Autumn 1
AUTUMN 1
Welcome back and a warm welcome to Year 3! We are really excited to start our year 3 journey together.
The main focus this term is to settle into Year 3, work independently and in groups and ultimately have fun. We all learn best when learning is accessible and enjoyable. We will continue to grow a positive mind-set. We can do this! Have a look below to see what we will be learning about this term.
English
Our text for enjoyment this term is ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton.
Children will be working this half-term towards writing an independent narrative piece of work. The story we will focus on is Jack and the Beanstalk, we will be thinking about the plot of defeating a monster. We will look closely at the characters and how the story builds suspense. Children will be encouraged to use drama and role-play techniques to develop their confidence.
Through our Reading for Inference sessions, children will learn to use their background knowledge and visualisation skills to bring a text to life. They will develop their inference skills to find answers to questions within a text through reading the full sentence to check what an unfamiliar word may mean, and also using synonyms (alternative words that may fit the context) to help them to work out the word’s meaning.
Vocabulary
Suspense, narrative, introduction, conclusion, opinion, transition, feelings, settings, story, title, complication, events, climax, resolution, time, place, characters, appearance, personality, mood, plot, tension, suspense, entertain, teach, inform, viewpoint, descriptive language, novels, paragraphs, direct speech, fluency, key word, important, specific, recover, meaning, relate, relationship, annotate, unpick, understand, evidence, relevant, accurate.
Maths
Place Value and Addition and Subtraction
We will start the term with a focus on place value as this underpins all Mathematics. We will be recapping tens and ones using addition and developing our number knowledge to 1000 where we will compare and order numbers. Children will begin to count in 50s.
We will also be continuing number and lightening, children will be recording their scores independently enabling them to track and be proud of their own progress.
Vocabulary
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, place value, digit, value, amount, compare, more than, less than, equal, ascending, descending, rounding, nearest, total, method, trial, error, systematic
Other Curriculum Areas
Science – Skeletons, movement, nutrition and diet
Skeletons
Children will be looking at the human body and functions of the skeleton. Children will name and identify bones in a range of animals with and without spines.
Movement
Children will also be learning about joints and how we move.
Nutrition and Diet
We will finish the term looking at the five food groups, gaining an understanding of them. Children will learn about balanced diets and comparing diets of animals and humans.
Vocabulary
Skeleton, skull, ribcage, pelvis, femur, mammal, amphibian, reptile, antennae, exoskeleton, joint, hinge, bicep, tricep, contracting, relaxing, healthy, nutrients, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, vertebrate, invertebrate, muscles, tendons, joints, nutrition
Computing
Online safety / Computing systems and networks 1: Networks and the Internet
We will introduce the concepts of networks, learning how devices communicate. We will learn how communication is shared and deepen this understanding by exploring examples of real-world networks. We will explore the internet, learning how data is transferred worldwide.
Vocabulary
Network, device, wireless, file, website, image, router, packet data, transferred, corrupted, lost
Religion and Worldviews – What makes us all human?
Children will share their personal worldview and explain how and why their worldviews might change. They will identify the difference between personal and organised worldviews and have the chance to ask and answer open-ended questions. They will explain what is meant by a soul and express their ideas about what a soul means to them personally. Children will understand that some people believe that humans have a soul. And summarise the similarities and differences between what people believe about the soul. They will express their ideas clearly and compare their own beliefs with others. Children will then explain, through talking and writing, how colour and images have been used in a piece of artwork to express a particular idea about the soul or inner self. They will learn and give examples of Buddhist meditation practices and will explain the reasons and purpose behind meditation. Children will then summarise some key ideas about what people with a particular worldview might think about the question ‘What makes us human?’.
Vocabulary
Belief, blurb, Buddhist, connection, consciousness, exist, express, immaterial, influence, inner self, meditation, mindfulness, organised, personal, practice, represent, responsible, soul, spiritual, summarise, unique, worldview
Art and Design - Drawing: Growing Artists (Art)
Children will learn how to transform 2D into 3D structures and sculptures. Children will explore abstract shape and space, develop skills in constructing 3D objects and understand the difference between 2D and 3D art.
Vocabulary
Abstract, arrangement, blend, botanical, botanist, composition, cut, dark, even, expressive, form, frame, frottage, geometric, gestural, grip, light, line, magnified, organic, object, pressure, rubbing, scale, scientific, shading, shape, smooth, surface, tear, texture, tone, tool, viewfinder
Music - Traditional instruments and improvisation (Theme: India)
Children will verbalise feelings about music and identify likes and dislikes. They will read musical notation and play the correct notes of the rag. They will improvise along to a drone and tal and play a rag and a tal accurately alongside a drone. Children will sing accurately from musical notation and lyrics and will sing and play in time with others with some degree of accuracy and awareness of each other’s parts.
Tal - a set rhythm, rag – the tune, drone - a sustained or repeated musical note or chord that provides a harmonic or melodic foundation
Vocabulary
Bollywood, compose, drone, dynamics, harmonium, improvise, Indian flute, lyrics, melodic line, notation, opinion, pitch, rag, repeated rhythm, rhythm, sarangi, sitar, table, tala, tempo
Geography – Rivers
We will be looking at the topic of rivers. Children will explore a wide range of important vocabulary and ideas, which will support them in developing their reading skills by deepening their knowledge of the world and expanding their vocabulary knowledge. Children will learn about the mighty River Indus, how rivers get their water and how rivers shape the land. We will also be looking at Britain’s longest rivers. They will learn about these areas through stories and discussing key vocabulary.
Vocabulary
Tibet, mountain range, Himalayas springs, Indus, India, Pakistan, glaciers, monsoon, Arabian Sea Afghanistan, dams, reservoirs, canals, irrigation, irrigate, turbine, source, water vapour, evaporates, evaporation, condenses, transpiration, erosion, erodes, particle, spurs, mature meanders, sediment, mouth, estuary, streamlined, pollute, pollution
Physical Education
Multi skills and dance
Multi skills (outdoors) – children will be developing skills including running, jumping, throwing and catching through a variety of activities and equipment.
Dance (indoors) – children will be learning a dance together to perform to an audience in Spring 2.
Vocabulary
partner, copy (mirror), follow, unison, canon, repetition
PSHE / RSE
Families and Relationships
Children will be learning how to resolve relationship problems, developing their listening skills and non-verbal communication. They will look at and learn the impact of bullying and what action can be taken. They will explore trust and that stereotyping can exist.
Vocabulary
Families, support, problem, arise, friendships, resolved, impact, identify, break trust, stereotype, re-enforce, gender
Key Dates
Autumn term starts – Wednesday 3rd September 2025
End of Autumn 1 - Friday 24th October 2025