{DIARY_CALEND
Stained glass windows Our topic this half term in RE has been 'Easter Events.' We have been looking at the significant events during the last week of Jesus' life. We looked at the importance of Jesus' death to Christians, and what the cross symbolises to them. On Friday, we created cross stained glass windows, using sticky back plastic and bright coloured tissue paper. When placing these crosses on the window, not only will it create a beautiful stained glass window effect, but will also remind us of the importance of Easter for Christians. 
World Book Week - Shakespeare!
We have had such an exciting Book Week, where our class focus was the story of 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare.
We started the week by looking at the story, retelling and acting out key scenes, news reports and freeze frames. Take a look at our news report videos below which focus on the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet, where Capulets and Montagues are caught fighting on the streets of Verona.
We then looked at the scene where Romeo and Juliet meet at the Capulets masked ball. Can you work out who the different characters are in our freeze frames?
We also had a surprise performance from the Shakespeare's Globe, who performed a play on the life of Shakespeare and his work. We saw clips of a range of his plays and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. We also had a Shakespeare workshop and acted out the different parts of the Romeo and Juliet story. We even learnt a song about the story, take a look:
We then finished the week with World Book day, where we dressed up as characters from our favourite books and wrote a book review. Take a look at the fantastic costumes for the characters below!
Lego Robots! On Tuesday, year 3 had a class trip to the CLC in Clapham. On arrival we were put into groups of 3 and sat at tables with mac computers and lego boxed. We revisited our knowledge and learning about scratch programs and impressed our teacher with all the things we already knew.
We worked as a group to followthe instructions on the screen on how to build our lego robot. This took a lot of work, communication, and resilience! Once our robots were built, we were able to plug them into the laptop. Using scratch we programmed the robots so that they could move in different ways. Some of us even got to use our robots against each others,' for example the kicker and goalkeeper robots which you can see in the video below.
At the end we had a class gallery and went around and had a look at other groups' robots and how they were programmed. Take a look at the photos below of the work we did!
Stone AgeLeaflets and Brochures Throughout this term, we have based our Literacy work on the story of Weslandia by Paul Fleischman. It is about a boy called Wesley who does not fit in with the civilization around him, so for a summer project decides to grow his own staple crop for his own civilization- Weslandia! We discover the different features of his new land and how his staple crop is used in all different areas.
Following on from this story we have now created our own civilizations, looking at the features of food, games, music, languages and clothes that can be found in our new lands. We have worked hard on creating a leaflet to engage our audience, using persuasive vocabulary in a non-chronological report to inform people of our new worlds. This week we are at the final stage and will be publishing our leaflets. Look out for our next blog post which will show some of our amazing leaflets for you to read. Feel free to come into year 3 to see other leaflets, and ask our year 3 learners what land they have created!!
Now Press Play - Stone Age This week in History we have had an amazing experience of stepping back in time to the Stone Age! With our new Now Press Play technology we were able to listen to a story through wireless headphones and be a part of the story. We listened to the instructions given and were able to learn new things about the Stone Age, from hunting a woolly mammoth using a bow and arrow that we had made, and looking around a cave house! Take a look at the photos below where you can see some of the things we did. After the session we recapped where we visited, what we did and the things we learnt. We even took part in a quiz to earn group points.
This week we have started our new topic titled 'Scavengers and Settlers' which is all about the Stone Age. Over the Christmas holidays, children have produced some fantastic projects and have come back to school with lots of facts to share with the rest of the class. Thank you to all parents and carers that helped their children with their projects, they look amazing and we now have a wonderful classroom display to show off all their hard work! Please do come in and have a look at our class Stone Age display!
Brit School Performance
KS2 were chosen to watch a special Christmas performance from the Brit School.
As we entered the hall, children were to write a letter to Santa, asking for gifts this Christmas. The Post woman collected them up but unfortunately lost all the letters! With the help of Side Kick and the 3 Wise Reindeers, we went on a journey to the Magical Place in search for the Christmas Finder. Along the way we met the Christmas Decorations, Christmas Food and Christmas Songs characters who all tried to help us find the letters. Eventually the letters were found and Christmas was saved. The children even got to join the characters on stage for a dance along!
It was a lovely festive performance from the Brit School and we would like to say a huge thank you for inviting us to watch it! The children came back to class and wrote their own reviews on the performance, but it was an all round thumbs up from year 3 Class!
Ancient Egyptian Clay MasksWe have come to the end of our Ancient Egypt Topic and we took a look at the death masks the Ancient Egyptians used in burials.
First, we looked at a range of different masks and talked about the range of materials they were made from, depending on whether they were rich or poor. Next, we designed our clay masks based on some of the images we had in front of us. We then rolled out our clay until it was 1cm thick and began to use our designs to make our clay masks. We used different art techniques when doing this, such as rolling, pressing, kneading, engraving using the different clay tools. We made our masks 3D by using extra bits of clay for different features of the face. Take a look at the pictures below:
This week was year 3's class assembly and we have received such lovely and positive comments from members of St Lukes family!! Miss Rivero and Miss Farrugia are super proud of all the work and effort that the children put in for their class assembly. Thank you to all the parents who came to watch and support us. For those who unfortunately could not make it i have provided a video below of the assembly so you don't miss out.
challenge with words from CCS St Lukes on Vimeo.
assembly full from CCS St Lukes on Vimeo.
Polka Theatre: Beauty and the BeastAs part of our Literacy unit, Chive class along with year 2
have been looking at the story of Beauty and the Beast. In this unit we have been unpicking the structure and features of the text. We are now beginning to make changes to the traditional story to create our own new versions.
To deepen our understanding of the narrative we visited the Polka Theatre to see how they had interpreted the story and what changes they had made, to inspire us with our own story writing.
Horniman Museum: Ancient EgyptThis week we had our first class trip to the Horniman museum for an Ancient Egypt workshop. During the session we became archaeologists. We shared everything we knew about Ancient Egypt that we had learnt in our topic and really impressed the teacher! We then had to put on special white gloves so that we could touch some Ancient Egyptian artefacts. Using our deduction skills we thought about what the artefacts were, who might have used them and how they were used. We shared our thoughts at the end of the session and found we were very close with our answers! We then got to see, and smell, a mummified bird!!
After our workshop we had lunch, and explored the museum, completing tasks along the way. We got to see a real life mummy and sacophagus, as well as canopic jars and hieroglyphics! Take a look at the pictures below!
Next Friday will be our class assembly, which is based on our topic of Ancient Egypt. Please come and watch us to see all the hard work we have done this half term!
Maths Week: Maths Hunt In groups we were given a list of items that we had to find in nature. Take a look at the checklist below.
We 
used different maths skills based on our learning in maths this term to hunt for objects in nature. As we found the objects around the school, points were given to teams accordingly. We learnt that maths can be found anywhere in our surroundings!
What other things can you find in nature that is linked to maths?
Today we have linked maths with art and looked at tessellations. These are shapes that are created and repeated over and over again without any gaps or overlaps. First we created our templates using a square piece of card, and drew around it to create our pattern. The final pieces produced are fantastic! Take a look below at some of our work. Ask a child in year 3 how to make a template using card and have a go yourselves!
To start off our Maths week today we helped solve a mystery using a code breaker.
We received a letter this morning:
Using the clues, we solved the mathematical calculations that involved adding, subtracting, halving, doubling, multiplying and dividing. As we completed each of the clues we were able to cross off some of the subjects. Using our math skills we were able to solve the case!
RE and Art weekThis week has been RE and Art week. We have linked the two subjects together as year 3 looked at the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders.
In the parable, one man builds his house on rock, and the other builds his house on sand. Over night there is a huge storm and the house that was built on sand collapsed. The man who built his house on the sand was the foolish man, and the man that built his house on rock was the wise man.
Jesus teaches us in his parable that in order to be a wise person we must make wise choices. We must not do things that we know to be wrong. Christians also believe that Jesus teaches us that God is like the rock that the wise man built his house on. If you build your foundation on God then you will become wise because God will support you.
Having looked at the story in lots of detail, retelling the story and exploring the deeper meaning of the parable that Jesus told, we then decided to create a large final piece that the whole class has contributed to. In Art, we focused on texture of different materials: in particular, water, sand, rock and brick. We looked at the patterns that could be found in the different textures, and designed our patterns onto polystyrene tiles. We then engraved our patterns, and using printing ink and rollers, were able to print our design using different colours. We then collected all our prints once dry to create our final piece. The picture of the final pieces is soon to follow. Please take a look at the pictures below that were taken throughout RE and Art week.
Now Press Play - Ancient EgyptThis week in History we have had an amazing experience of stepping back in time to Ancient Egypt! With our new Now Press Play technology we were able to listen to a story through wireless headphones and be a part of the story. We listened to the instructions given and were able to apply all our learning, from drawing hieroglyphics to mummifying a body! Take a look at the video below where you can see and hear some of the things we did. After the session we recapped where we visited, what we did and the things we learnt. We even took part in a quiz to earn group points.
now press play ancient egypt from louise on Vimeo
Black History and Diversity Month
As part of our celebrations for Black History and Diversity month, we had the opportunity to meet Faustin Charles, the author of "The Selfish Crocodile" in a storytelling workshop. Faustin Charles retold his story, teaching us how its important to use different voices for each of the characters to make it more engaging for listeners. We all loved the story and answered all of Faustin's questions. We even helped to act out the story. Faustin Charles then taught us a traditional game that he used to play when he was younger, when he would listen to stories. Have a look at our video below to see all the fun we had during our storytelling workshop.
storytelling from louise on Vimeo.
Egyptian Day As part of our Topic, we had an Egyptian day at school, with focus on 'the arts.' We began our day painting cartouches. First, the children practised drawing their names in heiroglyphics onto paper. They then carefully transferred this onto the wooden templates. They then designed their cartouche background using patterns and colours of their choice.
After play, the children had a quick warm up before learning and performing an Egyptian dance.
Finally, Chive class were able to use their designs from last week to make their Egyptian necklaces. We used paper plates, pasta pieces and paint to do this.
Take a look at the video below to see all that we got up to on this day!
egyptian day from louise on Vimeo.
As part of our topic 'Autumn' in art, we have been experimenting with different media. So far we have drawn leaves in pencil, coloured pencils, and have made Autumn leaves with paper. This week we used a printing method to print leaves. Have a look at the process below. The pieces of work produced are beautiful! Feel free to come in and take a look at your childs' art book. 
3D Shape Building
Check out the video of Chive class working on making 3D shapes, focusing on the number of edges and vertices their shapes have!
Science Investigation
Our science topic this term is Living Things and their Habitats. In class we had a science investigation and predicted which insect we thought would be the most popular insect in our school grounds. We each chose different habitats in the school grounds; grass, bushes, trees, playground etc. We counted each different type of insect and recorded our results. We shared these back in the classroom and even made a bar chart to represent what we found. Here are some pictures of some of the insects we found in our investigation! 
Our Learning EnvironmentWe have ensured that our learning environment in year 3 is designed to help children strive for excellence. Our literacy and numeracy working walls are filled with the learning that we are focusing on for our current topics. We also very proud of the work that we have done so far and targets that children have already achieved. We therefore ensure that children's hard work is appreciated and displayed in the classroom. We also have challenge areas in the classroom, that fit in with our class value of 'Challenge.' Have a look at the pictures below, or come in and have a look around our year 3 classroom to see the learning that is happening!
Our Superman Super Work wall is updated every week with amazing pieces of work that the children have done. We especially like to celebrate childrens work if they have achieved a personal target! We will post the winners every week here on the blog and their work!
Our science topic this term is Living Things and their Habitats. Children have been sorting animals into different categories. They are also able to use the books to find out more information about different habitats to try the extension task!
We are a Rights Respecting school, and our class charter shows the different rights that our children have and things they can do to ensure they, and every child have those rights.
Our topic this term is Ancient Egypt. We have created a class museum full of our Summer holiday projects!
Our maths challenge area is updated for each new topic. Children have a chance to answer the challenge question to earn stars.
We also have our reading area, full of a range of genres for the children to choose from. The children choose a book from our book corner each week to take home for their own
Ancient Egyptians
Over the summer holidays, in preparation for our new topic the Ancient Egyptians, Year 3 have researched and produced projects that have been placed in our class museum. Take a look at the wonderful pieces that the class have made, and feel free to come in and have a closer look at the projects. I am super impressed with the effort the children have put into their work, and how excited they are to share their own learning, and to also learn new facts to share with you at home.
