W/b 13/07/26
Last Week of Y3!
Wow, what a year it has been! It doesn't seem that long ago at all that we walked into our Year 3 classroom at the beginning of September, but what an amazing journey it has been. We have all grown so much throughout the year, both in our learning and in our confidence, and we have had so much fun along the way.
This week, we took a trip down memory lane by looking back through our class webpage and remembering all of the fantastic experiences we have shared together. We then used those memories to write letters to the children who will be joining Year 3 in September. We remembered how exciting (but sometimes a little daunting) it felt to move into a new class, and we wanted to reassure them that Year 3 is full of exciting opportunities, new friendships and lots of fun!
Some of our favourite memories from this year included:
Looking back has reminded us just how much we have achieved together. We are incredibly proud of everything the children have accomplished this year and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow into confident, kind and enthusiastic learners.
We would also like to say a huge thank you to all of our parents and carers for your continued support and encouragement throughout the year. It has been greatly appreciated. We are also incredibly grateful for the thoughtful end-of-year gifts and contributions we have received. Your kindness and generosity mean so much to us, although please know that gifts are never expected. Seeing the children's progress and enthusiasm throughout the year has been more than enough. Thank you once again for helping to make this such a wonderful year.
We hope everyone has a wonderful, well-deserved summer break, and we wish all of our Year 3 children the very best of luck as they begin their Year 4 adventure in September. We know they will all continue to shine!
From Mr Robinson, Miss Dixon and Mrs Jude.
W/b 6/7/2026
Enrichment Week – World Cup.
This week, we took part in Enrichment Week, with all of our activities centred around the FIFA World Cup. We explored the history, geography, teamwork and excitement of one of the world's biggest sporting events through a range of creative and engaging lessons.
On Monday, we learned about the history of the World Cup, discovering how the tournament began and how it has grown over the years. We used our research to create informative fact files, sharing interesting facts about the competition.
On Tuesday, we researched different countries taking part in the World Cup and produced fact files to learn more about their geography, culture and traditions. In English, we also let our imaginations run wild by inventing shocking World Cup events, such as Cape Verde beating Argentina in the final or turtles storming the pitch and blocking the goal! We then used these exciting ideas to write our own newspaper reports.
On Wednesday, we continued developing our newspaper reports, thinking carefully about headlines, quotes and eyewitness accounts to make our stories sound realistic. We also completed a teamwork challenge, where we worked in groups of five or six to keep a balloon in the air while holding hands the whole time. This tested our communication, cooperation and problem-solving skills.
On Thursday, we completed our newspaper reports before designing and creating flags from different countries taking part in the World Cup. It was wonderful to see so many colourful and carefully crafted designs.
Today, we finished the week by becoming sports commentators! We watched goals from England World Cup matches and practised commentating on the action, using expressive voices and exciting vocabulary to recreate the atmosphere of a real football match.
It has been a super fun week full of learning all centred around the excitement of the World Cup!
W/b 29/6/26
PE - Golf
This week, we enjoyed our first golf lesson in PE and began learning the basic skills needed to play the game.
We started by learning how to hold a golf club correctly, making sure our grip and stance would help us control the ball safely and accurately. We also learned about the scoring system used in golf and discovered how players aim to complete each hole in as few shots as possible.
Once we had practised the basics, we took part in a fun golf challenge. We had to carefully guide our golf balls around a course, avoiding cones that acted as hazards. This encouraged us to think about the power and direction of each shot, as well as showing patience and perseverance when things didn't quite go to plan.
Throughout the lesson, we developed our coordination, accuracy and concentration while learning the importance of honesty and respect, which are key values in the game of golf.
We had a fantastic first session and are looking forward to developing our skills and taking on new challenges in the coming weeks.
W/b 15/06/26
Pedestrian Training
Over the last three Thursday mornings, we have been taking part in pedestrian training to help us learn how to stay safe when walking near and crossing roads. The training took place in two groups, with each group taking turns to participate.
During the first week, we stayed in the classroom and learned about the Green Cross Code. We discussed why road safety is important and explored the steps we should follow before crossing a road safely. We learned that the Green Cross Code tells us to stop, look, listen and think and came up with actions to remember this.
Over the following two weeks, we put our learning into practice outside. We worked with the trainers to identify safe places to cross and practised the key steps of crossing a road correctly. We learned to:
The practical sessions helped us to build our confidence and develop important skills that we can use every day when out and about with our families.
We were very sensible and responsible throughout the training and listened carefully to the instructions given. By taking part in these sessions, we have gained valuable knowledge that will help us stay safe near roads now and in the future.
This week, we enjoyed an exciting Sports Day, taking part in a variety of events in our house groups: Tyne, Angel, Baltic and Glasshouse. We were also delighted to welcome parents and family members, who came along to support and cheer us on throughout the day.
Throughout the event, we showed determination, teamwork, and excellent sportsmanship as we competed in a range of activities. These included:
Everyone worked hard to earn points for their house while encouraging and supporting their teammates. It was wonderful to see pupils trying their best, celebrating each other's successes, and demonstrating resilience when faced with challenges.
The obstacle relay and egg and spoon races brought plenty of excitement and laughter, while the running events gave us the chance to show our speed, stamina, and determination. The speed stacks and throwing events tested our coordination and accuracy, and the howlers flew impressively across the field!
A huge thank you to all the parents and family members who came to watch and support us. Your encouragement helped to make the day even more special.
We are incredibly proud of the effort, enthusiasm, and positive attitudes shown by everyone throughout the day. Sports Day was a fantastic celebration of teamwork, perseverance, and having fun while being active. Well done to all of our pupils for making it such a memorable event!
W/b 01/06/26
PE - Tennis
On Wednesday afternoon, we welcomed a tennis coach to school for the first of our tennis sessions. We are excited that the coaching will continue for the rest of the half term, giving us lots of opportunities to develop our skills and confidence.
We started by learning the ready position, making sure we were balanced, focused, and prepared to move quickly in any direction.
Next, we worked on our ball-tracking skills. We practised by dropping a ball and carefully watching it as it moved. We called out “bounce” when the ball hit the ground and “catch” when we caught it. This helped us improve our concentration, timing, and hand-eye coordination.
We then moved on to working with a partner. Using a pretend net between us, we practised sending and receiving the ball, focusing on control, accuracy, and communication. It was great to see everyone encouraging each other and persevering as they developed their skills.
We had a fantastic first session and are looking forward to building on what we have learned over the coming weeks.
This week in English, we celebrated Poetry Week and explored lots of different ways poems can be written, performed, and enjoyed.
On Monday, we began by learning about the structure of poems. We explored rhyme schemes and identified patterns in different poems, thinking carefully about how poets organise their ideas and words.
On Tuesday, we used our five senses to inspire our own poetry writing. After being given a title, we thought about what we could see, hear, smell, taste, and feel to help make our poems more descriptive and imaginative.
Wednesday was all about performance! We practised reading poems aloud with expression and confidence. We especially enjoyed performing Walking with my Iguana and The Sound Collector, using our voices and actions to bring the poems to life.
On Thursday, we wrote creative poems beginning with If I Were A… We used our imaginations to think about what life would be like as different animals or objects. Some of our ideas included:
Throughout the week, we developed our creativity, performance skills, and understanding of how poets use language to entertain and paint pictures in the reader’s mind. We have loved expressing ourselves through poetry and sharing our ideas with one another.
In Guided Reading this week, we explored the book 'Viking Longship' and used a collaborative learning strategy called jigsaw groups to help us become experts on different topics.
First, we worked in our home groups to think of questions we wanted to answer about the text. We focused on different areas linked to Viking life and longships.
Next, everyone who had the same topic joined together in an expert group. In these groups, we carefully read the text, discussed ideas, and searched for answers to our questions. We worked together to become “experts” in our special area.
After gathering our information, we returned to our original groups and shared what we had learned. By teaching each other, we were able to build a much bigger understanding of Viking longships and life in Viking times.
Through this activity, we practised:
We enjoyed learning from one another and discovering how teamwork can help us understand a text in greater depth.
W/b 4/5/26
Science – Celery Experiment
This week in Year 3, we carried out a fun science experiment to help us understand how plants move water from their roots to their leaves.
We placed fresh celery stalks into cups of water mixed with red food colouring and made predictions about what might happen. At first, we couldn’t see much change, but after leaving the celery for a while, we noticed something exciting — the tiny tubes inside the celery had turned red, and even the edges of the leaves started to change colour!
This helped us see that water travels through tiny tubes inside plants called xylem. The coloured water moved up through the celery just like water moves through a real plant stem.
We enjoyed making predictions, observing changes, and discussing our results together. It was wonderful to see science happening right in front of our eyes
This week in history, we explored the fascinating world of Anglo-Saxon beliefs and gods. We learned about the different deities that were important to Anglo-Saxon culture and discovered how they were connected to both Roman and Viking gods. It was interesting to see how these belief systems overlapped, with many gods sharing similar roles or characteristics across different cultures.
We compared the Anglo-Saxon gods to their Roman and Norse counterparts, noticing both similarities and differences in how they were worshipped and understood. This helped us build a deeper understanding of how ancient societies explained the world around them.
To bring our learning to life, we created our own Top Trumps cards based on the gods we studied. We included key information and ranked their powers and attributes, which made the activity both creative and fun. It was a great way to review what we had learned while also enjoying a bit of friendly competition.
Overall, it was an engaging week where we combined history, creativity, and comparison to better understand Anglo-Saxon beliefs.
Friday 24th April 2026
Library Visit
This afternoon, we enjoyed a wonderful visit to Crawcrook Library. We began by listening to a story read by the librarian, Kyle. He chose The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, and the children listened beautifully, showing great focus and enthusiasm.
After the story, the children worked together in groups to create their own imaginative crayons, each with a unique set of superpowers. They showed fantastic teamwork and creativity! Here are some of their ideas:
Following this, the children had time to explore the library and enjoy browsing the children’s section, choosing books that interested them.
Kyle was very impressed with the children’s behaviour, praising how sensible they were and how well they listened throughout the visit. The adults were incredibly proud of everyone—it was a fantastic trip!