Year 3 at Park Lane International School
Children aged 7-8
Literacy (Reading and Writing)
The school implements the National Literacy Strategy. The children are involved in a daily Literacy Lesson lasting for one hour. For the first 30 minutes of the lesson the whole class study texts to develop their reading or writing skills and focus on word or sentence work. During the next 20 minutes, one group works with the teacher on guided reading or writing, while the remainder of the class work on independent activities. The final 10 minutes of the lesson involves reviewing learning and / or discussing homework.
Fiction and Poetry
• Stories with familiar settings, traditional stories, stories with related themes, adventure and mystery stories.
• Stories by the same author.
• Writing simple play scripts.
• Poems related to the senses, shape poems, oral and performance poetry, humorous poetry and word play.
Non-Fiction
• Information books on topics of interest, writing instructions, non-chronological reports, letter writing for a range of purposes, using alphabetical texts – dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopaedias and indexes
Phonics and Spelling
• Taught through a progressive structure using a variety of resources.
Grammar and Punctuation
• Taught through a progressive system, in line with the Literacy Strategy, with a range of work linked to both fiction and non-fiction texts.
Reading
• All children are provided with a variety of reading experiences, through both shared guided and individual texts.
Numeracy
The school implements the National Numeracy Strategy. The children are involved in a daily Numeracy Lesson, which lasts for one hour. For the first 10 - 15 minutes of the lesson the class are involved in mental maths activities. During the next 10 - 15 minutes, the main focus of the lesson is introduced and again involves whole class teaching. For the third part of the lesson, approximately 20 - 25 minutes, the children work individually or in groups, on follow up activities. In the final 10 minutes learning is reviewed and/or homework is discussed.
• Count, read, write and order whole numbers up to 1000, know what each digit represents.
• Count on or back in tens or hundreds from any two or three digit number.
• Recognise unit fractions such as halves, thirds, fifths and tenths, and use them to find fractions of shapes and numbers.
• Know by heart all addition and subtraction for each number to at least 20.
• Add and subtract mentally a “near multiple of 10” to or from a two-digit number.
• To round a three-digit number to its nearest 10.
• Know by heart facts for the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 multiplication tables.
• Understand division and recognise that division is the inverse of multiplication.
• Use units of time and know the relationships between them (second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year)
• Read the time to the hour, half hour, quarter past/quarter to the hour and in units of 5 minutes past the hour on analogue and digital clocks.
• Understand and use ₤.p. decimal notation.
• Choose and use appropriate operations (including multiplication and division) to solve world problems, explaining methods and reasoning.
• Identify right angles in shapes and turns.
• Understand turning clockwise/anticlockwise.
• Follow a route using the four points of a compass using right angle turns.
• Identify lines of symmetry in simple shapes and recognise shapes with no lines of symmetry.
• Use mathematical names for common 2D and 3D shapes and know their properties.
• Read simple scales to the nearest ½ division. Use a ruler to draw and measure lines to the nearest ½ centimetre.
• Estimate, measure and compare lengths, masses, and capacities using standard units. Suggest suitable units and equipment for such measurement.
• Solve a given problem by organising and interpreting numerical data in simple lists, tables, pictograms and graphs.
Science
The children are given activities in which they follow instructions, observe, predict and hypothesise, test, record, evaluate and develop scientific vocabulary. They are given the opportunity to investigate and explore science practically through the following topics:
Teeth and eating
• Investigate health and diet in humans and animals, keeping teeth healthy.
Rocks
• Explore characteristics of rocks, comparing different types of rocks and their properties.
Light and shadows
• Discover how shadows are formed; how and why they change during the day.
Helping plants grow well
• Appreciate the importance of plants as a source of food; what plants need for healthy growth; observe and measure plant development.
Materials
• Explore why particular materials are most suited to particular purposes.
Magnets and springs
• Classify materials as magnetic or non-magnetic; know about similar and opposite poles; compare different magnets.
• Understand magnetism as a pushing or pulling force.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Combining text and graphics
• Use word processing, desktop publishing and multimedia packages to combine graphics with text.
• Choose effects that match their purposes so that the graphics and text complement each other and use basic editing features.
Manipulating sound
• Use music software to develop and refine a musical composition.
Introduction to databases
• Enter data into a database with a predetermined structure and use it to answer straightforward questions and produce bar charts.
Email
• Send, receive and reply to emails.
• Develop and refine text messages and send text and images as attachments.
History
Children participate in activities where they place events, people and artefacts in chronological order, interpret historical information from a variety of sources, recognise similarities and differences between past and present and develop a historical vocabulary. They will be given the opportunity to develop these skills though the following topics:
Ancient Egypt
• Exploring aspects of life in Ancient Egypt.
Invaders and settlers
• Exploring movements of people.
• Compare Celtic and Roman life and customs.
Geography
Pupils participate in activities in which they use appropriate geographical vocabulary, recognise and name geographical features, compare and contrast features of different locations, develop and use geographical enquiry skills e.g. making and using photographs, maps and plans including symbols and keys. They will be given the opportunity to develop these skills through the following topics:
Investigating our local area
• Respond to questions about where places are in the local community.
• Understand the main uses of the land in the city.
• Understand reasons why changes haven taken place over time.
Village settlements
• Identify early settlement patterns and the links between older established settlements and the present landscape; understand that places are connected to one another.
Weather around the world
• Be familiar with a range of places in the UK and overseas; appreciate similarities and differences between places and understand the reasons for them.
• Understand ways in which places are interconnected.
• Develop ideas about weather conditions around the world; focus on the relationships between weather and tourism.
• Observe areas of the world where there are particular types of climate.
Design and Technology
Activities in which children plan, design, make and evaluate are presented and opportunities created for children to consider appearance, function, safety and reliability when developing ideas. They will develop these skills though the following topics:
Pneumatics
• Make a pneumatic model.
Structures
• Make a stable structure using rolled-up newspapers.
• Make a wooden 3D photo frame.
Food materials
• Create sandwich snacks.
• Learn about basic food preparation.
• Combine components to create a healthy sandwich according to taste, appearance and texture.
Art
Children develop creativity and imagination by building on their knowledge, skills and understanding of materials and through providing a range of increasingly complex activities. Developing their control of materials, tools and techniques to become more confident in using materials and processes.
• Artwork is topic-based and includes drawing, painting, charcoal, pastels, collage, 3D modelling, etc.
Music
• Continue to develop listening skills, pulse and rhythm, pitch.
• Explore sound. Use of sound for description, feeling, movement, effect, atmosphere.
• Explore rhythm patterns and their use in accompaniment.
• Learn a wide variety of songs, sometimes topic-related.
• Pay attention to important singing techniques such as good breath control.
• Explore the use of symbols to represent sounds.
• Further develop the skills required for playing recorder.
Physical Education
Gymnastics
• Develop skills, involving changes of speed, direction, strength and spatial awareness.
• Link actions, planning, performing and improving performances within groups and individual sequence work on both floor and apparatus.
Swimming
• Develop entries, dives, treading water, floating and submersion.
• Introduce personal water safety, water hazards and rescue aids.
• Develop stroke, breathing, front crawl, back crawl and breaststroke.
Dance
• Develop small group movement patterns through a variety of stimuli based on National Curriculum topics.
Outdoor Pursuits
• Develop confidence in orientation within the school environment through hunt, adventure activities and team tasks.
Games
• Develop skills within small-sided games and partner activities.
• Develop running, chasing, avoiding, throwing, catching, aiming and striking skills.