Excalibur Primary SchoolYear 3 2026 - 2027
Mrs Edwards
Welcome to…
Autumn Term 2026
Welcome back to school and welcome to Key Stage 2! I am so excited to be your new Year 3 teacher.
This autumn, we will be learning the following:
English
To link with our learning in history about the Stone Age to Iron Age, our writing in Autumn 1 will be inspired by ‘Stone Age Boy’. Our first writing outcome will be to retell a story of falling back in time.
Grammar
We will learn grammar through our English lessons as well as one skill-focused lesson a week. The grammar features that we will focus on in Year 3 are:
- Adverbials of time and manner, in particular to open sentences
- The determiners ‘an’/’a’
- Types of noun: collective noun, common noun, proper noun, pronouns
- Word families
- Formation of nouns using prefixes
- Inverted commas for speech
- Commas following fronted adverbials
- Apostrophes for contraction and possession
- Ellipses
- Subordinating conjunctions
- Complex sentences to express time, place, cause
- Relative pronouns “who”, “which”
- Present perfect tense
- Paragraphs, headings and sub-headings
Spelling
Year 3 will have three spelling lessons a week during which they will learn spelling rules, spelling patterns and common exception words. We will then have a weekly spelling test of these rules on Fridays. The spelling rules and key words are sent home at the start of the half-term.
Maths
Throughout the Autumn term in maths, we will build upon our prior learning in the following topics:
- Place value: representing, partitioning, comparing, ordering and rounding numbers up to 1,000, estimating using a number line
- Addition and subtraction: adding and subtracting up to three digit numbers using mental and formal written methods, estimating
- Multiplication and division: the 3, 4 and 8 times tables
Times Tables
Times tables are the gateway to proficiency in maths. In Year 4, the children will complete the statutory multiplication tables check. On an Ipad or laptop, the children will complete 25 multiplication (no division) questions, with 6 seconds for each question. Once the 6 seconds has passed, the next question will load.
It is, therefore, very important that the children continue to practise the 2, 5 and 10 times tables previously learned. We will be learning the 3, 4 and 8 times tables this year too and the children should also begin to practice these.
Please log on to Times Tables Rockstars or access the free websites linked below:
Hit the Button - Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)
Times tables Speed Test X - Timestables.co.uk
For those who prefer a more practical approach, why not try the following ideas?
- Times tables songs on Youtube eg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QU_E0u-tP4
- Quiz children on different questions - maybe even get them to quiz you!
- Set up a treasure hunt of the questions and answers.
- Use water or chalk to write out the tables on the floor outside.
- Make art out of the times tables facts eg. putting the answers on flower petals.
Science
In science in the Autumn term, Year 3 will explore the following two topics:
- Rocks
- compare and group together different kinds of rocks on the basis of their appearance and simple physical properties
- describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock
- recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter.
- Animals including humans
- identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat
- identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.
There will be a focus on developing scientific skills through the application of the five types of scientific enquiry:
- Observation over time
- Pattern seeking
- Identifying, classifying and grouping
- Comparative and fair testing
- Research using secondary resources
History
Our Autumn term history topic will be exploring the life in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Geography
In geography in the Autumn term, we will focus our learning around rainforests, focusing in on the Amazon Rainforest.
No Outsiders
Year 3 will use these books to consider and reflect upon the following concepts in PSHE:
To understand what discrimination means.
To understand what a bystander is.
PE
We will have PE on __________ and __________, this term. Please send your child in with the correct PE kit on these days and ensure that long hair is tied back and any earrings are covered with micro-pore tape or removed.
Useful information
Snacks: Please send your child in with a healthy snack for their morning break. Children may also purchase a warm snack, if they wish.
Water bottles: Please send your child into school with a named, filled water bottle, with a secure lid that closes fully.
Homework:
- Times tables: please encourage your child to use Times Tables Rockstars, Hit the Button or Speed Challenge to practise their times tables.
- Maths: Set weekly through Mathletics on a Friday.
- Accelerated Reader: Please listen to your child read daily. Children should have their reading books in school daily ideally.
- Reading comprehension: A reading comprehension text and questions will be sent home weekly. These should be returned on a Monday and a new copy will be sent home on a Tuesday.
- Spellings: please encourage your child to practise their weekly spellings in preparation for their Friday test.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me on Seesaw, at the end of the school day or on contact@excalibur.cheshire.sch.uk. Please note, we cannot guarantee that Seesaw is checked during the school day so anything urgent should go to this email.
Mrs Edwards
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