A very warm welcome to all our Year 3 children and families.

We are excited for a fantastic term ahead, filled with engaging learning experiences, new challenges, and lots of opportunities to grow and succeed.
Please find attached our newsletter, which outlines the learning and key topics we will be covering this term, along with important information regarding our class.

We look forward to working together and sharing a wonderful Year 3 journey with you.

Thank you for your continued support.

September

Welcome back and a very warm welcome to the new members of Year 5! The children have come back so positively and they are showing a great attitude to their learning! New routines and expectations have been established and already the children have been busy designing and strengthening bridges, enjoying Friday keyboard lessons and carrying out Science investigations into air resistance using parachutes!

Our History topic for this half term is the Vikings, where we are trying to decide whether the Vikings were raiders, traders or something else. In English, we are busy writing non-chronological reports about dragons and in Maths we are strengthening our understanding of number and place value. In Computing, we are learning all about search engines In RE, we are exploring what it means when Christians say that God is 'Holy and Loving' and in DT, we are designing, testing and strengthening bridges. In French, we are learning how to talk about ourselves and in PE, we are learning how to perform dragon rhythmic parkour.

We are very proud of how this class have come back from the Summer holidays (which already seem a dim distant memory!) - they are definitely ready for Year 5!

Impressive performance!

Year 6 have been learning how to play the keyboards, glockenspiels, djembe drums, ukuleles, claves and various other percussion and tuned instruments over the past term.

Mr Jane has taught the children how to play an accompaniment to Bon Jovi's Livin' on a prayer as well as teaching them some African songs.

The pieces were Silo, Tooeh and Ahooma ma ma. They all took part, with excellent results. These tunes were played in different ways using syncopated rhythms and contrasting beats along with singing the African words in two different parts.

The culmination of this was a concert which our families were invited to attend. The children were amazing, performing with focus and flair and the finale of Livin' on a prayer practically lifted the roof!

Cricket Chris

Sports week was a mixed bag due to the rather soggy weather!

The gun run and Sports Day had to be postponed until the following Monday but Year 6 were still able to lead their own carousel of activities for Years 3, 4 and 5 on the Tuesday and take part in the sports stations with their fellow team members up at the Infant base on the Wednesday.

On the Friday, Year 6 were lucky enough to be coached by Cricket Chris. 

SATs & Hoodies!

It has been a few weeks since Year 6 sat their SATs, but all the staff at Copper Valley would like to say how very proud we were of each and every one of our children!

They came in each morning smiling - yes, smiling - enjoyed their lovely social breakfast together and then knuckled down calmly and with confidence to see what each day brought. 

If there were nerves, we did not see them; if there were wobbles, we did not feel them; if there were doubts, they did not show.

Year 6 have worked so hard all year and shown exactly what a fantastic attitude to learning really looks like. They took the whole week in their stride and we know that they will have done their very best.

On Friday, Year 6 were rewarded with a very chilled-out day and there was also the lovely surprise that their leaver's hoodies had arrived - cue photo shoot!

May

In Science this half term, we have been learning all about Electricity.

We have made our own circuits, adding different components, drawn scientific circuit diagrams, problem-solved circuits which don't work and carried out an investigation into which factors might affect the brightness of a bulb in a circuit.

In History, we have been learning about some figures from our British past - many of whom we had not heard of before - in order to decide whose face would be the most deserving to appear on a new British banknote. 

Our Art project is developing nicely. We have been designing our own 'Tag', researching graffiti artists and we have begun to think about ideas for a piece of environmental wall art. The aim is that our designs will be brought to life as huge pieces of art on a currently very boring wall on our grounds.

The next step is for the children to share their ideas to produce one of 4 final pieces and then we will all be helping to get them up on the wall - watch this space!

What a fantastic and busy first half of the summer term we have had in our classroom! The children have worked incredibly hard across all areas of the curriculum and should be very proud of everything they have achieved.

In English, we completed our unit on characterising speech, where we explored how authors use dialogue to reveal information about characters and move stories forward. The children developed their understanding of how speech can help readers learn more about a character's personality, feelings and motivations. We have now begun an exciting new unit based on Robin Hood. Over the coming weeks, the children will be planning and writing their own "through the portal" stories. This will be a wonderful opportunity for them to demonstrate their independence and apply all of the writing skills they have developed throughout the year.

In Maths, we have been focusing on fractions. The children have learned how to identify and create equivalent fractions and have practiced comparing and ordering fractions with increasing confidence. They have shown excellent perseverance when tackling challenging problems and explaining their mathematical thinking.

Our Science lessons have centered on plants. We investigated the conditions plants need to grow and thrive, exploring how water, sunlight, nutrients and space all play an important role. The children enjoyed learning about the different parts of plants and how each part helps the plant survive and flourish.

In History, we travelled back in time to discover the fascinating world of the Ancient Egyptians. We explored the key features of their civilisation, including their beliefs, achievements, daily life and famous pharaohs. The children were particularly interested in learning about pyramids, mummification and the importance of the River Nile.

In PSHE, we discussed different roles and responsibilities within our communities. We reflected on the people who help us every day and considered how their work supports and benefits others. These conversations encouraged thoughtful discussions about gratitude, respect and responsibility.

PE lessons have focused on cricket, where the children have been developing their striking and fielding skills. They have enjoyed learning new techniques, working as a team and improving their coordination and game awareness.

Finally, in Art, we created beautiful Egyptian-inspired scrolls for our art exhibition. The children carefully layered paper to make their own papyrus before painting detailed Egyptian-style designs. The finished pieces looked fantastic and showcased both their creativity and craftsmanship.

Phew! What a busy and successful half term it has been. We are looking forward to all the exciting learning still to come this summer!

Class Blog - March & April 2026 Over the past two months, our class has been busy learning lots of exciting new skills across the curriculum.

In English, we have been focusing on how to write using speech punctuation. We practised using inverted commas, commas, and full stops correctly when writing dialogue. This has helped us to make our stories more interesting and clear for the reader.

In Maths, we explored perimeter and different types of measurement. We learned how to measure in millimetres (mm), centimetres (cm), and metres (m), and we practised converting between these units. We also applied our knowledge to solve problems involving the perimeter of different shapes.

In Science, we investigated light sources and how shadows are made. We discovered that shadows are formed when an object blocks light, and we explored how shadows can change size depending on the position of the light source.

Our Geography lessons took us on an adventure to Antarctica, where we became Antarctic explorers. We learned about this unique and extreme environment and studied the famous explorer Ernest Shackleton and his incredible journey.

In PE, we have been playing handball, where we worked on improving our passing skills and teamwork. We learned how to communicate effectively and support each other during games.

In RE, we learned about Judaism and explored what daily life is like for Jewish people. We discussed traditions, beliefs, and important practices within the religion.

In PSHE, we focused on being healthy and understanding how the food we eat affects our bodies. We talked about making balanced choices and how nutrition helps us grow and stay active.

To finish the term, we went on an exciting trip to Songfest. It was a fantastic collection of songs performed by Asone and directed by Patrick Bailey. We really enjoyed the music and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of a busy and successful term.

We are very proud of everything we have achieved and are looking forward to more learning next term!

March

We have had a busy March, preparing for Easter. The children enjoyed following visual instructions to help them create their Easter cards. 

This term we have endeavoured to get outside as much as we could. We had a few outings during March. We have explored the local parks, both in Calstock and St Annes Chapel. The ARC children also got to visit a farm, where we saw chickens, sheep, lambs, piygmy goats and ponies. 

As our term came to a close we finished off by making Chocolate Easter nests. 

We wish everyone a Happy Easter and look forward to seeing everyone back for the Summer Term.

April

Year 6 were very fortunate to find a window of beautiful weather for their Geography fieldwork this week!

Our Geography unit this half term has been all about exploring population. We have studied how and why populations might increase or decrease, where in the country we can find our most and least populated areas, why birth and death rates might fluctuate, why people might choose - or be forced - to migrate and how population might impact our environment.

As part of this final investigation, Year 6 chose two different locations in our village to conduct a road traffic survey. One of the areas was the busy main road and the other was a more quiet, less-populated road on the edge of the village. 

After that, we carried out a class litter pick of our local public playing field, led by our responsible Eco-councilors. Finally, as it was such a stunning afternoon and Year 6 have been working so hard all term, they spent a little time having a much-needed and well-earned game of basketball and football - would you believe it, it was 22 degrees!

March

Today, Year 6 were able to join in with a fantastic online learning experience through our online resource, TTRockstars.

Gareth Metcalf, famous for his work in mathematics education, especially through the initiative, 'I See Maths', led a live Maths lesson, where the children were taught personally by him.

The objective of the lesson was to help the children to unpick mathematical word problems, with a particular focus on Key Stage 2 multi-step multiplicative word questions. Gareth showed the children how to eliminate unnecessary information, how to draw bar models to help to understand the various steps and how to make sure that the right operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) were chosen.

The children also had the opportunity to create their own multi-step word problems, using given operations, aiming for a particular answer.

Year 6 really enjoyed the session and hopefully these new-found skills will add to their confidence when they do their SATs papers in May!