Over the past 2 weeks, we have been practising and rehearsing our year group assembly. On Wednesday, we confidently performed to our parents, family members and Key Stage 2 children. We have had a lot of fun learning about the Ancient Egyptians. Our assembly included: interesting facts about them; detailed explanations on how to mummify a body; songs and facts about their life and stories about different Pharaohs. We really enjoyed sharing all the facts we have learned during our Egyptian topic.
This term we have been learning about Ancient Egypt. We have recently had the opportunity to visit the Oriental Museum in Durham. Whilst we were there, we took part in different activities, including handling and sketching different artefacts from Ancient Egypt, cracking Hieroglyphic codes and dressing up in Egyptian clothing! Each class attended a ‘Weighing of the Hearts Ceremony’ where we learnt how to mummify a Pharaoh. We each got to play the role of Egyptian Gods and decide the fate of the Pharaoh. We even got to see a real-life sarcophagus and a 2000-year-old mummy in the museum!
We have been learning all about the River Nile in Year 3. In our classes, we looked at the importance of the Nile for food, water and irrigation during the Ancient Egyptian times. Then, we worked in groups to build our own miniature River Niles using trays, foil, clay, sand, soil and grass seeds. After, we flooded our rivers. We hope our crops will grow!
As it was world mental health day, year 3 took part in the BBC Teach Live Lesson. It was all about our growth mind-set and wellbeing! We watched and joined in with schools all across the country. We learnt about describing things that positively and negatively affect our physical, mental and emotional health as well as describing times when we have felt good or not so good and learning to express them. We also explored the differences between a fixed mind-set and a growth mind-set and discussed how to challenge our thoughts so we think positively. We learnt a new calming technique to help us clear our minds and after the lesson we took part in mindfulness colouring and yoga!
On Friday 6th September, Year 3 travelled back in time to Ancient Egypt! We looked at where in the world Egypt is and investigated activities linking to our new topic. We made pyramids using building blocks, wrapped our own mummies, decoded Egyptian hieroglyphs and even tried Egyptian foods!
Today, we visited Binchester Roman Fort. The Latin name for Binchester Fort is Vinovia. We had fun taking part in a range of different activities across the day. We watched archaeologists carrying out an archaeological dig, looked at ruins of the bath house and roads, tried on traditional Roman clothing, created mosaics, washed some artefacts, identified new artefacts in the sand, discovered games the Romans played in the bath houses, looked at tools used in the bath houses, read some Latin and created some Roman pottery. We looked carefully around the ruins for the Binchester Beast and eventually found it! It was one of the best days we have ever had in Year 3! On Monday morning, we made healthy sandwiches. First, we talked about the five food groups and why it is important to have a balanced meal. Then, we looked at our sandwich designs and decided which ingredients belonged to each food group. Then, we washed our hands, tied hair up and put our aprons on. After that, we created our sandwiches. We used cutting, grating and spreading skills. We also played a sandwich filler game and designed stickers. Finally, we ate our sandwiches. They were delicious, yummy and healthy.
Today we visited the Oriental Museum in Durham. Whilst we were there, we handled and described different artefacts from Ancient Egypt, discovered interesting facts, cracked Hieroglyphic codes and even dressed up in Egyptian clothing! On the afternoon, we all attended a ‘Weighing of the Hearts Ceremony’. During this, we learnt how to mummify a Pharaoh and played the role of Egyptian Gods to decide the Pharaoh’s fate. We even got to see a real-life sarcophagus and a 2000-year-old mummy!
Year 3 took a trip to the Head of Steam in Darlington. Whilst there, we investigated jobs and people from Darlington and their roles during WW1. We looked at secondary sources to discover evidence and build profiles about individual people. We also tried on replica hats and arm bands which would have been worn during that time.
We also had fun looking around the museum for clues about WW1 and the railway. We saw shells made on North Road, clothing worn by individuals, Christmas cards sent during the war and 2236 poppies stitched to commemorate those who worked for the North Eastern Railway Company and gave their lives in the war. We had an excellent time and learnt lots of interesting facts! The year 3 and 4 tag rugby team travelled to Mowden Park on Thursday 25th October to compete in a tag rugby festival. The day involved friendly matches against schools such as Rydal Academy, Harrowgate Hill and Mowden as well as skill based sessions. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day. Their behaviour was excellent and they demonstrated a positive attitude throughout the whole event.
Lily, who has been to this event for the last two years, said: “I really enjoyed the event this year because we got to play matches and scored some tries. I’m looking forward to trying to get in the girls tag rugby team for next year.” Year 3 spent an afternoon finding out all about woodlice habitats!
Working in groups, the children planned their own investigations, including what they wanted to find out and what equipment they needed to use in their experiments. After making predictions about the outcome, the children set up their investigations and used the next week to carefully observe any changes and results. Year 3 have made some fantastic posters which they are going to use to present their findings to Year 2, telling them what they have learnt about where woodlice prefer to live and even what type of fruit they might like to eat! Year 3 had an amazing last day of the half term learning all about how the charity Islamic Relief contributes and supports the conservation and use of water around the world. We designed posters to show how water conservation can help communities who are struggling with water supplies. On the afternoon we learnt about the five Pillars of Islam and their relevance to the ideals of Islamic Relief. We worked in groups using paint to design huge pillars in the style of Islamic art. As you can see from the pictures it was great fun and we are all really proud of our fabulous designs.
Year 3's Roman Assembly was a huge success! Well done to all the children! Here are a few of the comments from parents and families who enjoyed the performance:
'Brilliant! The best ever!' - Will's grandma. 'I loved every second of the show, you have all worked so hard! Well done to all of you!' - James Gaskin's mum. 'It's lovely to see the children learning whilst having so much fun!' - Donna, Dylan's mum. 'Lovely assembly! We learned so much more about the Romans. Thank you!' - Robyn's mum, grandad and nana. As part of our Romans topic this term we visited Durham University's Library and Museum. We handled real Roman artefacts and reenacted some key events from history including The Roman's invasion of Great Britain. We were also able to create our own Roman Mosaics using small coloured tiles!
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