Year 3

Here are our Year 3 School Council representatives. These members have been elected by their peers, using a democratic process in line with our British Values. These children attend special meetings weekly and conduct roles around school. They represent the views of our Year 3 pupils. Congratulations on this special role during this academic year. We are very proud of you! 

On Friday 15th March, Year 3 completed a local area walk of Beeston with a focus on the different economic activity within the area. In pairs, we used a clipboard with a map and when stopping at the different points, we traced our route onto the map. Although we all know the area well and travel through Beeston everyday to get to school, it made us realise how much different economic activity takes place everyday from supermarkets to pharmacies and beauty salons to post offices.... the list goes on! When we got back to school, we plotted our route onto a fresh map and used OS symbols to plot the different features. 

What economic activity is there in Beeston? Make sure you quiz the Year 3 children - they will be able to tell you lots!

Our Geography topic this half term is all about our local area. During our first two lessons, we have used Digimap to explore the location of Leeds and Beeston and the different features here. In our first lesson, we were able to identify that we live on the continent of Europe, in the country of England, in the county of West Yorkshire, in the city of Leeds and in the suburb of Beeston. In our second lesson, we were able to locate our primary school and identify the rivers and canals in Leeds, the motorways, A roads and B roads in our local areas as well as our local amenities. Our next lesson will involve some fieldwork and exploring Beeston for economic activity - watch out for more pictures at the end of this week!

An enormous well done to our amazing Year 3 class - we are so so proud of you all! Following our recent inspection on 22nd and 23rd November 2023 and 25th January 2024, OFSTED have rated St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School as ‘Outstanding’ for its overall effectiveness as a school. As always, the children showed themselves to be hard-working, persevering and kind-hearted individuals. Let's continue to reach for the stars!

Year 3 have started their exciting new Science topic all about rocks. Today we were junior geologists, observing a range of rocks and describing their properties. As all scientists do, we recorded our observations carefully using a range of scientific vocabulary. We looked at sandstone, pumice, granite, chalk, marble and gneiss, discussing their appearance and texture. Our Science learning links beautifully with our History topic, the Stone Age. Take a look at some of our work in action and our displays as they unfold!

On Tuesday 9th January, Miss Taylor and Miss Leonard had the exciting opportunity to take a group of KS2 children to Sheffield Arena to enjoy the experience of performing live as an audience of over 4,500 children. It was truly wonderful to experience this joy of singing together. The children were an absolute credit to themselves, school and their families, experiencing the exhilarating experience of performing to a real audience (that filled Sheffield Arena!).

We looked at how animations are a series of still images stitched together to create a motion video. The children explored how animations can be created using on-screen or off-screen (flipbooks) images. We created our own simple flipbook and then went on to use software to create a Christmas themed on-screen animation.

Year 3 received a visit from The Leeds City Council Road Safety Team to talk about Road Safety. This lesson built upon the training from EYFS and KS1 on road safety, wearing a seatbelt and crossing the road safety. It moved the children into understanding the importance of wearing a seat belt and a car seat in order to keep themselves and others safe in any car. The children learnt about types of car seats children wear depending on their age, how to wear a seatbelt safely and also looked at the impact of a car crash and the injuries it can cause. The children were really engaged in the workshop and loved sharing their ideas on how to stay safe whilst in a car.

On Wednesday 8th November, Year 3 visited York Chocolate Story to launch their new class novel 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and the History topic: the Mayan Civilisation. It was a jam packed day with a workshop and a guided tour around the museum! We learnt about how chocolate begins as a cocoa bean and the process it goes through to become a chocolate bar; we decorated our own chocolate lolly; we found about about the history of the different chocolatiers and confectioners in York and finally, created our very own version of the first chocolate drink:  xocōlātl. Watch the videos below to what an amazing day we all had!

During Autumn 1, Year 3's class novel was 'Charlotte's Web.' The children were engrossed every single day and showed a mature understanding of the thoughts and feelings of the main characters! Firstly, we wrote our own shape poems after studying examples in our poetry collection: 'Apes to Zebras: An A-Z of Shape Poems.' Can you spot our poems inspired by Wilbur, Charlotte and Templeton on our display?

Furthermore, the entire class were appalled during chapter 7 at the thought that Mr Zuckerman planned to kill Wilbur! Therefore, we all wrote persuasive letters to Mr Zuckerman with all the reasons why he should not slaughter Wilbur. Have a read of our letters: do you think we managed to persuade him not to? 

The children in year 3 have been developing their understanding of digital devices, with an initial focus on inputs, processes, and outputs. We went on to apply this learning by using programs in conjunction with inputs and outputs on a digital device. They created two pieces of work with the same focus, using digital devices to create one piece of work, and non-digital tools to create the other. Then we compared and contrasted the two approaches. Look at all our super work!

Year 3 have made a super start to their Geography topic during Autumn 1: Weather and Climate. In their first lesson, they identified the different Lines of Latitude. In their second lesson, we used atlases to identify whether a country was positioned in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. They have continued to extend their learning in line with the explict content outlined in their knowledge organisers. They now know different climate zones and reasons why the climate changes in different locations. They have even explored extreme weather ... ask them all about it!

On Friday 13th October, Year 3 took the lead for our whole school Harvest Festival. The children re-enacted the story of The Feeding of the Five Thousand, demonstrating the importance of sharing what we have with others. They clearly showed our virtue of Thanksgiving! Our hall was full of our community, who all came to share in our Harvest Festival. What a beautiful celebration! Well done Year 3! You can watch our play below with our incredible Community of Faith in attendance. Thank you St Anthony's!

An enormous well done to the Year 3 children who attended Art Club every Thursday with Mrs Clark during Autumn 1 - look at the marvellous masterpieces they have created! 

On Monday 9th October, our Year 3 football team attended Fives in Seacroft. They showed incredible teamwork and skill which resulted in three wins! Well done! 

On Friday 6th October, we all enjoying attending our annual Macmillian Coffee Morning in our school hall. We all bought our donations and selected some scrumptious cakes and buns to eat. It was lovely to see lots of our parents and grandparents too!

A huge well done to Matylda who is Year 3's Mathlete of the Month.  Throughout September, she has achieved 9350 points on Mathletics - amazing home learning! We are very proud of your Matylda!

In PSHE, we thought about what a mission statement was and why it is important to have one for our class. Together we thought of the virtues we show in our classroom and around our school everyday and created the mission statement below. We have it displayed in our classroom to remind us all of what is important in Year 3 everyday...

Year 3 Mission Statement

In Year 3 we are growing on a journey with Jesus. We will do this by…

• Being helpful and respectful to each other.
• Showing love and care to our classroom equipment and environment.
• Showing perseverance and hard-work in everything that we do.
• Showing excitement but also bravery in all our subjects. 
• Showing our faith in Jesus through all our actions and in our daily prayers and worship.

Welcome to Year 3! 

 First of all, we would like to say a huge welcome back to school; we hope you all had a wonderful rest and are ready for a busy and exciting year in Year 3. We are really looking forward to getting to know you all and helping you shine brightly every single day!

 We hope you are ready because Year 3 is going to be an adventure: we have so many exciting topics, challenges and opportunities ahead of us in the coming months. A animal adventure, a delicious chocolate experience and incredible inventions are just some of the topics in Year 3! We are looking forward to working together with you to ensure you have a happy and memorable year. In order to achieve your potential, we ask for two key things from you: always try your best and believe in yourself. Trust us, if you believe in yourself, anything is possible. Every day is a new challenge! 

You are going to quickly discover just how much we love reading and look forward to sharing this passion with you. Our class library is well stocked and ready for you to dive into to discover a world of adventure and possibility: reading is the passport to never-ending travel and adventure! One of the best pieces of advice we can give to you is read, read and then read a little bit more! Read what you love and if you don't quite know what that is yet, we will find it for you!

Please see the table below for a weekly overview of who will be teaching you and your PE days:

Remember, the classroom is yours. Please share any ideas you have with us - we would love to hear them! We look forward to seeing you soon!

Mrs Barton and Mrs Nicholson 

x

During Summer 2, Year 3 were lucky enough to receive a visit from Catholic Care. During the workshop, we discussed how to deal with arguments and what trusted adults we can talk to. Well Done Year 3!

During Summer 2 Year 3 had a visit from D-Side as part of our PSHE curriculum. We learnt all about the dangers of smoking, how advertising of smoking has changed and what to do if someone offers us a cigarette. Well Done Year 3!

This half term, Year 3 have been learning all about India. We have been learning about where India is on a map and the mountains and rivers in India. Last week, we had an India Wonder Day. We researched India and made fact files, studied Indian art and even tried some different Indian foods. We had a fantastic day!

On Tuesday 6th June, we were visited by a qualified tennis coach from the John Charles Centre to take part in a 30-minute taster session. We learnt a variety of new skills in order to play tennis. Have a look at some of the pictures, we all worked really hard on refining our tennis skills!

On Thursday 25th May, Year 3 attended a cricket tournament at Hunslet Nelson Cricket Ground in Beeston. The children took part in various games of cricket against opponents. The team were delighted that they came second overall. Well done to all involved! Thank you to Mr Kearney who led the event and has prepared the children so well. 

During Summer 1 2023, Year 3 have designed and made fruit tarts. They started off by designing their fruit tarts according to a given budget and thinking about the costs of different fruits. The children also looked at what fruit grows during the season of Summer and what fruits are best to use at this time of year. Have a look at some pictures of us making and enjoying our fruit tarts!

During Summer 1 2023, Year 3 have been learning all about plants and what a plant needs to grow. We are currently investigating the question: Is my classroom an appropriate place for a plant to grow? We have looked at the role of light, water, nutrients  and air in the growing of a plant and how each one helps a plant to grow. Take a look at when we planted our flowers! We are making sure they are watered regularly and can't wait to see how they turn out!

Year 3 have been studying two Geography Units this academic year. They are currently learning more and remembering more about The Local Area of Beeston. They have begun to study the main physical and human features which make Beeston a special place to live. They are using maps to locate Beeston, both on local, regional and large scale maps. Previously, Year 3 learnt all about Climate and Weather, both in Leeds as well as around the world. We have some incredible Geographers in Year 3. When interviewed by Miss Leonard (Geography Leader) in May 2023, Sophie (Year 3) stated "Geography lessons are very factual and help me explore and question more about the world and my own community. I am especially enjoying learning more about my own community of Beeston." Gabriel (Year 3) added "Geography lessons are amazing and interesting! They help me to learn all about different climates and places around the world." We are so proud to have such enquiring Geographers in our midst in Year 3. Look at some of our work from our Geography books in Year 3. We are very proud of our learning. 

As part of our Rocks and Fossils topic, Year 3 have been studying the famous fossil hunter, Mary Anning. We have researched her life and discoveries and have thought about what life was like for a female scientist in the 1800's. We have written diary entries from the perspective of Mary Anning around the time she discovered the ichthyosaur. Have a look at some of our fantastic writing!

Year 3 carried out an investigation to find out which soil was the most and least permeable. To do this, we used funnels, 3 different types of soils, beakers and timers. We started off by planning our investigation and thinking about what we would need, what we would keep the same to make it a fair test and made predictions for what we thought would happen. We then started our investigation by pouring the same amount of water on top of the soil and timed how long it took to filter through the paper and into the funnel. We then wrote up what we found out, we loved investigating the different types of soils!

Year 3 made a dirt pudding to model the different layers of the Earth to help us remember them! We made it in a clear plastic cup so the layers can be seen easily.  Each ingredient we used represents a different layer:

 Red ice cream sauce to  represent the mantle, inner and outer core

On Tuesday 14th March 2023, Year 3 were lucky enough to spend the day at Skelton Grange Environmental Centre. The focus of the day The Stone Age. We had a fantastic day and took part in so many wonderful activities during the day, such as experiencing first hand what it would have been like completing every day tasks in the Stone age, for example eating and drinking. We also took part in gutting and cooking our own fish and bread, hunted animals using Stone age weaponry and looked at how outdoor resources were used to help the Stone Age people survive and male shelter. 

Take a look at the video below with some highlights from our wonderful day of History learning!

We are very proud of our Year 3 PE Curriculum. Watch our video to find out more! 

On Thursday 26th January, Year 3 took part in an archery workshop with Premier PE to further develop their skills within our extended PE curriculum. The children loved the session and were able to demonstrate great precision, aiming skills and accuracty. By the end of the lesson, there was a clear end point with all children able to hit and fire the arrows with precision, accuracy and skill. Well done to everyone in Year 3!

HISTORY: THE ROMANS

On Wednesday 25th January 2023, Year 3 were immersed in a Wonder Day of first hand learning linked to their ongoing curriculum for History. A visiting drama group brought the topic alive by allowing the children to re-enact Roman times and handle a range of replica sources of evidence from the era. Our children were so excited and could remember more and retained more key knowledge from our bespoke History curriculum as a result. We are so proud of you Year 3!

On Tuesday 24th January, the children in Year 3 were lucky enough to receive a workshop from Virtual Reality. The focus of the workshop was 'The Romans'. The children were able to look at key buildings in Roman History such as the colosseum and houses the Roman people used to live in. The children were able to recall knowledge from their History lessons and apply this to the workshop. The children loved the session and expanded their knowledge on the Romans. Well Done to everyone in Year 3!

As part of our History topic, Year 3 learnt about why the Roman Army were so powerful and how it helped them invade Britain.

We researched facts about the Roman Army and why it was the best around! Take a look at some of our super writing!

During Autumn 2 2022, our focus text was 'The Iron Man' by Ted Hughes. Our Year 3 pupils were captivated by the text, and the vocabulary and sentences held within it. We used this text to inspire both our reading and our writing, composing stories about How the Iron Man came to be. The children wrote some amazing stories - take a look above! Well done Year 3!

As part of our Science topic, the children in Year 3 took part in a Science investigation. The children were given two questions to investigate; do people with longer legs jump further and do people with longer arms throw further? The children planned their investigation, looked at variables and things they would change, things they would keep the same and made predictions about what they thought would happen. The children then completed the investigation. They started by measuring their legs and arms, they then jumped/threw a ball and measured how far they had jumped/how far the ball travelled to see if there was a link between people with longer arms and their legs if that affects the distance they jumped or threw the ball. The children loved investigating this question and were able to apply skills they have learnt in Maths into Science! They are in the process of communicating their results to Miss Leonard to let her know the outcome of the investigation. Check back for more pictures of this! Well done to everyone in Year 3!

Last Wednesday, some children from Year 3 attended a 5-a-side football tournament. The children played incredibly well, they won 3-0, drew 0-0 and won 2-1. Well Done to everyone involved!

On Wednesday 4th January, Year 3 were lucky enough to receive a ukulele taster and assessment session from Mr Lippert from Leeds Art Forms ahead of their lessons next half term. The children learnt how to hold a ukulele, the parts and notes of a ukulele and even learnt a song! Mr Lippert and I were so impressed with how quickly all the children picked up the skills needed to learn a play a song. I can't wait to see how you progress further when our weekly sessions begin in the second half of the year as part of our music curriculum provision!

Our Year 3 class have been studying a Geography unit on Weather during Half term 2. Miss Leonard (Geography Leader) was most impressed when she was visited by a group of Year 3 students who had made knowledge catchers to gather all the key learning from the topic. We have some weather experts in Year 3, able to use correct vocabulary for the topic and retain all the key learning intended. Miss Leonard was very impressed. Keep remembering this key knowledge in the long term Year 3. Your weather catchers were a brilliant idea to help you retain this information. 

This half term, Year 3 have been learning all about column addition in Maths. We have been looking at exchanging when adding and can explain when we need to exchange. We have also been trying really hard with our presentation in our books, making sure all of our numbers are lined up correctly. Have a look at some of our brilliant work!

On Wednesday 23rd November, Year 3 went to the cinema to see 'The Railway Children Return'. This was a free event, provided by the Into Film Festival. This festival allows children to watch, understand and make film in creative ways. The film linked to our topic from Autumn 1 on World War 2 and looked at evacuation and what this was like for children during the War. All the children really enjoyed the film and were able to make links with what they had learnt in History.

On Tuesday 15th November 2022, Year 3 received a visit from The Leeds City Council Road Safety Team to talk about Road Safety. This lesson built upon the training from EYFS and KS1 on road safety, wearing a seatbelt and crossing the road safety. It moved the children into understanding the importance of wearing a seat belt and a car seat in order to keep themselves and others safe in any car. The children learnt about types of car seats children wear depending on their age, how to wear a seatbelt safely and also looked at the impact of a car crash and the injuries it can cause. The children were really engaged in the workshop and loved sharing their ideas on how to stay safe whilst in a car. Well done Year 3!

On Wednesday, Year 3 were lucky enough to receive a workshop from Leeds Lieder as part of their 'Discovering Lieder' project. The children were lucky enough to listen to the classical singers perform a song in German and discussed the meaning of the song through the singers actions. The children really impressed the visitors with their ideas and provided some really thoughtful reflections on what the song meant to them. The children then wrote their own song with the support of the singers and performed this. Again, the children came up with some brilliant ideas and were able to talk about how to vary their pitch and tone throughout the song. Well Done Year 3, you were all amazing!

As part of our Forces and Motion topic, Year 3 have been learning about different types of forces and how they are used in everyday life. We carried out a fair test to see what surface a toy car would move best on. We made our test fair by ensuring we used the same toy car and the the same amount of force each time to push the toy car. We looked at tin foil, sandpaper, the table and carpet. We are going to carry on our fair test this week and see which surfaces the toy car moves best on outside.

Year 3's focus class novel, 'Friend or Foe' by Michael Morpurgo has inspired their writing this half term. Through making excellent links to WW2 in their History topic, Year 3 all wrote informal letters from an evacuee, which have been proudly displayed in their classroom. Alongside this, they have created WW2 Poetry, inspired by our focus poet this half term, Ted Hughes. Amazing work Year 3!

As part of our learning around Black History Week, we have been studying the artist Jean Michel Basquiat. We looked at different pieces of his artwork and found out that he uses the structure of the human body as inspiration for his paintings. We also looked at some of his street art and graffiti and had completed our own artwork in his style. We hope you enjoy looking at our finished pieces!

As part of our topic on World War 2, Year 3 have been learning about Anderson Shelters. We have looked at the different types of air raid shelter used in the war and how effective they were. 

We started off by designing our Air Raid Shelters and thinking about what materials we will use. We then made our Anderson Shelter using plastic bottles, lollipop sticks, felt and cardboard. We were all really creative with our shelters and worked really hard to make them unique!

We will evaluate and test our Air Raid Shelters effectiveness after the holidays. We hope you enjoy looking at our pictures of them!

Across school, all our classes are really enjoying the introduction of our new Poetry Spine. Year 3 are enjoying visiting our library and reading poems aloud. Ask us who is our focus poet and our focus anthology this term!

This week, some children from Year 3 represented St. Anthony’s in a five-a-side football tournament at Fives, Seacroft as part of a local schools tournament. The children played with teamwork and sportsmanship and were a credit to the school. Well done to everyone involved!

Eleven of our Year 3 pupils have recently joined our St Anthony's Chamber Choir. This is a highly talented group of individuals who sing in unison and perform at school and across our Diocese. We were invited to perform for Bishop Marcus at the Annual Headteacher's Mass at Leeds Cathedral on Thursday 15th September 2022. The headteachers in the congregation noted our exceptional singing and we were praised by Bishop Marcus. We sung a range of secular songs to link to the mass for the day. I am so proud of our new choir members. Well done St Anthony's. 

Welcome to Year 3!

I hope you have all had a fantastic summer holiday and have made lots of memories with your friends and family. I am really excited for the year ahead and to support you in your first year in Key Stage 2. I know you will all be amazing and will embrace all the challenges and opportunities this year brings. We will begin our year by learning all about World War 2, with a particular focus on what it was like for an 8 year old during the war. This is one of my favourite topics and I am so excited to share this with you.

This year, any updates will be posted onto the Google Classroom page. This includes spellings, letters and any other important information.

Below is some useful information for you before we start the year:

• PE will take place on Wednesday and Friday every week (PE will commence from Wednesday 7th September).
• Our meet the teacher evening will take place on Friday 9th September at 3:15pm in our school hall.
• Half termly newsletters (with key dates) and spellings can be found on the Year 3 class page.
• Remember to read at home every night.
• Practice your spellings every night.

Finally, enjoy the last weekend of the holidays and I look forward to meeting you all next week!

Miss Delaney

3-D Shapes! 

We had such a fun lesson building 3-D shapes using dry spaghetti and marshmallows! 

After learning so many different properties of shapes, the children were all superstars when making their own shapes. They knew exactly how many vertices and straight edges each shape needed, and worked as a team perfectly in order to assemble them. Well done!

Ace Gala

Year 3 had such a fantastic time at the Ace Gala this week. We were lucky enough to spend the whole day playing different sports, with fantastic coaching from the Ace Club staff! It was such a beautiful day outside, I think we might have some professionals in our class! Thank you so much to the Ace Club staff who made the day so special! 

Father's Day Cards! 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, grandads and men in our St Anthony's family. You are very much loved and appreciated (and fab!), we hope you had a wonderful day celebrating with your loved ones! 

DT - Fruit Tarts

What a wonderful day we have had together in Year 3 today. As part of our DT topic, looking at seasonal foods from all around the world, we made out very own fruit tarts today. All ingredients were British and everything was made from scratch. We had some really interesting conversations about the environmental impact of transporting food around the world and how this might impact our choice of foods. Of course, we then got to the best part... eating them! They were very, very tasty. It was Mr Whittle's birthday, so we couldn't not make him a special surprise as well! 

Geography Explorers to our local area - Middleton Park 

We had such a fantastic day exploring our local area and spending a lot of the day in Middleton Park. It is such a fantastic park, with lots of different things to offer, right on our doorstep! After walking down Old Lane, focusing mainly on the human features of Beeston, we then arrived at Middleton Park looking at the physical features. The weather was absolutely perfect! During the afternoon, we got to spend some time playing in the park, sun bathing for some (with SPF, of course), and also eating ice cream! After the long trek home, we were all ready to put our feet up. Year 3 were absolute superstars who behaved impeccably throughout; amazing St Anthony's representatives. Thank you to our volunteers to helped to make the day special! 

In Science, we have been busy learning all about flowers this half term. To help us understand the roles different parts of flowers play in pollination and fertilisation, we dissected some tulips this week! 

World Faiths Week - Hinduism (Diwali Workshop)

As part of St Anthony's World Faith Week, Year 3 learnt about Hinduism. We were lucky to spend Monday afternoon learning all about Diwali - the Festival of Light! We began by learning about the important elements of the festival, the many reasons why Diwali is so important within Hinduism, and also the important stories that are the basis for the celebrations during the festival. The children learnt that although it is like many celebrations in Christianity, Diwali last for five days and that fireworks are integral. Year 3 really enjoyed learning about Hinduism and we had some great discussions around the similarities and differences of Hinduism and Christianity! 

Mother's Day Cards! 

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums, grandmas and women in our St Anthony's family. You are loved and appreciated, we hope you had a wonderful day with your loved ones! 

Swimming 

We had our last swimming session this week and finished with a fun, play week! Everyone has learnt so much and had the opportunity to develop some really important skills that will keep them safe in water in the future. Each child has had such a brilliant attitude in every session, and we are really looking forward to swimming again next year! 

Reconciliation 

Our RE topic this half term has been all about Reconciliation. We have learnt the importance of recognising our sins and the value in apologising to others. This is the same with our relationship with God. Year 3 have been reflecting on God's love for us and how he is an example of unending forgiveness. This has been an especially important topic for us as many of the children in Year 3 have also been undertaking their preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Fr. Whitwell at St Anthony's Church. 

We began our RE topic by also reflecting on the importance of Lent as a time of preparation before Easter. Each child made their own Lenten Promise whilst thinking about Jesus' journey in the desert. Whilst we are keeping our promises to God, Year 3 have been remembering his strength and love for us when it might be hard. 

Oral Health Workshop

Year 3 had some very special visitors, to help us learn about how to keep our teeth and gums healthy. We were shown the five most important ways the keep our mouth healthy and have been challenged to stick to them! If we don't keep our teeth and gums healthy, we are likely to damage and lose the tooth (and they don't grow back!). 

We learnt how many baby teeth humans have and how many adult teeth. We even learnt that not brushing our teeth properly can leave bugs and bacteria in our mouth, that would be similar to licking a toilet! 

The brilliant dental nurses advised us that we should be visiting the dentist every six months at least, brushing our teeth twice a day for two minutes and avoiding food and drink with a high sugar intake! Each child was sent home with a sand timer to help them brush for two minutes and a chart to record each time they brush their teeth. 

Thank you so much, Mrs Torr, for coming in to teach us how to keep our teeth healthy. We enjoyed every minute! 

Wild History - The Stone Age

More photos from our fantastic trip. Year 3 loved returning to Skelton Grange to learn even more about the Stone Age! 

We learnt important skills to track and hunt animals to help be brilliant hunter-gatherers. We were able to practise our carving skills to make weapons and grinding down grain to make flour. We then made this into dough and cooked it on the fire. Next, we saw how Stone Age people would have gutted and cooked a fish! Everyone had the opportunity to taste a little bit of both the fresh bread and fish. Yum! 

Year 3 had a brilliant day and we were really immersed in Stone Age life! Thank you to Mrs Easton and Mr Maloney who helped us on our trip. 

We have been learning all about our amazing bodies in Science - in particular we have been focusing on the importance of the human skeleton. We learnt that the skeleton helps to keep us upright, it is vital in protecting our organs and it helps us to move! There are 206 bones in the body. We have thought of many mnemonics to help us to remember the names of the bones and we have really enjoyed playing 'Simon Says' to practise them! In our last lesson, each child accepted the challenge to cut out, label, and then assemble their own skeleton using the knowledge they have acquired throughout our half term. As always, Year 3 were brilliant and worked together to make sure that everyone completed their very own skeleton. Teamwork makes the dreamwork! ✨

Our History topic this half term has been the 'Anglo-Saxons'. We have learnt all about where they came from, when they invaded Britain and how long they ruled the land for. We learnt that they came here in longboats too! The children then learnt what life was like in an Anglo-Saxon settlement, what jobs they would have had and what chores were expected of them. We studied the importance of hunting and farming for life in a settlement. We used this knowledge, paired with the understanding of how buildings were made and with what materials, to build our own Anglo-Saxon settlements! Each group worked wonderfully together to design and then build their own settlement. Well done Year 3! 

Recently in Year 3, we have had the wonderful opportunity for swimming lessons at John Charles. Everyone has had such a positive attitude and made sure that everyone else felt safe and happy. Great teamwork! Each child has stepped up to their own challenge and should be really proud of themselves. Keep it up, Year 3 superstars! ⭐

Eco Warrior Wonder Day

As part of our 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' themed Wonder Day, the children made little animal toys by decorating old egg trays. The children were very creative with their ideas and worked hard to bring them to life! 

Leider Song Workshop 

Last week we had the wonderful experience of a workshop with three professional musicians during a Leider workshop. Leider coming from the German word for songs, this particular genre is inspired by Franz Schubert, and is quite similar to classical and operatic music. We were ale to hear lots of lovely music, try our hand at conducting and also then write our own lyrics to one of Shuberts most famous pieces! What an amazing afternoon! 

We have had lots of special visitors last week, including some from Catholic Care with two main focuses - Safer Together and Safer Online. 

We learnt about levels of danger within arguments and how to spot an urgent situation that needs to be resolved immediately. To represent these situations, we created freeze-frame positions of what we thought would be an urgent situation. In line with anti-bullying week, we also learnt about who we can go to if we feel scared or unsafe. 

PE Days

Year 3 will have PE on both Monday and Wednesday. 

Children are to come to school in their PE kits and trainers. 

PE will go ahead in all weather! 

Welcome to Year 3! 

I hope that you all have had a brilliant holiday with lots of fun and rest, and I hope you are excited about the wonderful year we are going to share together. I am looking forward to getting to know you all and helping you to learn and grow. I have planned a wide range of creative and challenging activities for us to do that will allow you to showcase your ability and reach your highest potential. 

During our time in Year 3, we will enjoy exploring lots of wonderful topics. Investigating India, Feel the Force, Rock Detectives, and, of course, our local Yorkshire – it is going to be an amazing adventure! We will dive straight into our Maths, advancing our knowledge of place value and numbers, as well as learning new addition and subtraction methods. We will be practicing our times tables every day, too! Our English lessons will focus on improving our writing skills through our use of language and understanding who we are writing for and why. Grammar and spellings are so important in Year 3! Together we will broaden our imagination through reading lots of books. We will be carrying out many science investigations and will practise a wide range of art and design skills. In RE we will learn about what it means to be a good Christian and a part of the Christian Family. We will learn about important people from the Bible, focusing on Mary our Mother and Jesus the Teacher.

Throughout the year we will be using Google Classroom to complete our homework, but it is also a place to share what other wonderful and interesting things you have been getting up to at home! We are going to have lots of rewards and prizes for the children in Year 3 that are being kind, patient and trying their best – what should our whole class prize be? 

As we all get ready for our first day together in Year 3, please remember to:

• Come into school every day excited and ready to learn
• Remember that everyday is a new challenge, and we are all here to help each other succeed
• Read every night and make sure an adult signs your planner
• Spellings and times tables practise is essential
• Always be positive! 

I know that you are all such hard workers and will try your best in everything that we do together in Year 3. I am looking forward to helping you all reach for the stars and achieve your targets in this big step up to Key Stage 2. I look forward to seeing you all very soon!

Miss Staunton Sykes

Our Year 3 Chamber Choir visited The Leeds Cathedral to sing a repertoire of songs for The Annual Headteacher's Mass with The Bishop of Leeds. The children sung a large repertoire of secular songs including:

• On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's cry (C Coffin 1676-1749)
• Gloria
• As I went down to the river to pray (Trad Arr; Alex Kyle)
• The Sanctus (Missa Mundi, John Duggan)
• The Agnes Dei (Missa Mundi, John Duggan)
• Brother James' Air (James Bain, Arr, Gordon Jacob)
• Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (W. Chatterton Dix 1837-1898)

The standard was extraordinary, praised by The Bishop of Leeds and many Head Teachers in our Diocese, with one noted below:

"It was noticeable that not only did the children sing some quite complex repertoire in parts, in tune and with confidence, but they were also clearly paying close attention to their MD, which shows a very professional attitude! Outstanding St Anthony's!"

I am so proud of you all Year 3!

Our Whole School Science Week was amazing and a super way to start our Summer Term. Year 3 were so excited to be the first class to resume educational visits. Their first hand learning of habitats at Skelton Grange, launched their focus for the week. All learning was focussed around prior topics, and topics missed due to lockdowns. The first hand experiences, visits, experiments and content were all carefully planned and crafted to ensure Science knowledge is secure. What an amazing week we had. I am so proud of you Year 3. Miss Leonard and the Year 3 team.

Hello Year 3,

Happy World Book Day. The theme of our World Book Day this year is "share a story". All our staff in school have made two very special stories for you to share together with your families. We are watching them both today at school, but you might want to share this with your families too.

Keep sharing your love for reading as this is one of the most important gifts we can give our children.

God bless and enjoy,

Miss Leonard

I wish to thank Mr and Mrs Easton for their kind assistance making this reading compilation in partnership with us. 

Our Year 3 class have embraced their start to Year 3, and are loving their place value work in Mathematics. They are using their manipulatives to represent digits accurately working up to 1,000. We are so proud of how our children are gaining fluency in number in this first number block. Well done Year 3.