As your child begins the next chapter of their education in Key Stage 2, we warmly welcome you and your family to Knowsley Junior School. We hope that your child will continue to grow and flourish in an exciting, caring and stimulating environment.

In the autumn term, we enter the exciting world of Ancient Britain, beginning our topic with a look at the Stone Age. We use Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson to consolidate sentence structure and Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura to further develop narrative and recount writing skills. We also use the topic to inspire a range of art and design work, including cave paintings, and even build our own Stonehenge from biscuits.

During the spring term, we travel back in time to the era of the Ancient Greeks. We explore Greek myths, art, geography, and the rivalry between Athens and Sparta. To further engage the children with the topic, we hold an exciting Greek Day, giving them an authentic and immersive Ancient Greek experience.

In the summer term, the children discover ‘What Is Under Our Feet?’, where they learn about earthquakes and volcanoes, exploring the infamous eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They also uncover facts about rocks and soils and identify what plants need to grow well. It is during this term that the children visit the National Coal Mining Museum for England. They are given the opportunity to travel 450 feet underground into one of the oldest working mines in England, where they learn about what life was like for miners and their families.

Each of our topics is complemented by carefully chosen, high-quality chapter books during our Book Club sessions, giving children the opportunity to immerse themselves in stories, broaden their understanding of the world and develop a lifelong love of reading.  

Year 3 is a busy and exciting year that provides children with a firm foundation as they stride confidently into Year 4.

Your Year 3 Teachers

This topic is the first taught to year 3 as they begin their Knowsley Junior School career. There is limited prior knowledge from Key Stage One to activate. At Springhead Infant School, children study a Prehistoric Creatures unit and learn about cave men in Reception. They should be aware of the countries which make up the British Isles, which will help them to deepen their geography knowledge further by learning about the counties. Pupils studied maps and plans in year 1 and will revisit maps at a more detailed level; a central ability to geographical learning and understanding, which is deepened from the local (Springhead) to the global (examining world continents) throughout Key Stage 2. The knowledge learnt in this topic will help them to access their year 4 Invaders and Settlers topic, with particular reference to contemporary tools and settlements It will develop their sense of chronology and ability to examine both primary and secondary sources, particularly Skara Brae. This skill will assist their investigation of Sutton Hoo in year 4.

	School Learning Zone - UK Explorers
	School Learning Zone - Map Skills
	School Learning Zone - Oceans and Continents of the World
	School Learning Zone - Prehistoric Britain
	School Learning Zone - Stonehenge

The children’s learning in Key Stage One Science (plants) equips them with a basic understanding of the main science driver behind this topic. The children will learn about the Earth, building on their locational knowledge when investigating volcanoes around the globe. The scheduling of this topic in the summer term allows more successful outcomes when growing seeds, working outside to study vegetation and for a more enjoyable trip to the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield. Examining fossils and the ruins of Pompeii prepares children for learning about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in year 5.
The study of Pompeii also equips the children with some knowledge of the Romans in preparation for year 4.

	School Learning Zone - Angry Earth
	School Learning Zone - Plant Life Cycles
	School Learning Zone - Pompeii
	School Learning Zone - Rocks and Soils (Fossils)
	School Learning Zone - Mining

Year 3 begin with Developing our Science Skills before moving into the topics Moving and Growing and Light and Shadows. Children learn about nutrition, skeletons and muscles, the need for light to see, how shadows are formed and patterns in shadow size. In the spring term, they study Forces and Magnets, comparing movement on surfaces, magnetic and non-magnetic materials and magnetic poles. In the summer term, the focus is Rocks and Soils and Helping Plants Grow Well, where children compare rocks and fossils, learn how soil and fossils form, explore plant parts and functions, and investigate what plants need to grow.

	Light and Shadows Learning Outcomes	[pdf 205KB]
	Light and Shadows Topic Mat	[pdf 200KB]
	Moving and Growing Learning Outcomes	[pdf 304KB]
	Moving and Growing Topic Mat	[pdf 287KB]
	Forces and Magnets Learning Outcomes	[pdf 205KB]
	Forces and Magnets Topic Mat	[pdf 194KB]
	Rocks and Soils Learning Outcomes	[pdf 291KB]
	Rocks and Soils Topic Mat	[pdf 279KB]
	Helping Plants Grow Well Learning Outcomes	[pdf 208KB]
	Helping Plants Grow Well Topic Mat	[pdf 198KB]