2025/26 Our Learning

Another fantastic week has flown by in Year 3!

In English, we have been putting the finishing touches to our newspaper reports. We have worked incredibly hard to include exciting newspaper language and used inverted commas correctly to add witness quotes, making our reports sound even more realistic and engaging. We are so proud of the finished pieces!

In Geography, we became shadow investigators! We ventured out into the playground to explore how shadows change throughout the day, drawing around them with chalk and observing how they moved and changed. It was a brilliant practical investigation and helped us understand why shadows change as the sun moves across the sky.

In Maths, we have been learning all about representing data. We have completed tally charts, interpreted bar charts and even had a go at drawing our own. We have enjoyed becoming confident at reading and presenting information in different ways.

On Monday, we were treated to a very important carbon monoxide workshop. We learned about the dangers of carbon monoxide, what to do if a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, and how to stay safe if we ever smell gas. Every child came home with their own carbon monoxide alarm, helping to keep our families safe too.

Also on Monday, it was wonderful to see so many children wearing blue to celebrate the NHS’s birthday. Thank you to everyone who took part and helped mark this special occasion.

In RE, we explored what it means to be a prophet. We thought about what issues we would speak out about if God called us today and wrote some incredibly passionate speeches. Our children spoke thoughtfully about topics including climate change, animal cruelty, deforestation, bullying and being a good friend. We reflected on how God may call each of us to make a positive difference in the world by standing up for what is right.

In PSHE, we continued our Growing and Changing unit by learning about how our bodies change during puberty. We explored the male and female reproductive systems and discussed some of the physical changes that happen as we grow. Mrs Harrison was extremely impressed with the maturity shown by the class and the thoughtful, respectful questions they asked throughout the lesson.

To finish the week, we spent Friday morning with Mrs Bullen in Year 4. We had a wonderful time getting to know our new classroom and teacher, and we are all feeling very excited about starting Year 4 in September!

We hope you all have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone next week for our final week in Year 3!

What a fantastic week we’ve had in Year 2!

We began the week with our wonderful class worship all about being called by God. It was so special to welcome our parents into school to watch us, and we were incredibly proud of how confidently everyone performed. The children spoke and sang beautifully, making it a memorable occasion for everyone involved.

On Monday afternoon, we enjoyed a visit to the Millennium Green, where Louise from Wild One Adventures gave us a tour of the new Forest School area. We had great fun exploring the equipment and spending time outdoors. We also visited the sundial, linking our learning about time and shadows to discover how sundials work and how people used them to tell the time.

In Maths, we have been learning all about 2D and 3D shapes. We have recognised and described a range of 2D shapes, drawn different polygons and explored the properties of 3D shapes by recognising, describing and making them.

In Writing, we have continued working on our newspaper reports. This week we practised writing engaging introductions before completing our plans and writing the first part of our reports. We are looking forward to continuing and finishing them next week.

Our RE learning has focused on the story of Elijah standing up for God against the prophets of Baal from 1 Kings. To help us remember the story, we created sensory memory boards, thinking carefully about the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings from the event. We have also continued learning about world faiths by comparing the roles of rabbis, vicars and imams, discussing how each has been called to serve God and how their calling has made a difference to the lives of others.

In Geography today, we became part of the learning by acting out the process of beach formation. We started as cliffs before demonstrating weathering, transportation of rocks by rivers and finally deposition at the beach. It was a fantastic practical lesson that really helped us understand the process.

As part of our DT learning, we have begun preparing to make our seasonal tarts. We taste-tested a selection of seasonal vegetables, including cucumber, cauliflower and spring onions, thinking carefully about their flavours and deciding which ingredients we would like to include in our recipes.

We also enjoyed a lovely music concert before some of our children represented school brilliantly at a football tournament. To round off the week, many children enjoyed another exciting World Cup Fever session after school.

It has been another busy, enjoyable week full of fantastic learning, and we hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We look forward to seeing you all next week!

This week in Year 3 has been another busy and exciting one!

In Maths, we have begun our new unit on shape. We have been learning all about different types of angles, including right angles, acute angles and obtuse angles. We have also explored different types of lines, identifying horizontal, vertical, parallel and perpendicular lines. The children have been fantastic at spotting these in the classroom and around school!

In Writing, we have started our new non-fiction unit linked to Into the Forest. We have been exploring the features of newspaper reports and are preparing to write our own report about the mysterious disappearance of the boy’s father! We have enjoyed discussing our own theories about where the father might have gone and have been gathering exciting witness statements to help us solve the mystery.

Our RE lessons have focused on the story of Abraham and Isaac, where we explored the trust Abraham had in God. The children retold the story by creating fantastic comic strips using Canva – they really do look amazing! We have also been busy practising for our class worship, which we are looking forward to sharing on Monday.

In Science, we investigated shadows and how they are formed. We learnt the important scientific vocabulary opaque, transparent and translucent and explored how different materials affect light. We are excited to continue this learning during our Outdoor Adventure Learning (OAL) session on Monday.

Our Geography lesson was definitely one of the highlights of the week! We learnt all about coastal erosion and the different types of sea defences used to protect coastlines. The children worked brilliantly to design and build their own sea defences before putting them to the test by pouring water over them and creating waves. It was great fun! We also discovered that although sea defences can be very effective, they require regular maintenance, which can be very costly.

This week in Music, we learned a new song called Sunshine in My Heart. As we sang, we thought carefully about the tempo (the speed of the music) and the volume (how loudly or quietly we sang) to give our performance expression.

We then learned to read music on the stave, focusing on the notes G and A. Using our new knowledge, we played a simple tune on the glockenspiels using just these two notes. We worked hard to follow the note pattern accurately and enjoyed developing our music-reading and performance skills.

In Computing, we continued developing our coding skills using Scratch. We learned how to use the pen down tool to create drawings with code. First, we changed the costume of a pencil sprite so that the pen drew from the tip of the pencil instead of the centre. We then wrote two pieces of code: one to put the pen down and move the sprite forwards to draw a line, and another to make the sprite rotate.

Finally, in DT, we have been developing our food preparation skills by practising our chopping, cutting and gratingtechniques. These skills will be put to good use as we prepare to make our delicious seasonal tarts!

Well done to everyone for another week of fantastic learning and enthusiasm. We can’t wait for our class worship on Monday and another exciting week of learning ahead. Have a lovely weekend!

What another fantastic week of learning we have had in Year 3!

In Writing, we have been busy planning and writing our own lost narratives linked to our vehicle text, Into the Forest. The children used their imagination to create exciting stories about characters becoming lost and finding their way again. We then innovated our stories by changing the setting and creating new versions such as Into the Jungle and Into the Fair. We were very impressed with the creativity shown and the descriptive language used throughout the children’s writing.

In Maths, we completed our learning on time by looking at durations and solving a range of different problem-solving questions. The children worked hard to apply their knowledge to a variety of challenges. Towards the end of the week, we began our new topic on shape and have enjoyed exploring the properties of different 2D and 3D shapes.

Our Reading lessons have centred around the book There Is No Such Thing as a Silly Question. This thought-provoking text has encouraged us to think deeply, ask questions and learn lots of interesting new facts.

In Geography, we used Google Maps to name and locate coastal towns around the United Kingdom and identify the seas that surround them. We then explored seasonal foods, discovering which foods grow during different seasons and discussing the five main benefits of eating seasonal produce.

In PSHE, we have taken part in important discussions linked to Drowning Prevention Week. We have also been learning about the PANTS rule and the correct terminology for different body parts. This learning is helping to prepare us for our upcoming lessons about puberty and the changes that happen to our bodies as we grow.

During Computing, we continued developing our programming skills by creating a sprite that could move through a maze using event and motion controls. We also learned how to change the size of a sprite and used the pen tool to design our own mazes as backgrounds.

In Music, we recapped our learning of the song Baby 1, 2, 3 before exploring the concept of improvisation. The children created their own repeating musical patterns using the glockenspiels and experimented with adding B sharp notes to give their compositions a jazzy feel.

Our Science lessons focused on investigating the reflectiveness of different materials. We carried out fair tests and discussed which materials reflected the most light and why.

Finally, in PE, we have been practising our athletics skills, developing our running, jumping and throwing techniques in preparation for our upcoming sports activities.

We are incredibly proud of all the hard work and enthusiasm shown by the children this week. We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and we look forward to another exciting week of learning ahead!

What a fantastic week we have had in Year 3!

In Maths, we have been completing quizzes to show off everything we have learned so far. We are so proud of how confident and determined everyone has been, our brilliant learning really shone through!

In English, we have been preparing to write our very own explanation texts all about how to capture the Iron Man! We have planned carefully, choosing powerful vocabulary and thinking about the grammatical features that will make our writing detailed and exciting. We even planned our subheadings, and we can’t wait to begin writing our final pieces. Our ideas are truly amazing!

This week was also Elf Enterprise Week, and it has been full of creativity, teamwork and festive fun! We have designed and made our own 3D felt baubles using both running stitch and cross stitch. We carefully worked out our costings, thought about profit, and even designed our packaging. Every one of us played a part in producing our beautiful products, and we are incredibly excited to be selling them at the School Christmas Fair this Sunday! We hope to see you there; come along and buy one of our handmade creations! ?

We also enjoyed a non-uniform day, where children donated items for the Christmas Mission and the Food Bank. Your kindness and generosity were heart-warming—thank you for supporting such a wonderful cause.

A busy, brilliant week in Year 3. Well done everyone!

This week, we have only been in school for three days, but we have still managed to fit lots of exciting learning into our week!

In Writing, we have started exploring our new text, Into the Forest. We began by studying the illustrations and making thoughtful predictions about what might happen in the story. We then wrote some fantastic setting descriptions, using personification to bring the forest to life. We also explored the emotions of the main character, thinking carefully about how the boy might be feeling when he realises he is lost in the forest.

In Maths, we have continued our learning about time. We revised telling the time to o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to, as well as telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes and 1 minute. We then explored digital clocks and compared analogue and digital time. Towards the end of the week, we learned about a.m. and p.m. and discussed when we use each throughout the day. We will continue developing our understanding of time next week.

In Reading, we have been exploring poetry and discussing different poems together.

In Science, we have started our new topic, Light. We investigated different light sources and sorted them into those that are man-made and those that occur naturally. We also explored the idea that darkness is the absence of light and discussed what happens when there is no light source present.

In Geography, we have begun our new topic by answering the question: Are all seaside towns the same? We have learned that compasses have eight points and are used to help us locate places. We also practised naming and locating the regions of the United Kingdom on a map.

This week in Computing, we used Scratch to experiment with sprites and how they are controlled in games. We explored different pieces of code and discovered how they can make sprites perform different actions. We then created our own programs, coding sprites to change direction and move across the screen using the keyboard.

In Music, we explored jazz music and learned about the musical term timbre, which describes the quality of a sound. We listened to Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World and discussed the features of jazz music. We also learned a jazz-style song called Baby One, Two, Three and enjoyed performing it together.

Although it has been a shorter week, we have worked incredibly hard and packed lots of learning into our three days. We are looking forward to continuing our new topics next week!

Year 3 have had a fantastic final week before half term, including an exciting Outdoor Adventurous Learning / Historyexperience to deepen their understanding of life in the Bronze Age and Iron Age. The children explored the dangers people faced during these times, as well as the concepts of injustice and discrimination.

We began by listening carefully in the woods to imagine the challenges of living close to nature during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The children then split into tribes, voted for leaders based on their qualities and strengths, chose spirit animals and colours, and created woven crowns for their leaders. They also scavenged for offerings and reflected on how these gifts made them feel.

Throughout the day, the tribes completed a range of team challenges that required cooperation, communication and leadership. One challenge involved crossing the “boggiest, deepest bog” using special mats, which led to discussions about fairness and injustice when some tribes had fewer resources than others. The children also took part in tribal battles to defend hill forts, tug of war challenges exploring unfair advantages, and worked together to build their own hill forts in the woods. To finish the day, they played a game of capture the flag, where teamwork and strategy were essential.

This immersive experience helped Year 3 develop a deeper understanding of the challenges faced during the Bronze and Iron Ages while encouraging thoughtful discussions about fairness, injustice and discrimination.

In Writing, we have planned and written our own information texts all about foxes. In Maths, we have finished our money unit and moved onto time. We have revised half past and quarter past before moving onto telling the time to 5 minutes and 1 minute.

In Art, we explored digital media techniques to develop drawings and used Sketchpad to create detailed plant artwork. In Computing, we considered the benefits of desktop publishing. In RE, we have been exploring what Humanism is and learning about the 10 Commitments followed by Humanists. In PSHE, we reflected on our top talents and celebrated the things that make us unique.

In PE, we became athletes and practised relay races and passing a baton. We also loved an amazing behaviour treat on Friday afternoon with a super assault course, bouncy castle and even an ice cream van to celebrate the end of the half term and the upcoming good weather!

This week we also said goodbye to Mrs Bennett, who has been a wonderful student teacher in our class for the last 10 weeks. We wish her lots of luck as she finishes her degree and begins her teaching career with her own class in September.

Have a lovely 11-day break and we look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Wednesday 3rd June!

This week in Year 3, we have had another busy and exciting week full of fantastic learning across the curriculum!

In Maths, we concluded our fractions unit by exploring fractions of an amount. We then moved on to Money, where we revisited pounds and pence before converting pounds and pence and adding amounts of money together. We will continue developing this learning next week.

In Writing, we have continued building towards writing our information texts about foxes. We explored the difference between facts and opinions before planning our own information texts ready to begin writing next week.

In History, we compared life in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, discussing similarities and differences between the two periods.

In Art, we used line, shape and tone to create imaginative drawings and explored how these elements can add detail and depth to our artwork.

In RE, we explored Sikhism and learned about the 5 Ks, discussing how they are a sign of a Sikh’s commitment to God.

In Science, we investigated how water is transported in plants by placing celery into coloured water and carefully observing the process over time.

In PE, we enjoyed developing our cricket skills through a range of activities and games.

In Computing, we considered how different layouts can suit different purposes before creating our own newsletters using Canva.

In Music, we rehearsed the Russian March before creating our own Russian marches using the D and G chords to accompany our compositions.

Our Spirituality Afternoon was amazing. We explored Ascension and Pentecost and reflected on how we live out the Holy Spirit through our school vision. We wrote our ideas inside flame shapes, representing the tongues of fire experienced at Pentecost, and combined them to create our beautiful “Flames of the Spirit” display.

And of course, the highlight of the week was Sports Day! We had a fantastic afternoon filled with a variety of sporting activities and showed excellent teamwork, determination and encouragement throughout.

Well done everyone for such a wonderful week!

Year 3 started our shorter four-day week with a very special trip to Masjid E Vali, a local mosque, as part of our RE learning. As a Christian school, many of our children are Christians, but we know how important it is to understand and respect the beliefs of others. During our visit, we learned all about Islam and the holy book, the Qur’an, which teaches Muslims how to live their lives.

We explored some of the Five Pillars of Islam and learned about their importance to Muslims. We discovered that the first pillar is Shahada (faith), which is the belief that there is one God, Allah, and that Muhammad is His messenger. We also learned about Zakat (charity), which teaches Muslims to be kind, generous and caring towards those in need. Another important pillar we discussed was Sawm (fasting) during Ramadan, where Muslims fast during daylight hours to practise self-control, reflect on those less fortunate and grow closer to Allah.

The children were fascinated to learn about the different rooms inside the mosque and how to treat the Qur’an with great respect. It was a very hands-on and memorable RE lesson which helped us understand that, although religions may have differences, they all teach important values such as kindness, faith and helping others.

In History, we continued our learning about further developments in Britain during the Iron Age. We explored weapons, farming tools and the widespread use of glass, discussing why these inventions were such important developments in civilisation.

In Art, we used careful observation skills to create detailed drawings of flowers, paying close attention to the intricate patterns and shapes we could see.

Our Maths lessons focused on finding unit fractions and non-unit fractions of sets of objects. The children worked hard to apply their understanding practically and explain their reasoning.

In Science, we explored the important role flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal. We then created our own life cycle diagrams to showcase our understanding.

Music lessons saw us using the glockenspiels to learn and perform the “Russian March.” We also practised describing pieces of music using appropriate musical vocabulary.

In Writing, we have now moved onto our non-fiction unit linked to our class text, Fox. We are working towards producing our own information texts all about foxes. This week, we explored the features of a non-chronological report and discussed the difference between fact and opinion.

This week has also been a wonderful celebration of David Attenborough’s 100th birthday! Many children entered the school competition and produced some fantastic Sir David Attenborough-inspired artwork.

In Computing, we achieved our objective of adding content to a desktop publishing publication by using Canva create birthday party invitations in a style David Attenborough would enjoy. We also worked collaboratively in pairs to create our very own David Attenborough-style documentaries all about foxes, linking beautifully to our current text. The children wrote scripts, found clips of foxes and recorded impressive voice-overs to create their finished documentaries. They are absolutely amazing! We also enjoyed watching a live lesson all about David Attenborough and his incredible work.

And if all that was not enough…we have participated in setting up the school’s entry into the Disney themed Hoddlesden Scarecrow Festival which is running from today (8th May) to the 14th May. Maps are available for £1 from The Ranken.

What a fantastic and creative week Year 3 have had!

What a fantastic week of learning we’ve had in Year 3! The children have worked really hard across all subjects and have continued to impress us with their enthusiasm and creativity.

In Maths, we have been building our understanding of number in a variety of ways. At the start of the week, we focused on adding and subtracting capacity and volume. We then moved on to revisiting key skills before completing our end-of-unit assessment. Later in the week, we began an exciting new topic on fractions, learning how to add and subtract fractions and partition the whole into equal parts. The children showed great determination when tackling these tricky concepts!

In English, we have been busy writing our own fable narratives. We explored how to use conjunctions, inverted commas, expanded noun phrases and even rhetorical questions to make our writing more engaging. By the end of the week, the children were ready to begin their own independent fable writing, and we have already seen some fantastic ideas and creativity shining through!

In Reading, we continued developing our comprehension skills through a range of engaging texts. We read more of How to Train Your Dragon and also started a new text, There’s No Such Thing as a Silly Question. The children enjoyed discussing the characters, themes and key ideas, and they are becoming much more confident at explaining their answers using evidence from the text.

In History, we explored life in the Bronze Age, thinking about how people lived and how their lives changed during this period. The children asked thoughtful questions and made great observations.

In RE, we learned about Buddhism, focusing on the teachings of the Buddha and understanding how Buddhists follow these in their daily lives. The children were very respectful and reflective during our discussions.

In Science, we began learning about what plants need to grow and stay healthy. We explored the importance of light, water, nutrients from the soil and space, and discussed how different plants may have different requirements.

In Computing, the children learned how to choose appropriate page settings, developing their digital skills further.

In Art, we developed our shading techniques, learning how to blend tones to create depth and texture. The children produced some beautiful work!

In Music, we began exploring different musical genres and discussed how music has changed over time. The children enjoyed listening to a variety of styles and sharing their opinions.

In PE, we continued developing our skills through sports coaching and our “Being an Athlete” unit, focusing on teamwork and perseverance.

Finally, in PSHE, we explored the idea of debating and considering different viewpoints, thinking about how to express our opinions respectfully.

Well done, Year 3 – another brilliant week of learning

This week in Year 3 at Hoddlesden St Paul’s has been full of exciting learning across all subjects!

In Writing, we have continued working with our focus text Fox. We have been uplevelling our vocabulary in line with the text and thinking carefully about how word choices can improve our descriptions. We also explored how to use inverted commas to show conversations between characters and practised using expanded noun phrases to vividly describe the desert setting. To finish the week, we planned our own fable narratives, which we are very excited to begin writing next week.

In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting mass, as well as measuring capacity and volume in litres and millilitres. We also spent time exploring and comparing equivalent fractions, developing our understanding of how fractions can represent the same value.

In Reading, we have been enjoying extracts from How to Train a Dragon, using the text to develop our comprehension skills and discuss characters and events.

In History, we learned about the Bronze Age and explored how the discovery of bronze improved daily life, particularly in tools, weapons, farming and hunting.

In PSHE, we had a fun and interactive lesson about body teamwork. Wearing aprons, we drew where we thought our organs are in our bodies, which led to some great discussions and learning!

In Art, we explored how artists use shape in their drawings by sketching objects from around our classroom, helping us to observe more carefully.

In PE, we had two exciting sessions. With Coach Jess, we practised our aim and worked on throwing balls at wickets. With Mrs Bennett, we developed our technique for throwing a javelin.

In Science, we have been learning about what plants need to grow and how these requirements can vary between different plants. We also planned an investigation together, which we are looking forward to carrying out soon.

In RE, we were very lucky to have a special visit from Rev Ben. We learned about who Moses is and how he received the Ten Commandments from God. We explored what the commandments are, where they are found in the Bible, and had thoughtful discussions about their importance. We even ordered them based on what we thought was most important!

In Computing, we used Snapseed to import and edit our photographs. We experimented with a range of tools, including adjusting colours, cropping images and adding text, helping us to develop our digital editing skills.

Finally, in Music, we began learning about the composer Hans Zimmer by creating a fact file. We also explored graphic scores and what they represent, before designing our own inspired by The March from The Nutcracker, using symbols and pictures to show how the music should be played.

What a fantastic week of learning—well done Year 3!

Welcome back after the Easter break! It has been a fantastic first week back in Year 3 at Hoddlesden St Paul’s Primary School, with lots of exciting learning taking place across the curriculum.

In Maths, we have started our new unit on measurement. The children have been learning how to use scales accurately, measure mass in grams, understand equivalent masses and compare different masses. They have shown great enthusiasm when using practical resources to support their understanding.

In Reading, we have been focusing on an anthology of intriguing animals. The children have enjoyed exploring a range of fascinating texts and developing their comprehension skills.

In Writing, we have begun exploring a new text called Fox. We started by making predictions about what the story might be about. The children then described one of the main characters, the fox, using similes. Following this, they created detailed descriptions of the woodland setting using expanded noun phrases. We also focused on using the past tense to describe the magpie’s feelings before finishing the week by writing a diary entry in role as the magpie. The children have really impressed us with their creativity and imagination.

In History, we have started learning about the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. We explored what these periods were and placed them on a timeline to understand when they occurred in history.

In Art, we have begun our drawing unit by studying the artist Georgia O’Keeffe. The children have enjoyed looking at her work and discussing her artistic style.

In RE, we have been learning about rules for living and how all world faiths have important rules that were established a long time ago. We also explored the world faith of Judaism and learned about Passover.

In PSHE, we explored what it feels like to be poorly and discussed ways we can keep our bodies healthy.

In Computing, we have been learning how text and images can work together to convey information.

In Music, we explored how music can evoke different emotions for different people. We also learned key musical terms such as lyric, melody, rhythm and instruments.

In Science, the children created a collage of a flowering plant and then labelled the key parts, including their names and functions.

In PE, with Coach Jess, we have been learning the skills needed for tag rugby. In our second PE session, we began our athletics unit.

In Worship, we have been exploring our new value of forgiveness and what it means to “wipe the slate clean.” The children wrote thoughtful teaspoon prayers and took part in individual reflection. We have also explored our British value of democracy, reflected on Easter and the significance of Jesus’ resurrection.

Overall, it has been a brilliant first week back after the Easter holidays. The children have returned with a positive attitude and are ready for a busy and exciting term ahead!

This week in Year 3, we have had a fantastic final week before the Easter holidays, filled with lots of wonderful learning and creativity!

In English, we have been writing some excellent letters of complaint from the Spider to the Dung Beetle. The children impressed us with their use of ambitious vocabulary such as irritated, unimpressed and underwhelmed. They really enjoyed expressing their thoughts and feelings through their writing! We then challenged ourselves further by writing another version from the perspective of the Luna Moth—our writing was superb. Well done, everyone!

In Maths, we have been exploring equivalent fractions, using number lines and representing them as bar models. The children showed great understanding and confidence with this tricky concept.

In History, we have been learning about the Neolithic period and understanding why people built monuments such as Stonehenge. The class asked some thoughtful questions and showed great curiosity.

In Art, we completed our final pieces, painting our animals onto textured surfaces. The finished outcomes look fantastic and the children should be very proud of their work.

In RE, we explored Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter, discussing how these events are a mixture of emotions, including both joy and sadness. The children contributed some very reflective ideas.

In PE, we performed our magnets dances to each other—they were fantastic! It was lovely to see the children performing with confidence and enthusiasm.

In Computing, we created identification tools, while in Science we completed our investigations using fabric and card and wrote our conclusions carefully.

In PSHE, we discussed how we can look after our environment and the small changes we can all make to help.

In Music, we had our final ukulele lesson with Mr Richards. The children loved performing all the pieces they have learnt—it has been wonderful to see their progress!

We have also enjoyed making some beautiful Easter cards to take home.

We hope you all have a restful and enjoyable Easter break and a lovely bank holiday weekend. Well done for all your hard work this term, Year 3!

What a fantastic week we have had in Year 3!

In English, we have started our exciting new book It Fell from the Sky. The children have really enjoyed exploring the story and thinking carefully about the characters. We have begun gathering ideas to write a letter of complaint to the spider, taking on the role of the dung beetle. The class has shown great enthusiasm and creativity when thinking about how the beetle might be feeling!

In Maths, we have continued our learning on fractions. We have been exploring numerators and non-unit fractions, as well as comparing and ordering them. The children have also been developing their understanding of the whole and how fractions fit within it—super work all round!

In History, we have been learning about what makes a civilisation. We discovered that as communities grew larger, people began to take on different roles such as farmers, leaders and priests. The class had some thoughtful discussions about why these roles were important.

In RE, we have been learning about Good Friday and Easter Sunday, focusing on God’s salvation plan through our big story/frieze. We discussed how the events of Holy Week reveal what Jesus came to earth to do, and the children showed great respect and understanding during these lessons.

In Computing, we have been learning why it is important for a database to be well structured. We have also started planning our own branching databases—thinking carefully about how to organise information clearly.

In Science, we have planned and begun an investigation to find out how different surface types affect magnetic movement. The children made some excellent predictions and are looking forward to carrying out their tests!

In Music, we have been practising our ukulele chords and are becoming more confident each week.

In PSHE, we have been exploring how people earn money and how different jobs can earn different amounts. We also enjoyed talking about what we aspire to be when we are older—there were some wonderful ambitions shared!

In PE, we have continued performing our fantastic “magnet” dance routines and have also been developing our tennis skills.

On Friday, we had lots of fun celebrating Red Nose Day by wearing something red—thank you for your support!

Next week is our final week before the Easter holidays. We are excited to finish some of our topics and produce our final pieces of work. We are also really looking forward to our behaviour treat, an author visit, and taking part in Hop, Skip and Jump for East Lancashire Hospice.

Well done Year 3 for another brilliant week! ⭐

What a busy and exciting week we have had in Year 3!

In Writing, the children have written their own amazing transformation narratives based on Pip and Egg. Their stories have been fantastic and it has been wonderful to see them using the grammar features we have been focusing on, including similes, to make their writing more descriptive and engaging. We are very proud of their creativity and hard work!

In Art, we took our learning outside and collected natural resources from the school grounds. We mixed these with water to create our own natural paints and then used them to produce Stone Age inspired drawings of animals. The results were fantastic and it was a brilliant way to link our art with our history learning.

In RE, we learned about Jesus’ Last Supper and his time in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was betrayed and arrested. The children showed great understanding and wrote thoughtful retells of these important events.

In Maths, we finished our perimeter unit. The children practised calculating the perimeter of shapes and used what they know about shape properties to help them find missing lengths.

In Science, we investigated whether magnets work through different materials. The children made predictions, tested their ideas and recorded what they discovered.

In PSHE, we explored the idea of affordability and discussed how people make choices about spending money.

On Wednesday, we had an amazing Stone Age Day where everyone came dressed up – the children looked fantastic! We were very lucky to welcome Jane from History Alive, who led a brilliant hands-on workshop. We learned all about prehistoric Britain, including Neolithic hunter-gatherers, early farming and life during the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. The children loved handling artefacts from different periods including the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age. It was a wonderful way to bring history to life!

In Music, we continued developing our ukulele skills and are becoming much more confident with our playing.

To celebrate Science Week, we also carried out a very exciting outdoor science experiment linked to our World Book Day text George’s Marvellous Medicine. We tested different ingredients to see which would create the most bubbly medicine, making sure our investigation was a fair test. At the end of the session, we mixed all of the ingredients together like George to see what would happen – the reaction was very exciting!

This weekend it is Mother’s Day, so the children have worked very hard to create some lovely Mother’s Day cards for their mummies and special people.

I hope you all have a relaxing Mother’s Day weekend spent with your wonderful children. I have told them all to make sure they bring you breakfast in bed!

Enjoy the weekend! 😊

Stone Age – Year 3

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This week in Year 3 at Hoddlesden St Paul’s has been another busy and exciting week of learning!

In Writing, we have been creating setting descriptions. We focused on using word families, prepositions and adverbs to make our descriptions more detailed and interesting. We described the different places in our focus text that Egg flies over, thinking carefully about the vocabulary we chose. We also spent time planning our own transformation narratives, which we are very excited to begin writing next week!

In Maths, we have been learning about perimeter. First, we practised counting the squares around the outside of shapes to find the perimeter. After that, we moved on to adding the lengths of the sides together. Later in the week, we began measuring the sides using rulers before adding the lengths to calculate the perimeter.

In Science, we explored how magnets attract and repel. We carried out a fun investigation where we used magnets to make cars move without touching them! This helped us learn about the different poles on magnets and how they interact.

In PSHE, we explored the roles of volunteers in our local community and around the world. We discussed why volunteering is important and how people can help others in many different ways.

In History, we continued our learning about the Stone Age by looking closely at the Neolithic Era and how it was different from the Old and Middle Stone Age. We explored how people began to form settlements and communities, and how life started to change during this time.

In RE, we learned about what happened the day after Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday. We explored the story of Jesus becoming angry when he saw the temple being used in a disrespectful way. We discussed whether Jesus had a right to be angry and took part in outdoor values stations, where we explored what value Jesus was showing and whether his actions could be seen as just, thinking carefully about our reasons.

In French, we explored what bilingualism means. We also practised using a French–English dictionary to find and understand new vocabulary.

In Art, we created prehistoric-style artwork. First, we used natural oil pastel colours to make a Stone Age-style background. Then we used charcoal to draw animals on top, inspired by prehistoric cave art.

In Computing, we continued our work on branching databases. We practised creating closed yes or no questions that help separate items into different groups. Working in teams, we created a practical branching database about dinosaurs, using their features to sort them. After this, we began devising our own questions to sort different vehicles and modes of transport, thinking carefully about how each question helped narrow down the possibilities.

In PE, we focused on throws and strikes. We practised several throwing techniques including overarm throws, underarm throws and rolling the ball with control. We worked on controlling the force of our throws and aiming accurately towards a partner or target. We also practised striking the ball, focusing on sending it in a chosen direction. In our second PE lesson, we learned some new dance choreography linked to our Science learning about magnets.

Of course, the highlight of the week was Friday and our fantastic World Book Day celebrations! Everyone’s costumes were amazing. Our whole-school focus this year is George’s Marvellous Medicine. In role as scientists, we wrote a diary entry imagining that we had observed George carrying out his experiment and the chaos that followed! We have also planned a more scientific version of the experiment, which we are very excited to carry out in our Outdoor Area of Learning on Monday as part of Science Week.

Well done Year 3 for another brilliant week of learning!

What a fantastic week of learning we have had in Year 3!

In Maths, we have been busy measuring length and height. We have been measuring in centimetres (cm) and metres (m) and comparing cm, mm and m. We explored equivalent lengths and compared different measurements using the <, > and = symbols. We have also been introduced to the word convert and have been practising converting between different units of measurement. We have worked incredibly hard and shown great resilience when tackling tricky problems!

In Writing, we have started our brand new text, Pip and Egg by Alex Latimer — and we absolutely LOVE it! We began by making predictions based on the focus illustrations and thinking carefully about what the story might be about. We then explored the emotions of the characters and discussed how and why their feelings change throughout the story. We used fantastic similes to describe the characters and have written some amazing character descriptions of the main characters. We are now building up to writing our own transformation narratives — we can’t wait!

In Reading, we have started a new text called Rumaysa by Radiya Hafiza. We are already enjoying getting to know the characters and developing our understanding of the story.

In History, we have begun our exciting new topic on the New Stone Age. We defined the Stone Age and explored the three different eras: the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. We are looking forward to learning more about how people lived during these times.

In Art, we have linked our learning to History by exploring prehistoric drawings. We have been looking at how early humans created cave art and experimenting with our own prehistoric-style artwork.

In Science, we are continuing our learning about magnets and forces. This week, we conducted an experiment to test which magnets were stronger and which were weaker. We made predictions, carried out fair tests and discussed our results carefully — just like real scientists!

In PE, we have started a new dance unit based around being magnets, linking perfectly to our Science learning! We have been thinking about attraction, repulsion and movement in creative ways.

In PE with Mrs Bradley, we have been exploring net and wall games. This week, we developed our knowledge and understanding of the rules of tennis while practising our underarm throwing technique. We began by accurately passing a ball to our partners using an underarm throw. We then moved on to hitting a ball from an underarm throw, focusing on control and coordination. To challenge ourselves further, we practised dropping the ball and hitting it with a racket into a hoop, developing our hand-eye coordination and accuracy. Great teamwork, Year 3!

In RE, we have started exploring Easter. We learned about Palm Sunday and revisited how the church remembers and marks the events of Holy Week in different ways.

In PSHE, we have been learning about who keeps us safe and how we can help those people to keep us safe too. We had some very thoughtful discussions.

In Music with Mr Richards, we reminded ourselves of the string names, how to hold, tune and strum correctly. We also reviewed chords and practised changing between chords slowly and quickly.

In Computing, we began our new unit on branching databases. We explored different types of questions and discussed when to use open and closed questions. We played games using only closed (yes/no) questions, which helped us think carefully about how questions can narrow down choices. We then used yes and no questions to separate items into categories such as animals and vehicles. Using J2Data, we explored what branching databases look like and discussed when they are useful for organising and classifying information.

In French we learnt about different celebrations and festivals in France.

What a busy and brilliant week it has been! We are so proud of all the hard work and enthusiasm Year 3 continue to show every single day.

Have a lovely weekend! 🌟

What a wonderful and reflective week we have had in Year 3!

This week has been Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week and we have marked it thoughtfully as a class. We wore our colourful scarves to represent the SCARF values we focus on in school: Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience and Friendship.

We took part in an amazing outdoor learning session led by Louise from Wild One Adventures. We began by sitting together in the fire circle with incense burning. With our eyes closed, we used our senses to help ground ourselves, find calm, and connect with our inner peace.

We split into four groups for a mindfulness carousel of activities. One group enjoyed guided mindful meditation, another painted things that make them feel happy, a third created nature frames to explore belonging in nature, and the fourth relaxed in the hammocks. We then reflected together on how slowing down helped our heart rates settle and our bodies feel calm.

Next, we talked about the positive benefits of increasing our heart rates and the hormones this releases to support our mental wellbeing. To explore this further, we took part in a physical circuit involving heavy lifting, bending, balancing and making sounds.

We also had fun cooking popcorn on the fire – listening to the dry kernels pop and savouring the delicious treat. We enjoyed watching the flames of the fire and talking about how calm and warm it made us feel.

Louise shared a lovely story called Walking in the Woods. We discussed how being busy and rushing can stop us from noticing what is around us and where we belong. We learnt about the importance of going on slow walks to listen, connect with the earth and appreciate nature. We talked about the healing power of trees, how oxygen benefits our bodies and immune systems, and the value of fresh air.

To finish our outdoor session, we went ‘forest bathing’. We loved exploring the mud slide and walking through the stream – it was a magical way to feel grounded in nature.

Across the rest of the curriculum this week:

• In English, we have continued writing our non-chronological reports about rivers. The children’s facts and presentation skills are fantastic.
• In Maths, we have been learning about scaling and exploring different possibilities. We have also started a new unit on length and perimeter, measuring confidently in cm, mm and m.
• On Tuesday, we marked Safer Internet Day by focusing on smart technology and safe choices online. We explored the safe and responsible use of AI and designed our own AI chatbots – we had some brilliant ideas!
• In RE, we explored how people’s lives today can be transformed by God by learning about the work of Mother Teresa and discussing her influence on others.
• We enjoyed a Chinese New Year afternoon with Year 1 and Year 2. We took part in a carousel of activities linked to the celebrations, including some welcome taste testing!
• In PSHE, we learnt about the effects of alcohol and cigarettes and how to make healthy choices.
• In French, we practised saying our full birthdays, which was great fun!
• In Music, we have been learning Riptide on the ukulele, adding the chords D minor, A7, C and F to our repertoire and improving our playing skills.
• We also had an exciting visit from Prime VR, taking part in a VR experience where we travelled around the world!

A busy, thoughtful and enriching week in Year 3. Well done everyone!

Year 3 have had a fantastic and very busy week full of learning, creativity and teamwork!

In English, we have been gathering exciting content for our own non-chronological reports all about rivers. We have practised lots of important grammar skills that we will need for our writing, including commas in a list, rhetorical questions and the present perfect tense. We have planned our reports carefully and are ready to begin writing them next week – we can’t wait! In Maths, we have been learning how to divide, and we even moved on to dividing with remainders. We were super focused and worked incredibly hard. On Friday, we tackled a tricky problem and showed great skill and resilience, doing an amazing job. Our Reading lessons have focused on poetry, where we explored rhythm, rhyme and expression. In French, we continued our birthday learning and learnt a fun song to help us remember how to say our birthday and ask others theirs. In PE, we practised our Bollywood dancing and enjoyed big movement activities such as ropes, jumping and climbing. During PE with Miss McDermott, we worked on throwing and catching, as well as batting and catching, showing excellent coordination. In Geography, we learnt about the differences between cities, towns and villages. In Science, we carried out an investigation to find out whether all metals are magnetic. We made an exciting discovery – they are not! In PHSE, we discussed things that are helpful and things that are harmful, and in Music, we continued to refine our use of the C and F chords. In Computing, we created a project using a task description, showing great independence.

Our DT lesson was very exciting this week as we carried out some market research. We took our toys to Pre-School and Reception, as children aged 3–5 are our target market. The feedback was fantastic! The younger children loved the toys and commented on how bright and eye-catching our designs were. We also enjoyed a very special Spirituality Afternoon. We began with an extra worship led by Rev Ben, then explored St Paul and our school vision. We learnt about how Paul was blinded, what he began to understand during this time and how he grew as a person. We sketched eyes to represent how Paul lost his sight but was able to see more once he became at one with God. In the centre of our work, we drew examples of seeing the school vision in action.

Well done, Year 3, for another wonderful week of learning – you should be very proud of yourselves!

What a brilliant week we have had in Year 3! The children have worked incredibly hard across the curriculum and should be very proud of themselves.

In Writing, we have started our next outcome linked to The Rhythm of the Rain. We have been gathering information and building our knowledge in preparation for writing our own non-chronological report all about rivers. The children have done a fantastic job of uplevelling their vocabulary, confidently using Tier 3 words such as meander and tributaries. We have also been using an example text to retrieve information and practise writing answers in full sentences. Another key focus has been using present perfect tense verbs, which the children are beginning to apply with growing confidence.

We have absolutely smashed Maths this week! We were introduced to multiplying a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number using the grid method. We began practically using arrays before moving on to multiples of ten and then numbers between 20 and 99. The children have been amazing at using their times table facts to support their learning – fantastic effort all round!

In Reading, we have been focusing on the text The Wonders of Nature. This has provided great opportunities for retrieval practice and has linked perfectly with our Science learning about rocks.

In Geography, we have been locating the counties and regions of the UK, as well as identifying the human and physical features of Lancashire.

In PSHE, we explored risks using the Risk Robot, helping the children to think carefully about different types of risks and how to manage them.

On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to visit Nightingale’s Farm. Steph was wonderfully welcoming, as always. We recapped our Animals Including Humans science learning by exploring the different animal skeletons on the farm and discussing how animals get the nutrients they need to survive. We also enjoyed helping Steph with some of the farm jobs and, of course, meeting Theo the cheeky goat, who was a big hit with everyone!

In PE, with Mrs Harrison, we have been putting the finishing touches to our Bollywood dance, focusing on adding a bounce and a big smile to our moves! With Miss McDermott, we enjoyed 2v2 tennis matches and even helped to build the tennis nets.

In RE, we discussed the different ways in which Jesus changes people’s lives, sharing thoughtful ideas and reflections.

In Computing, we changed the appearance of our projects, learning how design choices can improve the final outcome.

In Music, with Mr Richards, we continued practising the C chord and were introduced to the F chord. We played along to London’s Burning, Hot Cross Buns and Sur Le Pont d’Avignon – great concentration and teamwork.

In French, with Madame Wardle, we have continued to secure our learning of the months of the year, and she was very impressed with the children’s pronunciation.

Our Science lessons focused on magnetism. We explored which materials are magnetic and non-magnetic, discussed magnetic forces, and learned about safety when using magnets, including whether magnetism is a contact or non-contact force.

Finally, an exciting highlight of the week was DT, where we made our pneumatic toys! They are absolutely amazing, and the children are very proud of them. Next week, we will be sharing them with Pre-School and Reception as part of our evaluation, as children aged 3–5 were our target audience when we designed and produced them.

Well done, Year 3 – another fantastic week of learning! 🌟

ear 3 have had another fantastic and very busy week full of learning, creativity and fun!

In Maths, we have been exploring the links between the 2, 4 and 8 times tables, spotting patterns and making connections between them. We have also been working with multiples of 10, linking related calculations and improving our reasoning skills when solving multiplication problems. The children have been explaining their thinking really clearly – well done, Year 3!

In Writing, the children have truly blown Mrs Harrison’s socks off this week with their unbelievable work! We have written a setting narrative all about a river, focusing on how the river moves, what can be found inside it, what it passes on its journey and what can be seen on the horizon. The descriptive language and imagination on show has been outstanding.

In Reading, we used The Lego Ideas Book to answer a range of questions about the text, practising our retrieval and understanding skills.

Our Geography lessons focused on the United Kingdom. We located the countries of the UK, their capital cities and significant landmarks, as well as identifying the seas that surround the UK. We then described these locations using the 8 compass points, showing excellent geographical knowledge.

In PE, we continued learning more moves for our Bollywood-themed dance – they are really starting to come together and look great! In Tennis, we practised our throwing skills and hitting the ball using a bat, before finishing the session with an exciting tournament.

In RE, we retold the story of Jesus changing Zacchaeus’ life from Luke 19:1–10. The children used role play to act out the story and then took part in hot seating Zacchaeus, asking thoughtful and insightful questions.

In Computing, we learned that a sequence of commands must be in the correct order for something to work properly, building our understanding of algorithms.

Our Science lessons explored friction. We investigated how different surfaces affect friction and discussed how friction can sometimes be an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage, depending on the situation.

In PSHE, we compared dangers and risks, exploring what we should do in a range of risky situations and how to make safe choices.

In Music, we continued learning to play as a ukulele ensemble, practising together and learning a new chord – the progress has been wonderful to hear.

In DT, we designed a toy that uses a pneumatic system, thinking carefully about how air can be used to create movement.

We were also very lucky to be joined by Janek Puzon, a local author who has written a new book called Dean the Baked Bean and the Karaoke Machine. He treated us to a reading of his book, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for joining us, Janek!

Well done, Year 3, for another brilliant week of learning! 👏

What a busy week in Year 3 at Hoddlesden St Paul’s!

We have had another fantastic week full of learning across the curriculum.

In Maths, we have been exploring the 4 and 8 times tables. We have practised multiplying and dividing by 4 and 8 and have been making links between multiplication and division to deepen our understanding.

In Writing, we have continued working with our class text, The Rhythm of the Rain. We have been preparing to write our own setting narratives next week by identifying the text structure and key features. We have also explored important grammar choices to include in our writing. The children have learnt what a narrator is, what writing a narrative means, and have gathered ideas and planned their own settings ready to begin writing next week.

In Reading, we have been enjoying The One and Only Ivan. We have explored how the author presents different themes throughout the story, including loneliness, and discussed how these themes make us feel as readers.

In Geography, we zoomed out from our own addresses to explore the seven continents and five oceans. We used the four points of the compass to describe our location in relation to other continents, for example: If I travelled south from where we live, I would reach the continent of Africa.

In Science, we carried out an investigation exploring rough and smooth surfaces and how they affect forces.

In PSHE, we discussed safe and unsafe situations, thinking carefully about how different choices can change whether a situation is safe or unsafe.

In RE, we explored why choosing to follow Jesus is not always easy. We learned about the calling of Levi from the book of Matthew and discussed how people’s lives may change before and after choosing to follow Jesus.

In Computing, we learnt that commands have outcomes and that a program has a clear starting point.

In DT, we used different types of diagrams to summarise information.

In French, we have been learning the months of the year and practising remembering our birthday months. Next week, we will try to say the date of our birthday in French!

Finally, we also enjoyed a wonderful ukulele session with Mr Richards, which the children loved.

Well done, Year 3, for another brilliant week of learning! 🌟

Happy New Year to you all! We have had a wonderful first week back and have really enjoyed settling into 2026 together.

In Maths, we continued our learning on multiplication and division. We revisited sharing and grouping before focusing on the 3 times table, multiplying and dividing by 3 in a range of contexts. Towards the end of the week, we moved on to multiplying by 4.

In Writing, we began a new text, The Rhythm of the Rain. We made predictions and wrote a kenning poem to describe the river. The story is a setting narrative with beautiful illustrations, which inspired us to write our own fantastic setting descriptions. In Shared Reading, we have been enjoying Harry and the Poisonous Centipede, focusing on the reading skill of “reading between the lines”.

In Geography, we launched our new topic all about the world. Our enquiry question is: “Where in the World Are We?”We explored the components of our address and located them using Google Maps.

In PE, with Mrs Harrison, we started Bhangra dancing! We explored the music and learned about mudras. With Mrs McDermott, we began learning how to play tennis, using bats and practising our technique.

In RE, we are exploring how Jesus did and does change lives. We discussed our own experiences of change and how Christians believe Jesus has the power to transform lives.

In Computing, we were introduced to Scratch, a new programming environment for us. In PSHE, we focused on online safety, discussing whether everyone online is who they say they are and the importance of keeping personal information safe, even accidentally.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first ukulele session with Mr Richards, recapping how to hold the ukulele, the names of the strings, and the chords we already know.

In DT, we explored how pneumatic systems create movement using balloons, straws, tubes, and syringes. Finally, in French with Madame Wardle, we recapped our learning from before Christmas and began learning about different fêtes and fiestas. We also learnt that Happy New Year in French is Bonne Annee!

What a busy and exciting start to the term! 🌟

And that’s a wrap on 2025! ?

We have had an amazing festive week in Year 3 at Hoddlesden St Paul’s. It truly is a wonderful time to be a teacher and to work with children of this age – the week has been filled with excitement, creativity and Christmas magic! The children have had great fun and made some brilliant primary school memories that will hopefully last a lifetime.

Our festive fun has included making our beautiful Christmas cards, where we put our sewing skills to excellent use. In DT, we also finished our cushions and evaluated our final products, reflecting carefully on what went well and what we could improve next time. Alongside this, we evaluated our Elf Enterprise products and sales, thinking about teamwork, creativity and success.

In History, we answered our enquiry question, “Is equal always fair?” using examples from both within living memory and before living memory. The children shared thoughtful ideas and showed a great understanding of fairness and equality. In English, we wrote the final three parts of our explanation text all about the trap for the Iron Man. They are fantastic pieces of writing, and Mrs Harrison is very proud of the effort and imagination shown!

In Maths, we explored multiples of 5 and 10, as well as grouping and sharing, identifying the similarities and differences between the two. In Science, we completed a quiz to show how much we have learned in our unit – and the results were impressive!

In RE, we explored the work of the Salvation Army and looked closely at how Christians put their belief in Jesus into action to show his impact on the world. We discussed how we are the hands of Jesus and learned about the Jesus statue in Strasbourg that survived bombing during World War II, reflecting on how we can be Jesus’ hands on Earth today.

We also performed two beautiful carol concerts for our families, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Christmas jumper day was another highlight, topped off with a delicious Christmas dinner! Our behaviour treat was Christmas crazy golf, which everyone loved, and we were even treated to a surprise visit from two of Father Christmas’s elves and his reindeer – what a magical moment!

What a fantastic end to the year. Thank you for all your continued support, and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ?✨

What a busy and exciting week we’ve had in Year 3!

In English, we have started writing our The Iron Man explanation texts all about the traps. We have written the first two sections and have made a great start. We will continue and finish these next week, and we’re really looking forward to improving and adding more detail to our work.

In Maths, we began a brand-new topic: multiplication and division. We have been exploring equal groups and arrays, and we have started learning the 3 times table. The children have shown fantastic enthusiasm and effort when explaining their thinking.

In DT, some of us have sewn and stuffed our cushions, and they look amazing! We are very proud of the care and perseverance shown. We will continue this next week before giving each other feedback and evaluating our final designs.

In French, we had lots of fun learning clapping rhymes, helping us practise our listening and pronunciation skills.

In Science, we explored how different animals use their muscles and discussed what would happen if our muscles stopped working. There were some brilliant questions and thoughtful ideas shared during this lesson.

In History, we learned about Greta Thunberg and felt inspired to create our own posters about something we feel is unfair in the world. From animal rights to treating children fairly, we produced some passionate and powerful posters. We also explored the cause and effect link between Greta Thunberg and the Suffragettes, making great historical connections.

We have also been practising hard for the Carol Concert. Mrs Harrison has uploaded our words onto Seesaw, and the children have also brought a copy home. Please could grown-ups at home help us learn our line? Thank you for your support.

We evaluated our Elf Enterprise and worked out our fantastic profit! We discovered that the snowmen sold better, so next year we will pass on our advice to the current Year 2s to make more snowmen and maybe some Christmas puddings. We’ll also bear this in mind for when we are in Year 4.

We have continued to enjoy gymnastics with Miss Winward, developing our strength, balance and confidence. Many of us also had the wonderful opportunity to perform with the choir at RBH, singing for staff and patients. It was a lovely experience and really helped to cheer lots of people up.

We also wanted to let families know that next week is going to be very busy and full of Christmas excitement! We have lots of festive activities planned, so please keep an eye on Arbor for important dates and information. There will be lots of things on such as party days (Monday) behaviour treats, Christmas dinner and jumper day (Thursday) , Dojo winner days (Friday), and even a very special surprise guest… or guests – who knows! ?✨

It’s shaping up to be a magical end to the term, and we can’t wait to enjoy it all together.

Well done, Year 3, for another brilliant week! ?

What an exciting and action-packed week we’ve had in Year 3!

In English, we began our second writing outcome inspired by The Iron Man. The children stepped into the roles of professional trap designers and trap builders, using role play and interviews to help them think creatively about how their own traps might work. All this imaginative work is helping us prepare to write our own Explanation texts next week.

In Maths, we have been solving problems using expanded column addition and subtraction, including using exchange. The children showed great determination with some tricky calculations. We also explored complements to 100 and practised finding the numbers that make 100—super number work all round!

In Science, we investigated invertebrates and learned about the three different types of body support. We then sorted animals into vertebrates and invertebrates, explaining our choices using scientific vocabulary. Year 3 are becoming fantastic young scientists!

In History, we explored the life and achievements of Sunita Williams. We made links between her, Katherine Johnson and the suffragettes, using the historian skill of cause and effect to understand how inspiring individuals can influence change.

In DT, we continued our sewing unit and became sewing superstars. The children designed their appliqué pieces and practised their cross stitch on their cushions—our classroom is looking very creative!

In PE, we took part in some challenging circuit activities using a range of equipment. The children showed brilliant resilience, teamwork and energy throughout.

In RE, we looked at the story of Papa Panov and reflected on its message of kindness and generosity. The children shared thoughtful ideas about how we can help others in our everyday lives.

In French, we revisited the numbers 1–20 and practised saying them confidently. We enjoyed some fun games to help us remember them too.

What a brilliant week of learning and creativity! We can’t wait to see what next week brings. ?

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!

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! ?

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!

What a fantastic final week of Autumn 1 we’ve had in Year 3! Everyone has been working incredibly hard and showing great enthusiasm in all of our learning.

In Maths, we’ve been exploring column subtraction, learning how to exchange across 10s and 100s. The children have shown great determination and growing confidence in solving trickier subtraction problems. It’s been wonderful to see their independence developing as they carefully work through each step.

Our English lessons have been full of creativity and imagination as we wrote our innovated versions of Akimbo and the Elephant. The children’s stories were truly amazing! They used conjunctions, complex sentences, thoughts and feelings, and powerful verbs to bring their writing to life. The final pieces were a joy to read — we are so proud of everyone’s progress.

This week, our spelling focus has been on homophones and near homophones. We’ve been learning how words can sound the same but have different meanings and spellings — a tricky challenge that the children have tackled brilliantly.

Our Geography lessons have taken us on a journey around the world as we discovered the hottest and wettest places on Earth and learned about the tropical rainforest biome. During our Outdoor Adventurous Learning session with Wild One Adventures, we had great fun exploring soils and recognising that they’re made from rocks and organic matter. We even examined real soil samples to see what they’re made of! Mrs Harrison has kindly added a video of our OAL on Seesaw, so make sure you take a look — it really captures the excitement of our outdoor learning.

We ended our Geography unit by answering our big enquiry question: “Why is climate important?” The children’s thoughtful and detailed answers showed just how much they’ve learned, using fantastic vocabulary and scientific understanding.

In Art, we applied our knowledge of sculpture to build our own creations, experimenting with different joining techniques. We also spent time evaluating and improving our artwork, showing real pride and creativity in our final pieces.

In Gymnastics, we’ve been practising some super team games, working together, encouraging each other, and showing great teamwork and sportsmanship.

To finish our busy week, we enjoyed an exciting magic show as our behaviour treat! There were lots of gasps, giggles, and amazement as we watched the magician perform some truly unbelievable tricks — it was a fantastic way to celebrate our hard work and brilliant behaviour this half term.

Well done, Year 3 — what an amazing week of learning, creativity, and fun!

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! ?

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!