Welcome to Class 3! Croeso i Dosbarth 3!

Teacher: Miss Jones Teaching Assistant: Mrs Bostanci

Communication

Contact us on Class3@stmellonsprm.cardiff.sch.uk

Google Classroom code: fw23wewu

Twitter (X) - @stmellonsprm

Schoop ID - 1339

Overview of the day

8.55 - Children arrive and settle down to complete their Morning Activity / Register

9.05 – 9.25 Worship

9.25-10.30 - Literacy, Languages & Communication

10.30 – 10:45 - Snack / Break Time

10:45 - 11:00 - Helper Heddiw

11.00 – 12.00 - Mathematics & Numeracy

12.00 – 1.00 - Lunch

1.00 – 1.25 Read Write Inc

1:30 - 1:50 Guided Group Reading

1.50 – 2.45 (Topic/Science/RE/ICT/Welsh)

10 minutes daily mile

3.00 Daily Welsh Activities

3.20 Home Time

PE will be held every Tuesday. Children should wear black shorts, house colour or white t-shirt and trainers, labelled clearly with their name. They may also wear black jogging bottoms when completing activities outdoors.

Uniform

Please ensure that all items of clothing are clearly labelled with your child's name.

Snack

Please bring a bottle of water to school daily, clearly labelled with your name. Healthy snacks can be purchased from the snack trolley (ordered via ParentPay) or brought in from home.

Important dates

Christian Value - Courage
5th January – Children return to school, Values celebration day
6th January - Epiphany Celebration
7th January - Candlemas Assembly for Children 9.15am
16th January - Chinese New Year Celebration PS1&2 for children
20th and 21st January - Spectrum Workshop Years 3 and 4
26th January - St Dwynwen’s Day Celebration for Children
25th January - Whole School Islam Celebration Day for Children
4th February - Courage Clergy Worship 9.15am for Children
Bishop Cherry visiting
2nd - 6th February - National Story Telling Week
6th February - Mid Term Reports sent out to parents
Year 4 Family worship at 9.15am, parents welcome
9th February - Welsh Language Music Day
12th February – Valentine Disco PS1 & 2- 3.30-4.30pm, PS3 4.45-5.45pm
Spectrum Workshop Year 5
9th-15th February - Children’s Mental Health Awareness week
10th February - Safer Internet Day
13th February – Last day of term
16th – 20th February 2026 – Half Term
Christian Value – Forgiveness
23rd February - Return to school, values celebration day
5th March - World Book Day
3rd March - Eisteddfod Celebration for Children
9th March - International Women's Day
9th - 11th March Year 4 Residential to Llangrannog
13th March - World Maths Day
2pm Parents Maths Workshop
17th March - Sikhism Celebration Day
20th March - Year 3 Family Worship at 9:15am, families welcome
Rags to Riches Collection
23rd and 24th March – Parents Evening 3.30-5:30pm
23rd March - Easter Eucharist 9.15am families welcome
23rd March – Easter Celebration Week
26th March - Messy Easter Celebration Day
Easter Bonnet Parade N- Year 3 - 2pm
Bonnet Parade Nursery am - 11.15am
27th March - Last day of term
Easter Holidays – 30th March - 10th April 2026

copy of copy of template poster 3 .pdf

Our Christian Value

This half term we will be focusing on 'Courage' as our Christian value.

Courage man jumping over cliff on sunset background,Business concept idea

Courage is the strength to face challenges even when they feel intimidating. It’s not about being fearless, but about choosing to act despite fear or uncertainty. Whether it’s standing up for what’s right, trying something new, or admitting a mistake, courage helps us grow into more confident and resilient people. It’s a quality that empowers us to make positive choices and support others along the way.

You can find a copy of the Courage handout here

Joshua 1:9
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go

Context

Our context this half term is Mighty Warriors - Celts under the whole school umbrella of Time Capsule with Humanties as the main driving AoLE.

Triangular Celtic Knot Sticker

By the end of this theme, pupils will gain an understanding of life in Britain during the Iron Age and how Celtic culture shaped society. They will explore who the Celts were, how they lived, and what they believed, including their art, myths, and traditions. Pupils will learn about Celtic homes, food, clothing, and tools, as well as the role of warriors and druids. They will also consider how the arrival of the Romans changed Celtic life. This topic will develop their historical enquiry skills, encourage comparisons between past and present, and deepen their appreciation of Britain’s cultural heritage.

LLC - Focusing on the book 'Cinderella of the Nile' and writing traditional tales and a diary entry

Maths and Numeracy - Multiplication, Division and Fractions

Humanities - We will be looking at Chronology and comparing Celtic life to life today.

RVE - Big Question: What is it like to follow God?

Health and Well Being - Our PSHE Jigsaw topic this term is 'Dreams and Goals' and PE we are focusing on ball skills

Expressive Arts - Researching and replicating the work of a Welsh artist ready for our Art Exhibition

Pupil voice questions

What did the Celts eat and drink? AW

How did they travel? MF

Who made their clothes? RK

What did their houses look like? MR

How did they learn? ER

Were they princesses? FP

Why were their houses round? LR

Why and who did they fight? AA

Did they have clean water? MM

How did they cook their food? HS

Why did their men have horns? CN

Why was their face paint blue? AW

Do they have a bed? DF

How many years ago were the Celts? LR

Where did they live? GM

What jobs did they have? ER

Did the kids fight? AW

Literacy, Languages and Communication

In Class 3, we will focus on continuing to develop our reading fluency and comprehension.

The children will also be continuing to develop their Welsh language skills through daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions as well as their weekly Welsh lessons.

Reading is an extremely important part of the children's learning. We will take every opportunity to immerse the children in books and stories and we will also take part in a guided reading session at least once per week.

Homework

Choose from the activities on the homework grid :

This is also available for you to download here

Daily reading (20 minutes)

Times Tables Rock Stars - click here for information for parents.

Weekly homework – Numeracy / Literacy alternated each week. Usually based on something we have learned that week. Set on Friday, due in on Wednesday. Please submit via Google Classroom or sent to class email.

Termly homework – Choose at least one activity to complete by the end of each term – to present to the class.

Literacy

We will be looking at variety of genres in literacy this half term, which will support our learning context. We will focus primarily on traditional tale writing and diary entry writing.

We will also continue to develop the children’s phonics knowledge and letter formation, to support progress in their reading, writing and spelling skills using Read Write Inc.

Read Write Inc is taught daily (Monday- Friday) across PS1 & 2. Children are grouped in according to their current ability. In each session we focus on identifying and learning Read Write Inc sounds.

Numeracy

$Math Clipart Images - Free Download on Freepik$

This term we will be focusing on Multiplication, Division and Fractions. We will also be learning the 3 and 4 times tables. There are times tables songs that your child can listen to at home to help them practice these.

We will continue to use Doodle Maths regularly. Please encourage the children to use this regularly at home using the link below:

https://doodlelearning.com/

Times tables songs -

2x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGWMPqh04o4

3x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVyBQ5uTbo

4x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ4ooLN7Bmo

5x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPffpuHYIhc

10x - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlW6YRLriHU

Welsh

In our Welsh language, we will be looking at the weather.

Sut Mae'r Tywydd Heddiw? - How is the weather today?

We will be completing daily Helper Heddiew sessions for the children to enhance their oracy, written and reading skills in Welsh language.

Modern Foreign Languages

MFL is under review at the moment. It is a section of the 'Languages Connect Us' in our Literacy Curriculum.

Planning

Weekly planning will be available on Google classroom, so you can see what the children have been learning about that week. Please see the Inquiry planning document for our topic.

Four Purposes

The four purposes are that all children and young people will be:

Ambitious, Capable Learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.

Enterprising, Creative Contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work.

Ethical, Informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.

Healthy, Confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

Internet Safety

At St Mellon's, we promote the use of 'SMART' rules daily, as we know how important it is to stay safe online.

Please encourage your children to use these 'SMART' rules at home too.

Online Safety for Parents & Children | Ranelagh Primary School

As part of the Curriculum for Wales your child will discuss and learn how we can all stay safe online and about the dangers we may face on the internet. We get involved with national Internet Safety Day, which is held on the second Tuesday every February each year.

Jigsaw and PSHE

Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn. Jigsaw is a comprehensive and completely original PSE programme for the whole primary school from ages 3-11. The Jigsaw Programme also delivers Relationships and Sexuality Education. Ensuring it meets the requirements set out in the RSE Code for Phases 1 and 2. Life cycles and human reproduction will be taught in a sensitive manner, age related in all schools in Wales. This means that all learners must receive this education. There is no right to withdraw from RSE in the new curriculum.

Jigsaw has two main aims for all children:

• To build their capacity for learning

• To equip them for life

Jigsaw brings together PSE, Relationships and Sexuality Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. It is designed to support a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time at their own stage of learning. There are six Puzzles (half-term units of work) and each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs.

Curriculum for Wales Guidance for PSHE

Healthy snack

Cartoon Vegetable Images – Browse 663,547 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video | Adobe Stock

Healthy snacks are provided at £2 per week which can be paid for half termly via parent pay or please provide one piece of fresh fruit or vegetable for your child's snack every day. We are a healthy eating school so only provide a healthy snack such as an apple, banana, carrot sticks, oranges etc. Please note that grapes need to be sliced longways. Children may bring a bottle of water with their name clearly labelled to school to drink. We are happy to refill their bottles for them during the day.

Active travel

We record how we travel to school each day and gain badges and awards every month if we have met our target. Help us to travel safer and greener by walking, cycling or scooting to school! You could always park and stride or catch a bus.

Picture News

During our worship time on Mondays, we have been learning about current news, topics and events. Then we have been exploring the key questions linked to these further in class. Here are some of the questions we have been discussing.

Remember

Class 3 PE has changed to a Tuesday. Please wear your PE kit. PE kit is a white polo shirt (or your house colour) and grey or black shorts/joggers & trrainers. Plain kits please, no patterns or large logos.

Reading books should be taken home daily to practise at least 10 minutes per day at home.

Maths we are having a real focus this half term on improving of time tables, so please encourage your child to use TTRS to practicec their time tables:

NEW! Practice maths for 10 minutes a day on Doodle Maths to make great progress.

Click HERE to logon to TTRS