Year 3 - Colour Run

Yesterday, our school field was transformed into a swirling, vibrant rainbow for our highly anticipated School Colour Run! The energy was electric, and our Year 3 children absolutely loved the experience, diving headfirst into the colourful chaos with massive smiles.

 While the afternoon was undeniably messy—with neon powder covering everyone from head to toe (parents, we apologise to your washing machines!)—it was an incredibly memorable day filled with endless laughter, high-fives, and community spirit. Thank you to everyone who ran, splattered, and cheered us on to make it such a brilliant success!

 

Year 3’s Adventure to London Zoo 🦁🦍🐧

Welcome back to our Year 3 Learning Journey blog! On Friday 3rd July 2026, Year 3 traded their pencils and notebooks for explorer hats and binoculars as we set off on a thrilling expedition to London Zoo.

It was an unforgettable day packed with teamwork, transit practise, and some of the most incredible creatures on the planet. Here is a look back at our wild day out!

Before we even saw a single animal, Year 3 had to put their geography and community skills to the test. We practiced being excellent citizens on public transport, taking a big red bus and a very speedy train to get into the heart of London. The children did a brilliant job finding their seats, listening out for the station announcements, and keeping their partners safe.

Once we arrived at the zoo, we split into our explorer groups. We had a long list of animals to find, and we managed to tick off some massive favourites:

The Land of the Lions: We had to be super quiet as we entered the exhibit. We were lucky enough to see the mighty Asiatic lions up close! The children were amazed by how massive their paws are.

Gorilla Kingdom: Next, we trekked into a lush indoor rainforest environment to visit the Western Lowland Gorillas. We watched them eat their green leafy lunches and play together.

Penguin Beach: This was a massive highlight! We stood right by England's biggest penguin pool and watched the Humboldt penguins waddle along the sand before shooting through the water like tiny black-and-white rockets. Some of us even peered through the underwater viewing bubbles!

 

"I loved the train ride, but my favourite part was watching the penguins dive. They look like they are flying under the water!"

— Tommy, Ash Class 

"The lions were so big. When they looked at us, it made me feel really small, but it was awesome."

— Dola, Cedar Class

" I saw a chameleon and they were bigger than I thought they would be!"

— Aayan, Cherry Class 

 

Year 3 Learning Journey

 Our Maths Money Mission

We’ve had a fantastic, hands-on week in Year 3 exploring the world of money! To bring our Maths lessons to life, the children used physical coins and notes to practise identifying, sorting, and matching different values. 

This tactile experience was the perfect foundation for our main challenge: adding and subtracting pounds and pence. The children tackled real-world word problems, role-playing as shoppers and calculating totals and change. Subtracting can be a bit of a brain-teaser, but using the physical money to "exchange" pounds for pence really helped the concepts click. 

You can easily keep this learning going at home by letting your child count out coins at the shop or playing "market" with their toys. Thank you for your brilliant support at home—our young mathematicians are making us incredibly proud!

⚽Year 3 Sports Afternoon🏒

On Tuesday 16th June 2026, the Year 3 children filled the school field with incredible energy and enthusiasm for their annual sports afternoon. From the very first whistle, the track and field areas came alive with a fantastic variety of team and individual challenges. The children threw themselves into classic face-offs like the intense Relay Race, the balance-testing Quoit on the Head, and the hilarious, coordination-testing Egg and Spoon Race. 

Agility was on full display during the Hurdle and Obstacle Race, while precision was key for Hit the Wicket and the Bean Bag Target Throw. Aspiring athletes showcased their impressive stick and ball skills in both the Hockey Dribble and Football Dribbling events, before sending the Mega Howler rockets soaring across the grass. What truly made the afternoon spectacular, however, was the outstanding sportsmanship; when they weren't competing, the children proved to be absolute mega-fans, serving as the ultimate cheerleaders by shouting encouragement and celebrating every single peer's success.

 

Super Scientists in Year 3

This week, our Year 3 scientists turned the classroom into a living laboratory as they kicked off an exciting new investigation! To dive deeper into how plants compete for resources, we are tackling the big question: "Does the number of seeds within one plant pot affect the growth of the plants?"

Each child has carefully planted their sunflower seeds, with some pots housing a single seed and others containing a small cluster. Over the next four weeks, the children will take on the role of dedicated researchers—observing, measuring, and recording the height and health of their sprouts. It’s a fantastic way for them to practice fair testing and data collection. We can’t wait to see which sunflowers reach for the sky first and what this teaches us about the space and nutrients plants need to thrive!

Learning Journey - Geography

Learning Journey - Topic

Our Year 3 geographers embarked on an exciting learning journey during our geography lesson this week. The adventure began with a bit of mystery as the children examined a vibrant collection of images from various countries, using their sharp inference skills to correctly guess the topic: Europe. 

Once the secret was out, our young explorers dived straight into comparing different European nations. They investigated everything from physical geography and iconic landmarks to local foods, languages, and currencies, noting some fascinating similarities and wonderful differences along the way.

 Everyone showed fantastic curiosity throughout the lesson, and we thoroughly enjoyed our unforgettable tour of Europe!

 

Year 3 Learning Journey

 

Year 3 Learning Journey - WlLD Passport 

This half term, our Year 3 classes, Ash, Cedar, and Cherry, embarked on an adventurous learning journey through their WILD Passport days, transforming the school grounds into a hub of discovery and practical skill-building. The children demonstrated impressive focus and safety awareness as they mastered the art of fire-lighting, using flints and cotton wool to create their first sparks.

The exploration continued with a hands-on forestry session, where pupils honed their observational skills by categorising sticks based on their length, thickness, and potential utility for different outdoor tasks. To blend traditional bush craft with modern technology, the classes also navigated the school site during an energetic orienteering activity, using their iPads to track locations and solve challenges. It has been a fantastic half term of building resilience, teamwork, and a deeper connection with the natural world.

Well done Year 3!

 Learning Journey - Marvellous Maths!

                                                       

It was a whirlwind of ticking and tocking in Year 3 this week as we dove headfirst into our exciting new time unit! Building on what we already knew about "o’clock" and "half past," the children became "Time Detectives," working in pairs to solve clock-face mysteries and master the tricky jump to "minutes past" and "minutes to" the hour. There was a wonderful buzz in the room as everyone grabbed their plastic teaching clocks to physically move the hands, visualising how the clock is split into two sides and practising their skip-counting by fives to race around the numbers. The real highlight was watching the children tackle our tricky challenge questions with such "can-do" attitudes, showing off how quickly they can now calculate five-minute intervals and link them to our daily school schedule. Seeing those "aha!" moments when the big hand finally clicked into place was a joy, and it is clear that our young learners are becoming much more confident at keeping track of their day. Keep up the brilliant work, Year 3—you are all absolute superstars!

Learning Journey - Literacy

                                   

            Learning Journey - Week 4 - Literacy

This week, the children began looking at their new topic, adverts! The children began their week by researching existing adverts and identifying the features of these adverts. They then went on to discuss these features in detail to deepen their understanding of why each feature is important. 

The children then went on to plan their own adverts which were designed to persuade people into visiting the mad scientist workshop where their marvellous medicines are created. We loved their use of persuasive language, rhetorical questions and colourful, eye-catching imagery. 

     

Year 3 Learning Journey

Year 3 Learning Journey - Art

This week, our Year 3 artists delved into the expressive world of charcoal drawing, focusing on how to capture life and motion on paper. Working in pairs, students took turns acting as "artist" and "model." To explore the concept of kinetic energy in art, our models performed repetitive, singular movements while the artists used charcoal to translate that physical rhythm into visual form.

The children experimented with a variety of sophisticated techniques to add depth and texture to their portraits:

• Varying Pressure: Learning how a light touch creates ghostly outlines while firm pressure produces bold, dramatic shadows.

• Smudging & Erasing: Using their fingers and erasers not just to fix mistakes, but as tools to create soft gradients and highlights.

• Stenciling: Incorporating sharp edges and defined shapes against the fluid, organic strokes of the charcoal.

The result was a series of energetic portraits that truly "move" off the page! We were so impressed by their focus and their willingness to embrace the dusty, tactile nature of this classic medium.

Year 3 Learning Journey

Learning Journey - PE 

Our Year 3 pupils had a blast developing their football skills this week! Through high-energy games like "Team End Zones," the children practiced keeping the ball close to their feet and sprinting into open space to evade defenders. We focused on the "Four S’s" to help us pass like pros: Stop the ball, Step next to it, See the target, and Send the pass using the inside of the foot. It was great to see everyone communicating with their teammates and building their confidence on the ball!

Tommy said "I learned how to dribble the ball, it was fun!"

Dola said "It was tricky at first, but I know how to dribble now."

Jessica said "It was hard to get the ball around the cones but I showed my resilience." 

 

                                      

Year 3 Learning Journey

This week, the children were focusing their new topic of magnets in their Science lesson. They were learning all about magnetic and non-magnetic metals and they completed a test to determine whether the items on their table were magnetic or not. The children had a lot of fun in this experiment! 
Ashar said 'I can see that the magnets use a non-contact force!'

Meanwhile, in their topic lessons, the children completed their first lesson on their new topic of the Romans. The children were presented with different artefacts and were tasked to use their inference skills to determine what the artefacts were and what they may have been used for when the Romans were in Britain from AD43. 

Charlie said 'I think this looks like a farm!', whilst Vanessa said 'I think these are cooking pots that were used to make meals for the soldiers!'

 

Year 3 Learning Journey

 Maths

This week in Maths we have been revising place value,

we used tens and ones to represent

two-digit numbers and then placed them into a

place value chart. 

Literacy

This week in Literacy, we have recapped what adjectives are,

used them in a sentence and then used our sentences to

make paragraphs to describe one of the characters

in our new focus story ‘A Tale of Two Robots’.

Science

In Science this week, we have looked at bones

in the human body. We have labelled different bones, including

the skull, ribcage, femur, pelvis and spine, explored

their functions and labelled a picture of a skeleton! Did

you know an adult human body has 206 bones?

Maths Learning Journey - Maths

 

Year 3 Learning Journey - Maths

It's been a busy half term of learning in Year 3 and the children have been focusing on the topic mass and capacity. The children began by using the scales to compare the mass of different objects. They were able to identify that a heavier object will force the scales to push down, whilst the lighter object is pushed into the air. When the mass of two objects is equal, the scales will return to the centre. 

Harvey said 'You have to carefully tip the flour so it doesn't all come out at once!'

Next, the children expanded their knowledge of their topic by learning how to add and subtract mass. It was important for the children to start by adding the grams first, before adding the kilograms. The Year 3 teachers were very impressed with the children's use of reasoning throughout the series of lessons. 

Harry said 'You have to count each interval carefully!'

Finally, the children measured volume using millilitres and litres. As part of this, the children completed a practical lesson, which encouraged them to use concrete objects to improve their understanding of the topic. It was fantastic to see the teamwork and communication skills of the children on display, and through their conversations, it was clear that they had made progress in their understanding of capacity. 

Miya-Rose said 'Measuring is lots of fun!'

This week, the children moved on to their second fractions unit and began to build upon their existing knowledge of adding and subtracting fractions.

Well done Year 3, you've all worked hard this half term and made excellent progress. 

Year 3 VR Experience

 

Year 3 VR Experience 

This week, the children were transported back in time to Ancient Rome, with the help of virtual reality. They were given a brief safety talk, before taking turns to wear the VR headset and experience life as a Roman.

At first, they observed the City of Rome from above and marvelled at the famous Colosseum. Next, they experienced life as a wealthy Roman, by visiting the ancient baths. The experience guide explained to the children that Roman baths were where people would go to relax, exercise and even complete business meetings. The children enjoyed the immersive experience and Mishti said 'It's like I am really here, people are moving!', whilst Sonny said 'It was so much fun!'

Finally, the children experienced Pompeii. The children identified the enormous, erupting volcano as Mount Vesuvius and recalled their knowledge of the city, which they obtained during the Spring term in their Literacy lessons. Tommy said 'I knew we had been taken to Pompeii when I saw the erupting volcano!'

We hope the children enjoyed this wonderful experience. 

Year 3 Literacy

 

This week in Literacy, the children were introduced to their new text for this half-term, 'Stone Age Boy'. Having studied this topic in History during the Autumn term, the children were keen to share their knowledge of this important period of human history. They then used their Chromebooks to complete some additional research, which they shared confidently to the class. The teachers were impressed to see all of the facts and information that the children had retained. Well done Year 3!

We then looked at the front cover of the book 'Stone Age Boy' and used our inference skills to form predictions about the story. It was interesting to read the children's predictions, especially the part where they gave reasons for them, based on evidence. Next, we studied the front cover again and this time thought of interesting questions that we would like to find the answer to by the end of this half-term. 

It has certainly been a very busy first week back for Year 3, so well done for all your hard work this week!

Year 3 Learning Journey

 

Eggs-cellent Easter Fun!

This week at Broadford, the children in Year 3 were embracing Easter and joined an Easter Egg Hunt and Parade. 

The Easter Egg hunt, which links to our work on Poetry in Literacy over the last few weeks, took place on Friday and it was such a great experience for the children and their teachers. It was lovely to see the joy on the children's faces as they decoded the clues and raced to the next station. The children showed off their impressive team-working and reciprocity. 

The children also took part in the annual Broadford Easter Bonnet Parade on Wednesday and it was fantastic to see their resourcefulness skills on display. Thank you to the children and parents who worked so hard on their contributions for the parade and well done to our Year 3 winners!

We hope that you all have a wonderful half-term break and we will see you at the start of the Summer term on Tuesday 22nd April 2025.

Fantastic Fractions in Year 3!

 

Fantastic Fractions

Year 3

This week, the children were exploring their new topic of fractions. The children started the week by learning about the mathematical terms 'denominator', which is the number of parts altogether, and 'numerator', which is the number of shades parts of a shape.  The children then used this knowledge to look at some visual examples and to write the fraction. 

Zofia - 'I know that 4/4 is the same as 1 whole.'

The children have also been learning about unit fractions and non-unit fractions this week. 

Onyeka - A unit fraction is a fraction with a numerator of 1. 

Mavis - A non-unit fraction is a fraction with a numerator that is greater than 1. 

Later in the week, the children learned how to compare and order unit fractions. They had to follow the rule which states that the 'larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.'

This was a tricky concept as the denominator may have a larger number e.g. 1/10  or 1/2. 

10 is greater than 2, but as a fraction 1/10 is less than 1/2.

Nikita said 'When the numbers on the top and bottom of a fraction are equal, it's a whole!'

What a wonderful week of learning in Maths. Well done Year 3!