our PSHE lesson, where we thought about friendship and respect, and how our actions can help everyone feel included and valued.

In PE, we enjoyed a fantastic gymnastics session with Mrs Winward, where we worked on balance, coordination, and moving with control and confidence. The children had a wonderful time showing off their skills and supporting one another.

Finally, in our Outdoor Active Learning (OAL) session, we linked our Science learning by investigating human and animal skeletons. We explored the similarities and differences between them and discussed the important roles our bones and muscles play in helping us move and stay protected. We also learned about vertebrates and invertebrates, and the children loved classifying different animals.

It’s been a wonderful start to the half term – we can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Autumn 1 Week 8: wb- 20.10.25

Autumn 1 Week 7- wb 13.10.25

In Maths, we’ve been learning how to add using the column method. We’ve practised exchanging and now feel much more confident with this tricky but important skill. Next week, we’ll be moving on to subtraction with exchange – we can’t wait to put our knowledge into action!

In English, we have been exploring different sentence types to make our writing more interesting and descriptive. We then planned and wrote the beginning of our own innovated versions of Akimbo and the Elephant. We have so many creative stories, including Akimbo and the Duck-Beaked Platypus and Akimbo and the Lion! We are really proud of our imaginative ideas.

In Spelling, we’ve been recapping our Year 2 learning and working hard to build on our spelling skills.

In Geography, we looked at how extreme weather and climate change are affecting people’s lives around the world. It was eye-opening to learn how these changes impact different communities.

In RE, we compared harvest festivals celebrated across the world and discovered the many ways people give thanks for their food.

In Computing, we identified the physical components of a network and learned more about how computers connect and share information.

In PSHE, we discussed what makes friends special and how we can show kindness and understanding towards others.

In Science, we explored different types of soil and investigated why they are all so different. We enjoyed comparing their similarities and differences during our experiments.

In Music, we have been performing as part of an ensemble, singing in two parts and following the directions of our conductor. Our teamwork and listening skills are really shining through!

In PE, we’ve been working on our passing for possession skills and had a brilliant time showcasing our gymnastics routines. The showcase was truly amazing and even brought tears of joy! Mrs Harrison has kindly uploaded it to Seesaw so everyone can watch it again and again.

Finally, we had a special visit from the BwD Road Safety Team for a fantastic workshop. We enjoyed the role play activities and learned all about different pedestrian crossings. We also heard about the exciting “Design a High-Vis Jacket” competition — our creative entries are already looking wonderful! Don’t forget, designs are due in by Wednesday 22nd October. Today, Jackie from the BwD library service came into see us all too. She explained how we can access the library services we have locally and we played some super games. 

What a brilliant week, Year 3 — well done everyone for your hard work and enthusiasm! 🌟

Autumn 1 Week 6- wb: 06.10.25

What a fantastic and busy week we've had in Year 3!

In Maths, we’ve been brave bananas, showing great determination as we tackled the challenge of crossing the hundred when adding and subtracting multiples of 10. We’ve also worked hard to make connections between number sentences, helping us to deepen our understanding and become more confident mathematicians.

In English, our focus has been the story Akimbo and the Elephant. We’ve enjoyed retelling the story orally and exploring the thoughts and feelings of the main character through discussion and drama. A highlight of the week was debating whether Akimbo and his father should adopt the orphaned elephant and bring it back to the compound. We gave thoughtful reasons for our ideas and used persuasive language to write a heartfelt note from Akimbo to his father. The emotive language we used was truly impressive!

In Geography, we’ve been learning about some of the hottest and driest places on Earth. We explored what life is like in a tropical desert climate and learned about the Bedouin people who live there.

RE and Outdoor Adventurous Learning (OAL) came together this week in a brilliant joint session with Year 1. We learned about the Jewish festival of Sukkot and even built our own Sukkahs in the woods—it was such a fun and meaningful experience!

In Computing, we explored how digital devices are connected and how they can work together.
In PSHE, our focus has been on problem-solving and finding peaceful resolutions.
In Art, we’ve been developing our ideas for 3D sculptures—we’re really looking forward to bringing them to life in the coming weeks.
In Gymnastics, we’ve been adding the final touches to our showcase routine, which is looking absolutely amazing!

We’ve also been working hard practising for our upcoming Harvest class worship, which takes place in church this Sunday. We can’t wait to share it with you.

Our World Faith focus this week has been Navaratri, the Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

To top it all off, we had an exciting Battle of the Bands on TT Rockstars against Year 2—and Year 3 were victorious! Well done, everyone!

On Friday, we proudly wore yellow to support the Hello Yellow campaign, raising awareness for mental health. A huge thank you to everyone who took part.

What a brilliant week!

Autumn 1 Week 5: Wb 29.09.25
In Maths we’ve been working really hard on adding and subtracting multiples of 10 and 100. We have also been spotting number patterns and practising adding 1s across a 10 and 100. Everyone has shown fantastic determination and accuracy – well done Year 3! Mrs Harrison’s socks have been well and truly blown off this week by our amazing information texts in English! After lots of careful planning and research, we have written beautiful non-chronological reports all about Africa. The children should be so proud of the detail and presentation in their work. In computing, we have been learning about computer networks and how they can be used to share information. The children were fascinated to discover how computers ‘talk’ to each other. In Geography we’ve loved exploring the polar regions and learning about the tundra biome. We investigated the polar climate zone and discovered how different animals adapt to survive in such extreme environments. In science, we have been finding out how fossils are formed. We explored the process step by step and used our new key vocabulary, including sedimentary rocks. Our gymnastics practice is going from strength to strength as we prepare for our upcoming showcase. We are so excited to perform for parents and family members soon! In art, we have been experimenting with joining different materials when working in 3D. The children enjoyed testing out new techniques and creating unique pieces. We had a wonderful spirituality afternoon this week, focusing on our school vision: As God’s family, together we achieve. We learned about how St Paul wrote letters to the Romans, reminding them that all parts of the body need to work together to be the best they can be. We reflected on the special gifts God has given each of us and how we can use these gifts to help others. We even created a news report to share our ideas – you can watch it here...Year 3 Spirituality afternoon | Hoddlesden St Paul's Church of England Primary School We started our week with a flourish, we enjoyed a fantastic dance workshop with Dance Syndrome. The energy, creativity, and teamwork were amazing to see! What a wonderful week of learning, exploring, and celebrating together. Well done Year 3 – you have been shining stars!

Autumn 1 Week 4: wb-22.09.25

In English, we have been working hard on writing our own retells of The Fire Children – and what superb stories they were! We have now begun reading Akimbo and the Elephants and exploring The Elephant poem by the same author. We didn’t just read them – we performed them too, using tone, intonation and volume to bring the words to life.

In Maths, we have been counting in fifties and spotting patterns. We also began our new addition and subtraction unit, learning how to add and subtract 1-digit numbers from 3-digit numbers and applying our number bonds to help us solve problems.

In Geography, we travelled the world through our learning about different climates and biomes. It has been fascinating to see how people, animals, and plants adapt to their environments.

In RE, we looked at the Hindu festival of Pongal. We created a timeline to help us understand the traditions and order of events in this special celebration.

In Computing, we discussed how different devices can change the way we work – thinking carefully about the benefits and challenges of technology.

In PSHE, we had some brilliant discussions about white lies (very interesting debates and revelations!) and talked about how we can look after our special people.

In Art, we put our design skills to the test by joining 2D shapes to make 3D structures. It was tricky, but very rewarding to see our creations take shape.

In Science, we learnt the word porous and carried out a fun experiment to test which rocks were porous, whether they floated or sank, and if they could be scratched.

In Music, we explored vocabulary such as verse, accompanied and unaccompanied, round and canon. We also had fun copying back melodies and improving our listening skills.

In Gymnastics, we have been practising our routine ready for our showcase – which all parents have been emailed about. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on!

On Friday was our brilliant MacMillan Coffee Morning and we were all treated to a delicious cake for a good cause.

Autumn 1 Week 3- wb : 15.09.25

What a brilliant week we’ve had in Year 3!

In English, we’ve been diving even deeper into our class text, using our inference skills to explore the thoughts and feelings of the characters Ako Yaa and Kwaku Ananse. The children have really impressed us with how carefully they’ve been thinking about what the characters might be experiencing, even when it’s not written directly in the text. We used everything we’d learned to write diary entries in role – full of emotion, reflection, and brilliant vocabulary choices. Later in the week, we took on a new challenge: writing a diary entry as one of the Fire Children. It was amazing to see how confidently the children applied their skills, imagining what it would feel like to be breathed life into like of the The Fire Children.

In maths, we’ve been exploring number lines up to 1,000. We’ve practised estimating where numbers would sit and explaining our reasoning using place value knowledge. It’s been fantastic to see the children growing more confident at spotting patterns and justifying their answers — we’ve even had a few lively maths debates in class!

Science has been particularly exciting this week as we carried out our rock hardness investigation. The children tested a range of rocks to find out which were hard and which were softer – lots of hands-on exploration and careful observations! We then discussed why certain rocks are better suited for specific everyday uses, like building materials or kitchen worktops.

In geography, we’ve been travelling (with our imaginations!) to the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. We’ve learned where they are located on the globe and why they’re so important when it comes to climate and seasons. The children were fascinated to discover how the sun’s position affects the temperatures of different places around the world.

Music has been full of energy and creativity this week! We’ve been learning the traditional round London’s Burning and then innovating the lyrics to create our own verses. The children absolutely loved performing in rounds and listening carefully to stay in time – it was a real team effort and lots of fun. In RE, we have explored harvest festivals all around the world, such as the rice festival in Bali and Erntedankfest in Germany. We looked at the similarities and differences between the different festivals. 

In PE, we’ve been working on our passing accuracy, focusing on control, direction and teamwork. Everyone is really starting to think carefully about how to pass with precision. Over in gymnastics, we’ve been practising and refining our showcase routine, adding in balance, strength and control – it’s coming together beautifully, and we can’t wait to show it off!

We are so proud of how focused, enthusiastic and creative the children have been this week. Keep it up, Year 3 – you’re doing an amazing job!

Autumn 1 Week 2- wb: 08.09.25

Year 3 have had a busy and exciting week at St Paul’s Hoddlesden!

In English, we have continued exploring our new text The Fire Children, focusing on using adjectives to create expanded noun phrases and on uplevelling our vocabulary to make our writing more vivid. We experimented with different word classes to describe the setting and discussed how the main character’s feelings change as the story unfolds.

In Maths, we carried on with our place value unit. Everyone showed a fantastic understanding of hundreds, tens and ones by partitioning numbers to 1000 in a variety of ways- great job, Year 3!

Our new enquiry question in Geography is Why is climate important? This week we learned to identify the Equator as well as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, setting the stage for deeper climate investigations.

In RE, we reflected on the Christian belief about harvest and worked together to create a beautiful Thankfulness Tree in our classroom, reminding us to appreciate the world around us.

In PE, we practised passing for possession and scoring goals. We also feel very lucky to have Mrs Winward, our gymnastics specialist, teaching us new skills this term.

Our musical focus was singing in unison and in rounds, helping us to listen carefully and keep in time. In Art, we have investigated the sculpture artist, Anthony Caro and sketched some of his work. 

In Computing, we explored how digital devices function, discovering the connections between inputs, processes and outputs.

Two special visitors made this week even more exciting. Life Education helped us learn fascinating facts about our bodies and brains, and a thrilling Science show about forces gave us an early peek at concepts we’ll revisit later in the year.

We have been working hard on our 2 and 5 times tables, with many children proudly earning their prestigious Times Table Badges. Keep practising at home, and don’t forget TT Rockstars is ready to help!

Well done Year 3, your hard work and enthusiasm shine through everything you do.

Autumn 1 Week 1- wb 01.09.25

What a brilliant first week we’ve had in Year 3 at Hoddlesden St Paul’s! We’ve hit the ground running and already learned so much.

In English, we began our brand new text The Fire Children. We looked closely at the front cover and the opening pages before making our own predictions about what might happen next. We also explored what a folk tale is and thought about the special features these stories often have.

In Maths, we have been busy recapping place value up to 100. We practised partitioning numbers in lots of different ways and challenged ourselves to explain our thinking clearly.

In Science, we launched our new topic all about rocks. We worked scientifically by carefully observing and categorising different rocks based on their appearance and physical characteristics.

In French, we enjoyed recapping some of our Year 2 learning through fun games. It was a great way to refresh our memories!

In PE, we started our “Passing for Possession” unit. Through football-linked games, we’ve been practising our passing skills and learning how to work together as a team.

In RE, we began exploring the theme of Harvest, looking at where harvest is mentioned in the Bible and why it is such an important time of year.

We also had some important discussions about Online Safety, thinking carefully about safe and unsafe scenarios we might come across online.

Another big achievement this week was creating our very own Year 3 Class Contract. Together, we agreed on rules to help us work happily and safely all year. Everyone has signed it to show their promise. Finally, we each set ourselves a personal goal for something we would like to achieve in Year 3.

It’s been a fantastic start to our journey, and we are excited to see what next week brings!