Welcome to Year 3!

Elephants

Visit to Gainsborough's House

On Wednesday 21st June, Year 3 visited Gainsborough's House in Sudbury as part of our topics 'Investigating Suffolk' and 'Local Artists'.  We began the day looking at some of the magnificent paintings within the gallery, as well as exploring the silk exhibition which is currently on show. We learnt about Thomas Gainsborough as a boy and how he became an artist. His real desk was still at the gallery, which was where he stored his paper and pigments. The desk even smelt old!

During the day we dressed up in Georgian clothing, created bookmarks using various fabrics and silks, and took part in a portrait workshop.  We also enjoyed the gardens in the beautiful sunshine.

Thank you to Lexi, Mrs Gunn, Mrs Snowling and Mr Peddel for helping with our visit, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Please enjoy looking at our photos from the day.

Learning Together session

On Thursday 8th June, Year 3 joined with their parents and family members to take part in four PSHE activities.  The aim of the session was to improve and open up conversation between children and adults they trust on a variety of issues.  We discussed the power of advertising and how media can influence us; the effects of alcohol and tobacco on the body; and understanding not to touch unmarked bottles or powders as we do not know what it inside.

There were some fantastic, informative discussions throughout the morning, and awareness was raised in each area.

Thank you to all those of you who attended and for the helpful comments/suggestions you gave at the end.

"Good to reinforce child can talk to me about anything."
"Very enjoyable session."

"Helped children to realise not all is what it seems, and to always ask first."

"Interesting activities to get discussions going."

"Very important in these days of social media."

Suffolk Farming School of the Year Competition FINAL

During the half term holiday, on Thursday 1st June, five representatives from Year 3 set off to the Suffolk Show to compete in the Suffolk Farming School of the Year competition.  We met in the glorious sunshine at 10am to rehearse our performance, before taking to the stage in front of three judges.  We watched presentations from two other schools, as well as our own, detailing what we had learnt so far in our journey to the final.  The competition was fierce, but we were absolutely delighted to find out that we had won!

The children were presented with rosettes, a certificate, and a trophy to commemorate our win, which we very proudly wore and displayed for the rest of the day.  Year 3 were absolutely amazing in their performance, speaking confidently and clearly to show off all of our new knowledge.  They should be very proud of their achievements.

Please take a look at some photos from the rehearsal, to the performance, to the winning presentation...

Year 3 & 4 R.E. Crosses Exhibition

As part of our R.E. unit 'Christianity: Symbolic expression', Year 3 and Year 4 worked together to create an exhibition of crosses made from natural materials.  The children carefully considered their choices of materials to represent different parts of Christianity.  Twelve small stones were chosen to represent Jesus' disciples, whilst red leaves were included to show Jesus' bloodshed.  Another group chose to use thorns as a reminder of the thorny crown placed on Jesus' head as he walked to his crucifixion. The children gave thoughtful responses, and produced an inspiring exhibition of crosses.

Suffolk Farming School of the Year Semi-Final

On Tuesday 9th May, Year 3 were delighted to represent Acton Primary School at Trinity Park in Ipswich to take part in the Suffolk Farming School of the Year semi-final.  We were one of five lucky schools in Suffolk chosen to take part based on the futuristic tractor which we had designed and made at school. 

During the day, we participated in five workshops.  We learnt facts about the history and future of farming during the 'workbooks' session; we pressed rapeseed into rapeseed oil; made delicious vegetable wraps with accompanying dip; created farms of the future, planting basil seeds; and also saw a tractor up close, followed by a demonstration given by the farmer.

We had a really enjoyable day, and came away bursting with new knowledge!  We were delighted to find out the following day that we have made it through to the final at the Suffolk Show on Thursday 1st June due to our participation, engagement and behaviour.  Well done Year 3!

Class Trip to Arger Fen

Year 3 spent a gloriously sunny day at Arger Fen learning about the beautiful natural woodland in Suffolk, as part of our topic work. The children explored the area using a compass to follow directions, as well as hugging trees to find out their age and type!  The children learnt map skills and designed their own key to follow, and created a habitat for minibeasts and creepy crawlies! 

A great day was had by all, and we hope you enjoy looking through our photos from the day.

Stone Age- Iron Age Day

On Wednesday 12th October, Year 3 were visited by Portals to the Past to experience a day workshop exploring Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.  We had a fantastic day learning about the development of early humans, exploring various artefacts such as real mammoth hair, and hunting and gathering.  We played some great games learning to hunt a mammoth and a deer using loud noises and a javelin!  The work we did during the day inspired our topic work for the term and gave us lots to write and think about.