Autumn Term: The Romans

Welcome to Class 3

If you scroll down the page, you'll find out what we've been learning so far this term.

Science: Forest School.

We were really excited to be given a session of Forest School last Thursday. It was freezing outside but fantastic to  be able to work in the school woodland. Our first task was to count the number of rings on a tree stump to work out how old that branch of the tree was. We also discussed the impact on the creatures that lived in that tree and have now lost their habitat. We then worked with Kirsty to identify trees by looking closely at the leaves and buds. We then sorted out leaves according to the shape of their edges. We finished off by toasting marshmallows in the fire bit. It was a super afternoon.

DT: Making Roman Forts

During the final week of term, we completed our Roman forts. We used 3D shapes to make some of the features such as the turrets and ensured that our forts had plenty of defensive features. Here are some examples of our work.

ICT: Digital Posters

After learning about the plight of Thomas the gorilla and other endangered animals, we decided to create posters with information about the animals and reasons why they are endangered. In order to create these posters, we had to research information about our animal and then learn how to create documents, create textboxes and add information and images to these. 

History and geography trip to Ribchester

This week, we went on a class trip to Ribchester where we discovered the incredible history of this little village which lies next to the River Ribble.

We started our day with a talk about the Romans which included handling artefacts and trying on replica armour. Patrick then showed us the ruins of the grain store and explained to us the purpose of this. The  final part of the morning was  spent completing a quiz by finding out the answers from the exhibits in the museum. 

Our afternoon was outdoors, practising our map skills by finding a list of places around Ribchester by using an OS map. We particularly enjoyed finding and sketching the ruins of  the bath house.

The Salvation Army

Debbie from the Salvation Army visited us in school last Thursday to tell us about how and why members of this church help people. We were amazed to hear how people are helped when they have no food, or they need houses or clothes. They even provide a warm place to go for those who are struggling with their heating bills or who are lonely. We were certainly inspired by their dedication, compassion and faith.

Showing Compassion

Well done to everyone who dressed up for 'Children in Need' day. There were lots of children covered in spots and even some dressed as Pudsey Bear. There were some fantastic models of Pudsey Bear in shoe box scenes. Thankfully someone else had to make the difficult decisions of who won the competition. We had a fun day and hopefully lots of money has been raised for a very good cause.

English/ Science/ RE/PSHE

On Monday, we had a very exciting visit from TREX who brought in their gorilla called Thomas. They told us how Thomas had lost his family by poachers and that his habitat was decreasing due to logging and forest clearing. The children were encouraged to think about how they could help Thomas and other forest creatures whose numbers are in decline.

We had a very thought provoking day.

Mathematics

In maths, we have been learning about measuring mass ( weight), capacity and length. Here's some pictures of some Year 3 & 4 children learning how to read scales and measure liquids.

Science

Today, we ventured into the school grounds to investigate what is living there. We looked at a range of habitats and collected some small invertebrates in order to sketch them. We then used classification keys in order to identify unknown creatures or plants.

History.

We've been learning all about how the success of the Roman army led to the conquering of many countries. Together, these conquered countries became the Roman Empire. One of the reasons that the army was so successful was the use of three different formations. We each made a shield and went onto the playground to try these out. Here is the result.

Science and DT

We put all of our new knowledge about electrical circuits into practice this week when we created a working torch each. We used plastic bottles as the housing for the circuit and created a reflector, lens and light which sat at the front of our torches. We really enjoyed it but had to be really patient and problem solve if it didn't work first time. 

English/history

In English, we are learning how to  write instructional texts. On Friday, we discovered how the Romans built roads and how and why this gave them the ability to conquer so many countries. Following this, we worked in groups to follow a set of instructions to build an edible Roman road.

Religious Education

In RE, we are currently looking at the origin of the Ten Commandments and Jesus's new commandment to 'love your neighbour. ' We then acted out a class version of the Good Samaritan.

Science

In science, we are studying electricity and so our first lesson was all about exploring the concept of electricity and how this makes things work. This involved playing with electrical toys and games, working out how to build a circuit to make a light bulb come without being shown and using screwdrivers to take some old plugs apart to examine how plugs are wired and find the fuse.