Spring Term Highlights fom Year 3

It has been a brilliant Spring Term in Year 3! The children have shown fantastic enthusiasm, curiosity, and growing maturity in every subject. Their increasing independence and willingness to challenge themselves has been wonderful to see, and I am incredibly proud of the progress they continue to make each day.

Writing

This term, our class reader has been the exciting and vividly written The Firework Maker’s Daughter. The children have loved immersing themselves in its adventurous plot and rich descriptive language. Using the text as inspiration, we have focused on developing key writing skills, including:

• Adverbials of time, manner, and place to add detail and control the flow of ideas
• Compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, or, so and yet
• Comparative and superlative adjectives to enhance description and compare characters, settings, and events

It has been fantastic to see the children applying these skills in their independent writing—our Year 3 authors have produced some beautifully detailed sentences and descriptive paragraphs.

Maths

In Maths, we have been focusing on multiplication, deepening our understanding of equal groups, arrays, and the relationship between repeated addition and times tables. The children have worked hard to recall and apply their 3s, 4s, and 8s multiplication facts and solve problems using efficient strategies. Their confidence and fluency have developed brilliantly.

Alongside this, we developed strong foundations in division, learning how to share and group practically and how division links closely with multiplication. The children used concrete resources, drawings, and number facts to solve division problems with growing confidence. Their perseverance and enthusiasm have been fantastic—well done, Year 3!

Science

In Science this term, Year 3 have been investigating different types of rocks, including sandstone, granite, limestone, marble, and slate. The children explored each rock sample closely, learning to observe and compare their properties.

We carried out a series of tests to find out whether each rock was:

• Rough or smooth
• Soft or hard
• Permeable or impermeable

The children used careful observation, gentle scratching, and water testing to help classify each rock. They were fascinated to discover how differently the rocks behaved — for example, how some absorbed water while others stayed completely dry, and how some could be scratched easily while others were very strong and hard.

Design & Technology (DT)

In DT this term, Year 3 have been busy designing and making their very own photo frames. The children began by exploring different frame designs and thinking carefully about how to make a structure stable and strong. Using cardboard, they created their frames, cutting and shaping the material with care.

Some children chose to make hangers, allowing their frames to be displayed on walls, while others designed stands so their frames could stand upright independently. They experimented with different joining techniques to make sure their frames were secure and could support their design. (see photos)

Geography

In Geography, we have been learning about the layers of the Earth and how volcanoes are formed. The children explored the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core, developing a strong understanding of how our planet is structured. We also investigated how movement of tectonic plates can create volcanoes, and the features of an eruption. The children were fascinated by the dramatic landscapes created by volcanic activity and asked fantastic questions throughout the topic.