A very warm welcome to Year 3!

St. Martin de Porres

Teachers: Ms. Sullivan & Ms. Burns (TA)

Autumn 1 - 2026

Welcome back to St. Cuthbert's to all our families and especially to your children who are now in Key Stage 2! It's a new term, a new playground, a new class and a new teacher. It's a BIG jump from Year 2 but we start off gently as children learn their new routines.

The first change is that lunchtime is later so please provide your child with a healthy snack (if needed). Children also need a labelled water bottle. Talking of labels... PLEASE write the name and class of your child on their school uniform as without this, they go missing very quickly as children take off jumpers and leave them in all matter of places! 

All of the adults have been so impressed by the lovely manners, positive attitudes, teamwork and focus for learning shown already - it is going to be a great year! This year, children begin to learn Spanish with Mr. Villarubia which is exciting. They will also continue music lessons with Mr. Dirkin and will begin to play the tin whistle soon. The yearly overview is posted below so that you can see what else the children will be learning in Year 3. There are also a few reminders and dates for your diary so please keep reading... 

Children will need to remember to bring in their reading book and signed Reading Diary. Weekly homework of reading, spelling and learning number facts will resume this half term. Reading should take place daily. Weekly spellings will be given out each Monday and should be returned by the following Monday to earn lots of housepoints.

Religion

We will begin the year by learning about Creation. We will look at the Bible to find out how it is made up and why it is the holy book for Christians, including Catholics. Already, some children have asked about Holy Communion but this will not take place until May next year with preparations beginning beforehand.

English 

We will first recap some of the learning from Year 2 by thinking about where we use capital letters, full stops, question marks, and exclamation marks. Our first shared book is a story where a brave girl and her friend search for gold. The beautiful illustrations will give us lots of opportunities to describe using expanded noun phrases. After describing characters, we will move onto a story about a mysterious giant. Our descriptive learning will include similes and we will look at how conjunctions and adverbs join ideas and sentences. 

Maths

Place value is the first topic of the year whereby we look at Hundreds, Tens and Ones, including how to recognise and write numbers. We will use Place Value counters and Base-10 equipment to help us show and explain our learning. We will use known number facts to help us, for example knowledge of doubling, halving and number bonds. We will then move onto addition and subtraction using lots of different ways to find more or less of various numbers. We will begin with mental strategies before using number lines and learning formal written methods.  

Science

Our first topic is always a favourite: forces and magnets. We will begin by recapping what forces are before investigating how friction can help or hinder us. We will play with magnets to discover which poles attract or repel and whether magnets need to touch an object to move it. We will investigate which materials are magnetic and look and how magnets are used in our world. 

P.E.

Mr. Casey will lead the outdoor P.E. sessions while the children will be starting with gymnastics inside with me.

P.S.H.E.

We will look at what it means to be part of a family and think of ways we can keep safe. We will continue to learn about our rights and responsibilities in school and create a class charter.  

Topic

Our first topic in Year 3 is maps. In geography we will be comparing maps and globes before learning about O.S. maps. We will look at lots of types of maps from world, to street maps, transport and village maps. We will find out how symbols, a compass rose, scale and grid references all help us to find out where we are. Finally, the children will work in groups to present their learning. In art, we will learn about Saoirse Morgan – an artist who uses collage and painting to create landscapes. Using her techniques, we will create our own pieces based on Withington.

Key Dates 2026/7

P.E. lessons will take place every Thursday.

Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately as PE takes place both inside (no tights as children need to be barefoot) and outside (trainers please).

Wednesday 20th January 2027 – Year 3 Class Assembly in school (9am)

Thursday 4th February 2027 - Class Mass at St. Cuthbert's Church ALL parents, guardians and family friends welcome (regardless of own religious beliefs)