Autumn 1 2023

Dear Parents/Carers of pupils in Year 3,

Welcome to Stalyhill!  We hope you all had a lovely summer and are ready for an exciting year ahead!  The children have started on a high, the teachers are prepared and ready, and the stage is set for lots of learning and lots of exciting times!

This half term, our PE lessons are on Mondays and Thursdays.  Please remember to have the correct PE kit in school all week. Long hair must be tied back for P.E. Earrings are not allowed to be worn in PE lessons. Please ensure your child can remove jewellery themselves. 

Please note that Week 2 (w.b. 11.9.23) is Sports Week, so PE kits will be worn every day rather than uniform.

We start our Maths curriculum with place value, focusing on 3-digit numbers.

In English, we begin the term looking at word types, punctuation and grammar, moving onto some fiction work about a special island!

The Stone Age is the theme for our topic lessons and you will be invited to see some of our work after the half-term holiday.

Our Science topic is ‘Forces and Magnets’, where we will predict, experiment and investigate with magnets.

We are learning about pencil skills and using lines to create texture in Art, and in Design Technology we will look at pneumatic systems and make a very special creation to bring home!

In RE lessons, our focus is Sikhism, and we will also do Music, French and PSHE lessons weekly.

We will learn how to use Chromebooks and how to access Google Classroom in our Computing lessons. 

Reading

Every child will be given a school reading book and this can be changed once a week.  They will get a new book as soon as they have returned their finished book. Every time your child reads to you at home, please add any comments in your child's planner and the pages they have read.  When the book is finished, a grown up needs to write finished in the planner with a signature before a new book can be given. Shared reading and discussion of the story are very helpful. Please encourage your child to read with expression and to express opinions about the characters in the story, the plot, and what might happen next to further develop their inference skills.

Homework

Homework will start in October and will consist of a spelling activity and a times table activity.  These can be accessed through Google classroom (more information to follow), or paper copies will be made available.

In Year 4, the children will be sitting a National Multiplication Tables Check. In order to prepare them for this, each child will be given a login for TTRockstars - which they can use both at home and in school - to help them become more fluent in recalling them.

If you wish your child/children to be completing additional Maths activities, please see the Maths Page on our website where you will be directed to lots of educational sites. 

If you would like to do additional English & Maths work at home with your child, we recommend the Year Three workout books, published by cgpbooks, which can be purchased on line (www.cgpbooks.co.uk).

Punctuality

We would ask that all children arrive punctually in the morning. School starts at 8:45 am, we would recommend that children are ready at the classroom door at approximately 8:40 am. We are keen for the children to have a prompt start to the day in order to focus the children on their learning.  The doors close at 8.45am and anyone arriving after this time will need to go to the front entrance of school to be greeted by the office staff.

School equipment

Apart from a waterproof coat and a PE kit, the only equipment your child needs to bring to school are a packed lunch (if required), a water bottle and a snack for playtimes.  Dojo points are awarded for a fresh fruit or vegetable snack.  Please ensure your child brings a named bottle to school every day, filled only with water and takes this home daily to wash. 

Uniform

Please ensure your entire child's uniform and PE kit is named. Headbands and bobbles should be functional and match the school colour scheme. 

Class dojo

Please collect your invite to join our class dojo app to view your child’s rewards in person from your child’s teacher.

Communication

Urgent messages can be passed to the teachers via Mrs Pritchard in the school office, by phone (0161 3384290) or e-mail (admin@stalyhill-jun.tameside.sch.uk).

If you wish to contact the teachers with non-urgent information / questions then please use your child’s planner and have them pass this to their class teacher on the day.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Miss Wildes, Miss Duffy and Miss Jones.