St. Vincent’s Catholic Primary School
Curriculum Meeting
Year 3
Agenda
Tonight we will outline what your child will be learning this year and
ways in which you can help your child.
• Overview of subjects
• Classroom support
• Assessment
• Homework
• Reading
• P.E. Kits
• Lost property
Religious Education
• The Way, the Truth and the Life
• The scheme teaches children about the Catholic church, sacraments,
Jesus’ life and how they can apply these teachings to their own lives.
• Each half term the scheme covers a different theme
• Non-Christian religions taught each term, that are linked back into our
own faith and understanding of religion.
• Events in church’s calendar, e.g. Advent, Lent.
• Sacramental Programme.
• There will be a meeting about Holy Communion on the we will let you
know the date well in advance.
English
• Focus on spellings, grammar, comprehension,
• English homework - comprehension or verbal reasoning activity to
be sent home on Fridays, to be completed for Monday.
• Alan Peat -‘2ad’ sentences ‘3ed’ sentences
Handwriting
• Take pride in their handwriting and presentation of their work.
• Expectation that all children will use joined up handwriting.
• Regular practice of the different joins and letter formations will lead
to neat, joined up handwriting in all work, not just when in
handwriting lessons.
• We would also encourage children to take care with their
handwriting in all pieces of homework given.
Spellings
• The spellings given out in Year 3 focus on rules and patterns. For
example, silent letters and adding suffixes (‘ed’ for example)
• Children will also look at spelling homophones and words that are
commonly misspelt.
• Spelling homework is given out on Wednesdays. Children are
encouraged to write interesting sentences to reinforce the learning
of spellings and use of correct punctuation.
Creative Writing
• Children write at length at least once a week.
• Structure and organisation of ideas.
• Writing narratives, creating settings,
characters and plots.
• Proofreading work and editing writing.
• They will learn to use conjunctions, adverbs
and prepositions to improve writing.
Maths
• Number and Place Value
• Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and
Division
• Fractions and Decimals
• Measurement
• Geometry
• Statistics, Ratio, Proportion and Algebra
Science
• Fair and unfair tests and look at ‘Working Scientifically’
• Focus on setting up practical enquiries, making predictions, asking
relevant questions, making systematic and careful observations,
taking measurements and recording data.
• Topics include Animals (including humans), plants, Rocks, Forces
and Magnets as well as Light
• Topics covered include: Our Changing World, How does your
garden grow?, Rock Detectives, Can you see me?, The Power of
Forces, Amazing Bodies
Physical Education
• On a Tuesday afternoon children participate in a sports session run
be external professional coaches.
• All PE lessons state the importance of ‘warming up’, ‘cooling down’
and bodily awareness.
• PE Kits MUST be in school everyday. They are taken home on a
Friday to be washed for Monday.
• In line with Health and Safety Guidelines, if a child does not have
their PE kit then they will not be able to take part in the session.
• Children will also take part in a teacher led session of PE on a
Thursday afternoon.
French
• French is taught once every two weeks.
• It is taught through games, finger rhymes, songs, ICT and French
story books.
• Children learn phrases and useful vocabulary, and experience
French culture.
Computing
• We will look at programming, computational thinking, creativity,
computer networks, communication/collaboration and productivity.
Our topic titles for the year are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
We are programmers (programming animations)
We are bug fixers (finding and correcting bugs in programmes)
We are presenters (videoing performance)
We are network engineers (computer networks)
We are communicators (Communicating safely on the internet)
We are opinion pollsters (Collecting and analysing data)
Music
• We have an exciting music scheme called
‘Charanga’ which combines all the main
elements of music:
• Listening and appraising
• Performing
• Composing/Improvisation
Classroom Support
• Mrs Davidson is our Teaching Assistant in Year 3.
• At various times during the week she will work with groups of
children in Maths, Reading, Writing (punctuation and structure) and
handwriting.
Assessment
• Children’s progress in all areas is assessed continually throughout
the year.
• These assessments are designed to ensure progress and identify
any ‘gaps in learning’.
• Children are assessed in a variety of ways; marking, monitoring
responses, observation of discussions, informal tests.
Homework
• Reading: 20 minutes every day.
• Maths: Work which reinforces what is being taught in class is
given out on a Monday to be back in for Wednesday.
• Spellings: 10 spellings to be given out every Wednesday with
detailed spelling sentences to be completed for Friday.
• The spellings are to be learnt for a test the following Monday.
• English: given out on Friday to be handed in on Monday. This
will typically be a comprehension or verbal reasoning activity.
• Please ensure your children brings their reading book into
school every day.
Reading
• Please try to read with your child for 20 minutes daily.
• Encourage children to ‘sound out’ difficult words and re-read
sentences to make sense of what they have read.
• Check your child understands what they are reading – this is very
important. This can be done through questioning.
• Comprehension is a very important skill to develop at this age.
• Reading at home is for enjoyment and to build reading confidence.
• Children are challenged further in weekly ‘guided reading’ sessions
led by the class teacher. In this session children read a more difficult
book in a small group with the class teacher.
Reading
• Books are changed at least once a week, although teachers may decide to
keep a child on a book if they feel the book has not been understood.
• Library books: your child will benefit greatly from reading a wider range of
material. The class visit the school library every week. Library books are to
be kept in school.
• Please use your child’s reading record – it is a useful means of
communication.
• It is important that your child works through the reading scheme provided
by the school. This way children will gain access to wide variety of genres.
PE Kit
• Please ensure your child has their PE kit in school every day.
• The indoor/summer kit is a plain white t-shirt, black shorts and
pumps.
• The outdoor/winter kit is a tracksuit and trainers. This is worn over
the indoor kit, and is NOT a substitute for the indoor kit.
• Where possible, try not to wear tights or earrings on PE days.
Online Resources
• Each child should have log in details for activelearn. This will allow
children access to reading resources on Bug Club and Maths
resources on Abacus
• https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk (Please see the handout
provided for website details)
• The MyMaths website is another useful tool to help your child
practise key concepts that will be covered this year.
• https://www.mymaths.co.uk/
Log in:stvinjun (These details are also on the handout)
Password: circle
Reminders
• Children need to be picked up from the classroom at the end of the
day. If you are running late please contact the office. Children will
be taken to the office if you have not arrived by 3:35pm.
• Children should not leave the office area or their classroom without
informing the class teacher or office staff.
• It is important that you vacate the school grounds as quickly as
possible so the school site can be secured.
• We would like to remind you that children are not encouraged to
play on the hill beside the Infant Department office.
• Children are encouraged to bring a healthy snack for morning break
time. For example, fruit, vegetables and bread sticks.
Buddies!
• Buddy System. Each Year 3 child has been paired with a Year 6
‘Buddy’. This buddy is someone they can play with in the
playground, read with or go if they are unsure about something.
Lost Property
• Please ensure your child has their name in all clothing – uniform, PE
kit and shoes.
• Help us to encourage children to take responsibility for their own
property.
• Please make us aware of any lost items.
• Please let us know if your child has accidentally come home
wearing another child’s uniform!
• Unmarked items will be on display in the library at the end of every
half term.
• Please see your child’s class teacher if you have any further
questions about anything that has been discussed this evening.
• Please bear in mind that if you wish to discuss your child’s progress,
parents’ evening is coming up soon
Thank you!