Wye

Wye Class Newsletter

Autumn Term 2019

Literacy and Topic

Our main topic this term will be learning about the Romans as settlers and the involvement and impact they had on our country and lives today. In literacy we will be researching facts from the Roman Empire and we will be writing mainly non-fiction texts. This will include a non-chronological report of an interest your child has in this exciting era of history.  In addition, we will be writing a diary report of Roman life, focusing on Boudicca recounts, investigating the Gods which they worshipped and writing newspaper reports on Boudicca’s revolt.  The children and I are very excited about a class trip which I have booked to Caerleon Museum after half term, which is a fabulous museum and brings all the features we will be learning about in the classroom to real life experiences.  Finally, we will be looking at different forms of poetry and will be writing an Autumn poem to include similes, metaphors and the five senses.

Maths

This half term we will be focusing mainly on place value, number work and heavily on our times tables. The National Curriculum states by the end of Year 3 pupils should have memorised their multiplication table and division facts for 2, 10, 5, 3, 4 and 8. With this in mind, we are using the ‘Frog Maths’ challenge to encourage your child to learn their tables and number facts in a fun and easy way. It is a challenge which will be given to them each week to improve their number bonds, complements to 100, multiplication and division facts. ‘Frog Maths’ aims to encourage children to become more fluent through varied and frequent practice, to recall and apply their knowledge of fundamental Maths skills.  I am endeavouring for the sheets to be sent home each week so you can see which area they need more practise with – practise, practise makes perfect! The children will also be having a times table challenge each week to really embed these life-long important facts. 

Also, in Maths we will be focusing on formal addition, subtraction, multiplication and division techniques, rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000, problem solving, 2D and 3D shapes and capacity, this is another area which we will be focusing on learning about millilitres and litres. We will of course also be learning about Roman numerals!

Science

In Science this term we will be looking at rocks and soils, learning about the different rock formations and comparing and grouping different kinds of rocks on their appearance and properties. We will discover how fossils are formed and trapped within sedimentary rocks and will be testing rocks to find out their durability and permeability factors. In addition we will be looking at different soils to recognise that they are made from rocks and organic matter.  With this in mind, if anyone can provide some different soil samples from various locations for us to test, I would be most grateful!

P.E.

Our P.E. sessions this term will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, can you please ensure your child has appropriate P.E. kit in school at all times, suitable to the weather conditions, as we are always keen enjoy more P.E. lessons at any time!  We will be learning invasion skills during our P.E. sessions and will be applying the principles for attacking and defending by playing netball and football.  Also during week commencing 23^rd September and week commencing 14^th October, the children will be swimming every morning at Halo swimming baths in Hereford.  Your child will need a swimming costume and towel (if possible please provide: for the girls; swimsuit and not a bikini style: for the boys; short speedo style trunks, rather than beach style shorts. These are far better for them to learn to swim in).  If your child has shoulder length hair can you please provide a swimming hat and if possible their hair tied up on the day is helpful.  Earrings and jewellery are not permitted.

Art and Design

In art and design, we will be looking at Roman mosaics, designing suitable footwear for a Roman soldier. We will be also making some Roman food to enjoy! 

In addition to this, we will be learning about E-safety and programming in ICT and focusing on new beginnings and consequences in PSHE. Spellings will be given every Monday to be tested on Friday.  Please encourage your child to learn these at home in readiness for their Friday spelling tests.  Homework will be given out on a Monday to be handed in by Friday.

Many thanks for all your support so far this year and please feel free to pop in to discuss any matters or concerns you may have at any time or just to check on your child’s progress.

Kindest regards

Miss Glover and Mrs Chattington

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