WELCOME TO YEAR 3 WRENS

Wrens may be small but their inquisitiveness and perseverance enables them to be highly effective hunters. These cheerful characters are lively and outgoing and, as younger members of the Year 3/4 team, we also bring true determination and resilience to our learning. 

THIS TERMS THEME

'One World, One Heart'

 Please scroll down to see our curriculum map to find out all about this terms learning. 

P.E AND DANCE DAYS

P.E: Wednesday

Dance: Wednesday

Please ensure that your child has the correct kit in school all week, which is clearly labelled. For more information about kit requirements, please visit our 'Physical Education & School Sports' page.  We will ensure that PE kits are sent home at the end of every half term.

HOME LEARNING DAYS

Home Learning will be handed out on a Friday and collected in on a Wednesday. This will give you the opportunity to explore aspects of your child's learning if you wish.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday 5th January - Non-Pupil Day

Tuesday 6th January - First Day of Spring 1

Thursday 29th January - PCSA Festival Trip

Friday 6th February - NSPCC Number Day

Tuesday 10th February - Safer Internet Day

Thursday 12th February - Reading Roundabout

Tuesday 12th February - WRAPS Valentines Disco

Friday 13th February - Last Day of Spring 1

Monday 16th-20th February - Half Term

Monday 23rd February - First Day of Spring 2

Tuesday 3rd March - Class Photos

Thursday 5th March - World Book Day

Friday 6th March - SEND Coffee Catch Up @2pm

Tuesday 17th March - Parents Evening (In Person)

Thursday 19th March - Parents Evening (Virtual)

Friday 20th March - Red Nose Day

Monday 30th March - Learning Celebration @2:30pm

Thursday 2nd April - Last Day of Spring 2

Meet the Team

If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to contact your child's teacher Miss Brown or alternatively please contact our Year 3/4 team leader Mr Passmore.

lbrown@whiterockprimaryschool.co.uk

bpassmore@whiterockprimaryschool.co.uk

ACADEMIC YEAR 2025/2026

SPRING TERM

Spring Term Curriculum Map

Thursday 12th February - Reading Roundabout
This morning we took part in a 'Reading Roundabout' led by Jade from the Devon School Library Service. We had the opportunity to look at lots of different books that will be coming into our library and choosing which ones we'd love to read. Some of the genres we explored were 'Adventure and Mystery', 'Imaginary Worlds', and 'Fascinating Facts'.

Friday 6th February 2026 - Lemon Volcanoes!

In Writing and History this week, we have been learning more about volcanoes. This links to our new writing journey 'Escape from Pompeii'. We learned that there are different types of volcanoes and that they can be active, dormant or extinct. We then made our very own erupting volcanoes using lemons, red food colouring and bicarbonate of soda. Take a look at our volcanoes erupting below!

Wednesday 4th February - Breakdancing Workshop

Year 3 have been very lucky this week as we had some visitors in to teach us some breaking moves. We learnt top rock, footwork and some freezes. The dancers who came in began by showing us their amazing moves, then we worked in groups to learn the different sections and had a go at showing off our moves at the end in a breakdancing cypher (a circle where each of us could go in the middle). It was such an exciting morning and we all had a great time!

Thursday 29th January - PCSA Festival

Today we went to Paignton Academy for a fantastic sports festival with other primary schools from the area. We learnt lots of new skills to help us play handball and tchoukball. As we moved around the sports hall, we practised shooting, passing and working as a team. We had so much fun and loved trying out new activities. Thank you, Paignton Academy, for having us!

Wednesday 28th January 2026 - PSHE

This half term in PSHE, we have been learning all about democracy and exploring how our government works. Today, we learnt about the key roles in a government debate, including the Speaker, the motion, the proposer, the opposer and the House. After understanding these roles, we took part in our own debate about whether we should have to wear a school uniform.

Half of us were the proposers, and the other half were the opposers. The opposers argued that not wearing a uniform could save money because children grow quickly and uniforms often need replacing. The proposers argued that uniforms help make sure no one feels like the odd one out and show that we are proud to represent our school.

Next week, we will be learning about the voting process and taking part in our own vote based on our debate. We can’t wait to see which side wins!

Wednesday 21st January 2026 - Impact Day 

Today Year 3 participated in an impact day with Tammi Lethbridge from our DSSP partnership. Children took part in a carousel of activities to develop their coordination, including; Curling, Archery, Volleyball and Boccia. The activities were led by the Year 6 Sports Captains. 

Monday 19th January 2026 - Design and Technology

We spent the morning making our own bread rolls, each taking a turn to mix and knead the dough. After that, we had to wait patiently whilst it proofed. When the rolls finally came out of the oven, Year 3 smelled absolutely delicious. Using our design plans, we filled our freshly baked rolls with our chosen ingredients, such as lettuce, tomato, and cheese. Then came the most important part: tasting them. We all agreed they were delicious!

Wednesday 14th January 2026 - PE

This half term year 3 are focusing on Netball. We are practising the correct footwork technique and developing our passing skills. Children can explain the importance of passing in netball and are starting to think about attacking and defending skills.  

Monday 12th January 2026 - Art

This term in Art, we are focusing on painting, with a particular emphasis on colour and tone. Today, we completed our elicitation, where we attempted to recreate a landscape inspired by painters Alfred Wallis or Claude Monet. We were only given red, blue, yellow, white and black, so we had to think carefully about our previous learning from Year 1 and Year 2 to mix the right colours. We were very excited to get the paints out and are looking forward to developing our painting skills throughout this journey.

Tuesday 6th January 2026 - English

This week in Year 3, we practised our spoken language skills by discussing the sequencing of images and deciding whether they showed events before or after. We shared our ideas and had some great debates, explaining our thinking and listening carefully to others. We enjoyed explaining our opinions and learning that different people can have different ideas.

For example, when looking at these two pictures of a caterpillar and a leaf, some of us thought the picture on the left was after, because the caterpillar had eaten the new leaf on the right and it was now broken. Others thought the picture on the left was before, because the caterpillar had already eaten that leaf and had then found a new one to eat on the right.

AUTUMN TERM

Autumn Term Curriculum Map

Tuesday 9th December 2025 - PE

This half term year 3 have been focusing on football. They have been practicing their dribbling and passing techniques, working as a team. We have also focused on improving our core strength and balance to support with these skills.

Thursday 4th December 2025 - Art

Today in Art, we completed our final pieces! We created self-portraits inspired by the style of Kehinde Wiley. Throughout the term, we’ve been learning how to improve accuracy in our portraits, and today we put those skills into practice. Just like Wiley, we used bright, colourful, floral backgrounds to make our portraits stand out.

Friday 28th November 2025 - KS2 Dance Festival

Some of us in Year 3 were very lucky today and went to South Dartmoor Community College to take part in a Key Stage Two Dance Festival. Along with children from other schools, we were taught a dance routine by Year 9 and 10 South Dartmoor Community College students. The dance was so much fun and we had a great time. We even got to add our own duet parts into it and perform to all the others who were there. Take a look at the photos and videos below.

Tuesday 25th November 2025 - Computing

In Computing this week, we had the chance to make our own short animations on the iPads. Using iMotion, we created our animations by applying the skills we learnt earlier in our journey. We discussed how important it is to keep our backdrop and iPad in the same place so that only our images move. A tool we discovered and used was onion skinning, which lets us see the last picture we took so that we could be really precise with our movements. We had so much fun making our animations and we are very proud of the finished results!

Friday 21st November 2025 - Science

In Science, we have discussed what a fair test is. We performed some simple fair tests to find out about the physical properties of rocks. First we scratched the rocks to see if they would scratch, so we could test the hardness of the rock. Secondly, we dropped our rocks into water to see if they would float or sink. We then watched a video about what happens when rocks are immersed into acid. We made sure we kept certain things the same to make it a fair test.

Friday 14th November 2025- Children in Need

We started our day with a Children in Need assembly led by Year 6 children, where we learnt about the different 25 challenges celebrities have been set. We learnt about the importance of the charity. We took part in Children in Need activities run by the Year 6s. We took photos with Pudsey, guess the teacher, name the Pudsey bear and lots more. We had lots of fun and helped to raise money for such an amazing charity. Well done Wrens!

Wednesday 12th November 2025- Spanish 

Year 3 had lots of fun this week learning fruits and days of the week in Spanish. iQué maravilloso! 

Can you say these words in Spanish: 

manzanas- apples

platanos= bananas

uvas= grapes

ciruelas= plums

naranjas= oranges

fresas= strawberries 

We also listened to the story of the Hungry Caterpillar in Spanish. iQué fantastico!

Monday 10th November 2025 - Odd Socks Day

Today, we proudly wore our brightest and most mismatched socks to mark Odd Socks Day. This was a chance for us to celebrate our individuality and what makes each of us unique! It marks the start of Anti-Bullying Week, which we’ll be exploring further in our PSHE lessons.

This year’s theme, “Power for Good,” encourages us to think about how we can safely speak up and raise awareness if we witness bullying, whether it’s in person or online. It’s a powerful reminder that our voices matter and that kindness and respect can make a real difference.

Thursday 6th November 2025 - Drumba

We were very lucky to be one of the classes in the whole school that got to attend a Drumba workshop today! It was full of high energy and excitement. Drumba is a fusion of drumming and exercise to music. It was such fun and we can't wait to start learning this in our lessons in school very soon!

Tuesday 4th November 2025 - Science

Today, we had the opportunity to closely examine a variety of rock samples. Using our observation skills, we described the different textures, colours, and features we noticed. Some rocks were layered, others were brittle, and a few even contained crystals. We can't wait to continue our learning!

Tuesday 21st October 2025 - African Dancers

This week, African Dancers came to visit us during assembly. The Dancers told us they were both from West Africa (Ghana and Cote D'ivoire) and told us about their culture. Then we all had a turn at taking part in some African singing and most importantly some African Dancing! We had great fun!

Thursday 16th October 2025 - Music

This term in Music, we are playing the glockenspiel. We have been learning about pitch and timbre as well as how to read music on a staff and use dot notation. Today, we created our own five-note melody and performed them on the glockenspiel to the rest of our class. Take a look at our photos!

Thursday 9th October 2025 - Computing

This half term, our computing lessons have focused on the topic of connecting computers. We explored how information moves between devices and why networks are essential in the digital world. To understand this, we began by mapping our own connections to people around us, discovering how complex networks can become. This led us to learn about the role of a switch which is an component that acts like a messenger, directing data from one device to another within a network. This week we have built on this knowledge learning about the use of servers and wireless access points.

Wednesday 1st October 2025 - PE

In PE this half term we have been focusing on tag rugby. We were very lucky to have Ella Fielding, a rugby coach from Paignton Rugby Club, leading a couple of sessions. The children have been focusing on ball handling skills and starting to introduce the rugby passing technique. Well done Year 3! 

Monday 22nd September 2025 - Science

This half term science we are learning about 'Animals including Humans'. In particular we have been studying different types of Skeletons, including Vertebrates and Invertebrates. This week we learned about the different parts of our own Skeletons. To do this we drew around our own bodies and put labels onto the correct parts. 

Friday 19th September 2025 - Art

This half term in Art, we are focusing on drawing increasingly accurate self-portraits. Today, we completed our elicitation task, where we each attempted to draw a realistic self-portrait. We tried our best and persevered with our artwork. Take a look at our photos below!

Tuesday 9th September 2025 - Writing

In Writing this week, we read our new text The Beasties. Ferdinand, Floot and Weevil (the Beasties from the book) snuck into our classroom and left us a treasure box full of amazing objects. A diamond, a feather and some crystals were just a few of the interesting objects they left us to inspire our writing. We used these objects to generate ideas ready for our independent writing at the end of our learning journey.