Year 3 have enjoyed recently having the chance to build their confidence and perform a celebration assembly to the older year groups. They managed to recall a very large range of facts relating to different settlements, the differences between towns/cities/villages and discussed the layout of Camden. It was also a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to perform a number of short songs that they have been learning on the recorder this year.

Since our return to the classroom, Year 3 has been discovering all about settlements and the differences between villages, towns and cities across England. This has provided a fantastic opportunity for the class to get to know our local area around us. It started in literacy where the pupils conducted a soundscape walk where we discovered all the onomatopoeic sounds, resulting in fantastic poetry!

In PE, Year 3 have been having an excellent time discovering the fun that playing cricket can bring through the Middlesex CCC. Learning from Coach Bertie and Coach Matthew has already been successful – many children who first thought playing cricket involved discussing insects are now showing great promise as fast bowlers!

Finally, in history this half term we are finding out ‘What made the ancient Egyptians so great?’ To truly understand the time period we are studying, we first worked on chronology and are using our brilliant understanding of the stone age through to the iron age to build individual timelines!

Continuing with getting to know Camden even more, the pupils have been discovering all about how local land is used with key terms such as residential, commercial and agricultural. To support this we completed geographical fieldwork across more of Camden Town to understand the reasons why our part of London has particular buildings included.

Finally, I am thrilled to say that Year 3 have recently joined the Year 4, 5 and 6’s by representing Hawley in a local sports competition! With almost the entire class volunteering to take part, the randomly selected ten used their Hawley Habits and put on a fantastic display in dodgeball at Talacre. We are excited for future opportunities for our class!

Year 3 have have thoroughly immersed themselves in their prehistoric topic. They have fantastic knowledge and understanding of technology in the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and what changed and what stayed the same during this time period. To support their knowledge, year 3 had a workshop at Hampstead Heath. During the morning they built stone age dens, investigated artefacts and even (safely) lit a fire! They behaved fantastically and learned a tremendous amount.

We have also been celebrating and enjoying Christmas/Winter art as we come towards the end of the term. The class have taken on the responsibility of decorating the Hart Space tree with enthusiasm and they should be very proud of their salt-effect watercolour snowflakes and cosy oil pastel Christmas scenes. To see more, we also have miniature versions on our classroom door. 

Natural History Museum trip!

Year 3 had a tremendous time on our recent school trip to the Natural History Museum. After travelling very well on two double decker buses, the class were amazed to see fossils, dinosaurs, rocks and artefacts that were millions of years old. They managed to use their understanding from both science and geography to discuss all that they could see. Following observing the exhibits throughout the museum (including experiencing being inside a shop during an earthquake), the class sat down for an interesting and informative workshop on earthquakes and volcanoes. The pupils worked hard to impress the workshop teacher with their knowledge, questions and participation. 

Margaret Godfrey art work

In class, the pupils have recently completed their own versions of Margaret Godfrey’s volcano art work. They have used tissue paper, plenty of glue and careful choices of colour to create their own artwork following their plans in past lessons. It is super to see the similarities and differences between their work and that of Margaret Godfrey.

Welcome back!

All members of Year 3 have started very well in KS2 and have loved taking on additional challenges since starting the new year. Our first art activity included exploring our faces and recognising what makes us individuals. All of the pupils’ hard work is proudly on show as you enter the school, so do take a look!

Throughout the first half term, the class will be focussing on volcanoes, earthquakes, rocks and fossils. To begin this journey, Year 3 have completed a visit throughout the school to just see how many examples they could find of different rocks as materials and why they are being used. This has also resulted in Year 3 starting their art work where they are creating their own versions of Margaret Godfrey’s volcanoes, with drafts being completed ready for next week below!

Rocks and Soils!

Year 3 have been experimenting and testing types of soils in science to see what happens when water is added. Based on our previous experiences in the school garden and soil exploration we predicted how the soil would change when we added water to the sample. We found out that soil is made from broken down (eroded) rock, but can also be made from lots of other debris like leaves, animals, insects, sand, clay and clay.

We used beakers to measure and ensure we were testing our soil samples fairly.

 We then waited and discovered the layers of material starting to form! It was interesting to talk about why soil is made from so many different parts and how that helps plants grow. We are excited to continue our investigation into rocks and soils at the John Soane’s Museum on Wednesday where we will learn about the many ways humans use these natural materials.

Trip to Highgate Cemetery

On Wednesday, Year 3 visited Highgate Cemetery to explore the types of rocks used to build man made structures. We discovered that gravestones are made from sandstone, marble, granite and even slate! We also spotted some natural weathering on some of the gravestones and tried to guess their age. After lunch we sketched the gravestones focusing on their sculptural features and detailed carvings. Luckily the local stone mason – Neil was onsite to answer some of our burning questions so we interviewed him!