Welcome to Year 3!

We hope you have all had the most fabulous summer and are now ready to come back to school. We are really looking forward to seeing your happy smiles!

Mrs. Marriott and Miss Riley will be working in Mrs. Jones's class and Mrs. Thistlethwaite will be with Mrs. Patel.

Our Power Pals this year are the mischievous 'Give and Take' meerkat twins, who will be teaching us all about teamwork and compromise.

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Our finished pencil cases!

Art - printing onto fabric using two colours.

Our finished product in DT is going to be a string bag. We have combined this with our art skills this term by printing onto the material to make an attractive design. 

We experimented on paper and then a strip of fabric.

Printing onto fabric using two colours

DT - Sewing a pencil case

We have finally got around to making our pencil cases. We used the new sewing stitches we have learned - running stitch to attach our motif and over stitch to join the sides together. We also sewed on our own button!

Emma Williams - The Big Sing

We had a lovely visit from Emma Williams, who led us in singing fro an hour. We really enjoyed her enthusiasm for singing and we learned how to sing properly, thinking about posture and breathing.

The Tower Garden- more delicious tasting. 

Today, we made garlic bread, making use of parsley, along side some salad grown on the tower garden. We had a go at chopping, slicing, kneading and mixing. Our garlic bread wa amazing and the whole school was filled with the aroma of garlic!

Geography - traffic survey

We had the most beautiful day for our traffic survey. We have been thinking about different transportation and why it travels through towns and cities. We have also been learning about the effects so much heavy traffic can have on our environment and our health. We were interested to know what type of transportation passed our school. There was a range of different types of transport including cars, bikes, vans, buses and taxis.

Sewing - practising running and back stitch.

The Tower Garden - tasting our efforts!

Finally, we are ready to harvest some of our produce from the Tower Garden! Our basil is ready and so we had a lovely afternoon making and eating pesto pasta. We used our chopping and slicing skills from DT to make the pasta dish - it was dilicioso!

Here are some of our thoughts about our pesto pasta!

Art - developing our printing skills.

We moved onto polystyrene tiles, scoring in our designs. We based our ideas on the nature - using the work of William Morris as a stimulus. We then progressed onto printing with two colours.

String Printing - swirls made by wrapping string around a block.

At the start of our art this term we have been preparing printing blocks using string and card. it was quite fiddly to make the blocks but the results were impressive!

Easter Egg Hunt - organised by the Year 6

We had great fun on the last day of term taking part in an Easter egg hunt. The plastic eggs were spread all around the school grounds and we had to work in our colour teams to collect as many as possible. It was great fun!

Art - Drawing and painting detailed pictures of flowers.

As partof our colour mixing lessons, we have been set the challenge of drawing and painting flowers from a famous piece of art work. We had to match the colours of the petals as closely as possible.

Our Tower Garden Growing - week 5

We have been making a video to show the progress of the vegetables and herbs growing in our tower garden. Here are a couple of videos describing what has been happening.

Science

Where does the water go on a windy day?

Today, we have been learning about evaporation and condensation in the water cycle. Our experiment took us outside on a windy day. We all measured out an amount of water and poured it on the playground, drawing a ring around the outside with chalk. We monitored the puddle throughout the day to see what happened. 

Most of our puddles got smaller, but the puddle by the side of the school classroom completely disappered. We were able to predict why this might happen.

Week 3 - Breen Bronx Machine

An exciting week, this week, as we finally were able to plant our little seedlings into the Tower Garden. Before that, we had to fill the reservoir with water - it took nearly two afternoons! We carefully measured out 55 litres of water into the reservoir and not a drop was spilled!

We made individual labels to mark out where our plants were. The bigger plants were placed at the bottom of the tower, and we managed to fit everybody's seedling in!

When all the seedlings were planted into the Tower, we had the 'big switch on'! It was very exciting. The Tower Garden is noisy and it sounds like a water feature. The sound of running water is taking a bit of getting used to!

Rock Scrambling at Warton Crag

The children are absolutely buzzing with excitement on their achievements during rock scrambling at Warton Crag! Each and every child was amazing and it was a pleasure to see the children work as a team, encourage each other to overcome challenges and see their faces beam as they met each goal on this fantastic, most adventurous journey! The year 3 team are super-proud of them 🤩

Our Bowling Champions

Science - seed dispersal experiment

We have been learning about how different plants have ingenious ways of dispersing their seeds. We were set the challenge of inventing our own seed dispensers to carry our paper seeds. We had a competition to see which groups could disperse their  'seeds' (paper squares) the furthest and the most spread out. Mrs. Jones gave us 20 minutes to create a seed dispenser and then we tested them.

The Green Bronx Project - Week 2

We are well underway with our project and had an interesting afternoon on Monday building the Garden Tower, ready to grow our seeds. We each took turns to put the tower together. It was a little bit tricky!

Our Growing Plants

Most of our plants have now germinated and are growing speedily! Some of our plants didn't germinate and we have been replanting some.

Our Plant Journals

We are really enjoying filling in our plant journals with observations, data and pictures.

Zoom call with Stephen Rotz from the Bronx

We really enjoyed our first Zoom call with Stephen Ritz, the headteacher from the Bronx. He was very funny and showed us around his classroom with many growing towers. We were able to chat to him and ask him questions about the project. 

🥕🥦 Here is our latest video on the Green Bronx Machine Project - enjoy! 🥬🍓

https://torrisholme-community-primary-school.primarysite.media/media/week-1-of-the-project-planting 

The Green Bronx Project

We have started our first week of the green Bronx project and it has been an excellent beginning!

We started of by discussing the difference between vegetables, herbs and fruit. How many different types could we think of in 90 seconds?

We then discussed what we would like to grow and why. Can we grow fruit and vegetables inside our classroom with very little light? About half of the children thought we could. One of our last questions was...

Can we grow enough food in class to feed our whole class regularly?

In our next session, we discussed what we would like to grow in class. We  looked at different fruit, vegetables and herbs, smelling them and grouping them. Some we had seen, some we hadn't. 

Working in pairs, we chose the seeds we would like to grow. 

Day 1

We have been planting our seeds into rockwool. We thought it would be soil, but this is green and furry! We carefully placed 6-8 small seeds, or 1-2 big seeds into each pod and covered them over with a light substance called vermiculite. Finally we labelled them and watered them and now we are waiting for them to grow!

Day 5

You won't believe it! Some of our seeds are starting to grow already! We were so excited that so many have germnated! Today, we have set up our Plant Journals, making notes about our observations. We have also been learning about measuring in cm and mm, ready to measure our seedlings. 

We have made recordings about what we are most excited about during this project:

DT - developing our sawing skills

Look! All fingers still intact!

Internet Safety Day 2022

Are You Being SMART?

Year 3 have been looking at ways to stay SMART online. We’ve discussed the importance of keeping our personal information SAFE and not arranging to MEET anyone who approaches us online. We've also talked about how easy it is for a stranger to send a message with an attachment or when online, how pop-up links appear. We now know not to ACCEPT any friend requests or open attachments from anyone we don’t know as not only can it be dangerous or make us feel worried, but it could also contain a virus. We then talked about whether what we read is RELIABLE as not everything we read on online is true and if we are ever in doubt or feeling worried, it is absolutely imperative that we always TELL a trusted adult - parent, teacher or grandparent are some that the children came up with.
 

Look at the children’s wonderful display below, designed on the computer or by hand. Please discuss this with your child at home and remember to be SMART online.

Harry Potter Day

What is your port key?

A-MAZE-ing maze designs

Our DT project this term is to make a maze game, marble run. Here are our first attempts at creating mazes.

Hockey

We have been lucky enough to have some specialist hockey training for the last 6 weeks. We have really enjoyed dribbling round cones, playing small partner games and team games. 

Working and developing our skills with clay

As part of Art, we have been developing skills with clay. We started by making 3D shapes, and made a pyramid. We looked at the special pattern of bricks an recreated this on our pyramids.

Making Egyptian scarab beetle amulets

We looked at model and pictures of the amulets the Ancient Egyptians used. We made designs and created our own amulets. We added beads to decorate and painted with glittery paint.

Clay canopic jars

To continue our clay skills, we tried a much harder model. We shaped a long jar and a lid with an animal head. We used rolling, squeezing and attaching skills.

Mummification!!!

We've had a fantastic week learning about the system of mummification caried out by the Ancient Egyptians. Inorder to understand the different stages, we had a go at recreating the method with a reception doll.

We hope you enjoy the pictures!

The Ancient Egyptians

This week, the children have taken on the role of an Egyptologist and have learnt about the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. They looked at key historical events they are familiar with and placed them on a timeline. They explored the way the timeline is split into BC and AD to show how historians recorded historical events before and after the birth of Jesus. The children were horrified (and excited!) at the thought of drawing on the tables but were relieved that it was all wipeable...phew!😅

Christmas Week

What a busy week! Here is a selection of photos showing Christmas Dinner, our Christmas cards and calendars and our Christmas party, including a visit from two very special characters! 

Santa Dash 2021

The children had a fantastic time running their Santa Dash - in the sunshine! They started with a 12 Days for Christmas themed warm-up before running/ skipping/ walking laps of the playgrounds.

Creative Games - Tag and Target

The children have been investigating what makes a successful game of tag. They used these ideas to invent their own games.

STONE AGE DAY!

What did people of this era wear?

We have been looking at how our clothes differ from those people wore in Stone Age times. We then designed and made a costume for our pegdolls. We hope you enjoy our Stone Age catwalk parade!

What did Stone Age people eat?

The Stone Age period was extremely long and eating habits changed considerably. By the end of the era, these people had moved away from being hunter-gathers to growing their own crops and keeping domestic animals. We enjoyed chopping and peeling vegetables for a Stone Age soup and mixing ingredients to make oat biscuits with honey. They were delicious!

Stone Age poo!

One of the ways archaeologists discovered what people and animals at this time ate, was by examining their coprolite (fossilized poo)! We had a go at discovering what they ate. It was delicate work, just armed with a toothpick and a small paintbrush! We soon got to the 'bottom' of this investigation! 

Painting with Natural Materials

We have used a range of material resources to create paint, just as Stone Age people might have done to create their cave paintings. We used berries, beetroot, mud, grass, spices such as cumin and paprika, as well as charcoal and woodash! It was messy and smelly work but we discovered an amazing range of colours and textures to create our cave paintings.

Well done 3J!

Thank you to all the children in 3J and their parents for sending in an amazing contribution for the foodbank this month!

Dancing Skeletons! 
 

We have been learning the importance of our skeletons. Did you know that our skeleton keeps us upright and protects our vital organs, like our brains, lungs and heart?

Making Fruit Skewers

As part of our 'Happy, Healthy Me' topic, we have been thinking about healthy snacks which are easy to make and healthy. We loved making fruit skewer snacks and loved eating them too!

In RE, we have been thinking about leaders in our community and what qualities you need to be a good leader. Where better to start than with our school leader, Mrs Pym. We prepared some questions about what it is like to be a leader and were interested to hear what answers Mrs Pym would give us. We now know that you have to be resilient, patient and understanding. 

Bee..... kind, bee.....respectful...bee amazing!

We have been thinking about working together and what skills we need to get along with each other. We created our bee display made up of little 'be....' messages. 

Ball Skills

We have been practising our ball skills with a focus on rugby.

Collaborative Art Project

We have been thinking about 'Give and Take'. We split into small groups and picked a word out of the lucky dip. These included: stripes, circles, squares, wiggles etc. We then had to work together to create a piece of collaborative art based on our group word. We discussed our ideas together using the skill of 'compromise'. We worked really well together although sometimes it was a bit of a challenge!

Meerkat Targets

Our 'Give and Take' meerkats have been the inspiration for target setting for Year 3. We all learned to draw a meerkat together and then set a school and home target, as well as picking someone in our class that we would make a special effort to get to know better this year. Come down to Year 3 to see our finished display.

Songs for Autumn 1 - Friendship

Here are some songs which we are singing in class and assembly. They are all about friendship. Have a go and singing them!

Count on Me

If you ever find yourself stuck in the

middle of the sea,
I'll sail the world to find you.
And if you ever find yourself lost in the dark

and you can't see,
I'll be the light to guide you.
Find out what we're made of,
when we are called to help our friends in need.

Chorus

You can count on me like one, two, three, I'll be there,
And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two,
And you'll be there
'Cos that's what friends are s'posed to do, oh, yeah,
Ooo, ooo, yeah, yeah.

If you're tossing and you're turning and you just can't fall asleep
I'll sing a song beside you.
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me,
Everyday I will remind you.
Find out what we're made of,
When we are called to help our friends in need.
 

Chorus
You can count on me like one, two, three, I'll be there
And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two,
You'll be there,
'Cos that's what friends are s'posed to do, oh, yeah
Ooo, ooo, yeah, yeah.

You'll always have my shoulder when you cry,
I'll never let go, never say 'goodbye'

Chorus

You can count on me like one, two, three, I'll be there
And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two,
You'll be there,
'Cos that's what friends are s'posed to do, oh, yeah,
Ooo, ooo,

You can count on me cos' I can count on you.

Believe in Me
I was your closest friend, 
stand with you ‘til the end.
I may not be perfect
but I’m strong and I’m determined,
I am loyal and I’ll always fight for you.
B-E-L-I-E-V-E
I hope you believe in me.
B-E-L-I-E-V-E in me.
 

I may do foolish things,
no need to clip my wings.
Yes, I may be stubborn,
but I’ve always got you covered,
I am loyal and I’ll always fight for you.
B-E-L-I-E-V-E
I hope you believe in me.
B-E-L-I-E-V-E in me.
 

B-E-L-I-E-V-E 
I hope you believe in me.
B-E-L-I-E-V-E in me. 
B-E-L-I-E-V-E in me.

You’ve Got a Friend in Me

You’ve got a friend in me,
You’ve got a friend in me.
When the road looks rough ahead,
And you’re miles and miles from your nice warm bed,
You just remember what your old pal said,
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me.
Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me.

You’ve got a friend in me,
You’ve got a friend in me,
You’ve got troubles, well I got ‘em too,
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.
We’ll stick together and we’ll see it through,
‘Cause you’ve got a friend in me,
You’ve got a friend in me.

Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am,
Bigger and stronger too, maybe,
But none of them will ever love you the way I do,
It’s me and you, boy!

And as the years go by
Our friendship will never die.
You’re gonna see it’s our destiny;
You’ve got a friend in me,
You’ve got a friend in me,
You’ve got a friend in me.

One Call Away

I'm only one call away.
I'll be there to save the day.
Superman got nothing on me,
I'm only one call away.

Call me, baby, if you need a friend.
I just wanna give you love,
Come on, come on, come on,
Reaching out to you, so take a chance.
No matter where you go,
You know you're not alone.

I'm only one call away.
I'll be there to save the day.
Superman got nothing on me,
I'm only one call away.

Come along with me and don't be scared.
I just wanna set you free,
Come on, come on, come on,
You and me can make it anywhere.
But for now, we can stay here for a while.
Cos you know, I just wanna see you smile.
No matter where you go,
You know you're not alone.

I'm only one call away. 
I'll be there to save the day. 
Superman got nothing on me, 
I'm only one call away.

And when you're weak I'll be strong.
I'm gonna keep holding on.
Now don't you worry, it won't be long, darling,
And when you feel like hope is gone,
Just run into my arms.

I'm only one call away.
I'll be there to save the day.
Superman got nothing on me,
I'm only one,
I’m only one call away.
I'll be there to save the day.
Superman got nothing on me,
I'm only one call away.
I'm only one call away.