We have made a great start to the year by making the most of the sunny weather to learn how shadows are formed. We learnt that shadows are formed when a light source such as the sun is blocked by an opaque object like our bodies. We drew round our shadows in the playground at 3 different times during the day and observed that the size and direct of the shadows changed. The year 3 teachers have been very impressed by the attitude of the children as they have made the big leap to KS2 and are looking forward to a great year of learning.

This week, all the year 3 children have been busy writing their own fantasy adventures. We have used Podkin One Ear as our inspiration but have created our own characters, settings and plots. The children are currently writing up their fabulous stories and illustrating them so that we can create class books. They have loved this activity so please ask them about their own creations; they may well want to write a sequel at home. In other areas of the curriculum, they have learnt river vocabulary,  carried our scientific observations, learnt more about safe use of the Internet, measured mass and capacity, had conversations in French and danced to Dancing Queen. Phew!!

What an incredible few weeks we have had in Year 3. Highlights include dressing up as Egyptians and spending a whole night at school!! First, the Ancient Egyptian day was filled with activities which may have taken place in a marketplace 3000 years ago followed by a 'feast' where the children performed dances and drama for the Pharaoh and Queen. Many thanks to the parent volunteers who worked so hard all morning running the stalls. 

Friday night the children returned to school where they enjoyed orienteering, campfire singing and eventually some sleep before an early rise for breakfast. It was lots of fun for all and we were very impressed with the children's growing maturity and independence. (The teachers are still recovering....)

We have made a great start to the new term by beginning our new core text; Podkin One Ear by Kieran Larwood. The book begins with our would-be hero in grave danger and the children are already entranced. They have written in role as Podkin this week and we will continue to use this text to inspire us through the remainder of the summer term. In science we have been learning about the different parts of a plant and have dissected daffodils.

Year 3 have been learning more about the history of our local area this week whilst on a visit to Richmond Museum. We learnt all about how Victorians did their laundry (it took 6 days!). Did you know that all of Queen Victoria's laundry was sent to Richmond to be washed? We looked at how Richmond changed from the Tudor times and how the coming of the railways in Victorian times made the area a much busier place. We also had fun playing with Victorian toys and pretending to be in a Victorian school.

Year 3 were very lucky this week when Rafael's parents spent the morning with us sharing their experiences of life in Brazil.