Week 8: A Memorable Stone Age Day!

It’s been a busy and wonderful week for Year 3 as we approach the end of our first half-term.

Take a step back in time…

Dance

On Tuesday, Year 3 took a step back in time for our much-anticipated Stone Age Day! As part of our History topic, the children experienced life in prehistoric times through various hands-on activities. Our day began with dance, and the children enjoyed travelling across the hall like hunter-gatherers, using jumps, turns, and gestures. Some managed to tiptoe and point at prey they had been hunting, while others were busy cooking animals and resting before they had to do this all again!

Cave paintings

Children were fascinated to learn about Stone Age caves found by Speleologists worldwide and were particularly excited by the cave that children discovered. Using their creativity and understanding of the colours available to them through various fruits and animal blood, they created their paintings telling stories of families, hunting, and the adventures they went on daily—many of the discovered cave paintings created several curious questions.

How did they manage to draw so high? How did they make different colours? How did they get the concept of actual drawing?

Archery

We were lucky to have good weather in the afternoon, as we spent most of it outside. Mr Harris led both classes in their archery session, which both classes thoroughly enjoyed. Mr Harris talked about the importance of hunting and showed each class how to make bows and arrows.

The children then enjoyed using them to shoot at targets from different distances to develop their aim and hold before moving on to a ‘blue deer’ hunt on the grounds!  While making their way, 3B were met with moving objects who tried their best to escape because they realised they were in hunting mode! Children crept to capture their prey. Some managed to get close to shooting their target, but unfortunately, we were still hungry after some deer had gotten away! (no real animals were part of this hunt!)

Making fire

After learning about the significance of fire and how it was used for cooking, protection, and keeping warm using flint, children loved having the opportunity to make their small fires using shells, cotton wool, and some straw and hay. It wasn’t as easy as it looked, as we had the wind to battle with, and children started to realise how hard it must have been to live in different homes from what we have today and create a big fire to keep warm. We were very impressed with their resilience and discussions linked to making fire and strategies that they could use. We ended our day with roasting marshmallows and on a sweet note.

The children and staff looked fabulous, and it is fair to say it was a wonderful day. Thank you to Mr Harris, who supported us with our archery. The children have enjoyed using bows and arrows to develop their skills throughout the week!

Many of the children dressed up as Stone Age people, which added to the fun atmosphere. It really was a fantastic day, and the children’s enthusiasm made it one to remember!

Reading buddies

Year 3 enjoyed visiting nursery this week and were excited to read to the younger children. It was lovely to see the children asking questions and expressing themselves when reading the short stories; some managed to read more than one book and are looking forward to our next session.

Music

3B have loved practising their song for this term, ‘Let your spirit fly,’ and using their glockenspiels and recorders alongside this. This week, they have been practising singing, ending with a final production for you all to see! This is their first performance in Year 3, and many surprised themselves by learning most of the words! Children have logins to Charanga and can continue practising composing at home. 3CW will be doing their final performance next term.

Special Mentions

A huge well done to our special mention children this week – Eraj, Leo, Dawud and Tommie.
Congratulations to our dojo champions – Elisha & Subhaan!
Great work all around!

Reading Scores

• Class 3CW – 52%!
• Class 3B – 85%! (highest yet!)

We have come to the end of the first half term in Year 3, and children have worked hard and are now getting used to routines and expectations in Year 3. Many children now use Reading Eggspress alongside reading daily to boost their confidence and reading skills. Thank you to all parents and guardians for your support. Please remind children to have their reading records ready while reading to an adult daily. Let’s keep it up—remember, reading at least 5 times a week is the goal!

We have not set homework over the holidays. Still, we would like the children to continue to work on their timetables and maths concepts using TT Rockstar and Mathletics and enjoy developing their reading journeys on Reading Eggspress.

Over the holidays, we know several of our families will be celebrating Diwali. Year 3 enjoyed listening to the story about Guru Hargobind, and some children loved sharing what they would be getting up to during their break to celebrate. We wish all our families celebrating Diwali a wonderful time and hope it’s full of love and light.

Enjoy the half term break and the beautiful autumnal weather!

Mrs Begum, Mrs Connolly, and Mrs White