From the Year 3 Classroom
NAPLAN:
Over the past week, our Year 3 students have taken part in NAPLAN, and we could not be prouder of the way they approached each assessment. Their focus, resilience, and positive attitude were evident every single day. Whether it was reading, writing, language conventions, or numeracy, our students gave their very best and supported one another beautifully along the way.
For families who may be new to the process, NAPLAN (the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) is a nationwide set of assessments completed by students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9. It provides a snapshot of how students are developing essential skills in literacy and numeracy, helping schools understand learning progress and plan future support.
While NAPLAN is just one part of a much bigger learning journey, it was wonderful to see our Year 3s rise to the challenge with such maturity and confidence. We celebrate not just their results, but the effort, determination, and growth mindset they demonstrated throughout the week.
Reading:
This week in Reading, our Year 3 students have begun an exciting new text: Off We Go Around Australia by Roland Harvey. The class has already been captivated by the detailed illustrations and humorous snapshots of life on the road. As we read, we are exploring new vocabulary such as adventure, agreed, steep, humungous, discovered, and distant. Students have enjoyed unpacking these words and using them to deepen their understanding of the story.
Alongside our class novel, we are also diving into non‑fiction texts. Our current focus is What is a waterfall? Students are learning how factual texts are structured and how they help us understand the world around us.
To support this, we have introduced note‑taking skills. Students are practising how to:
- Locate important information
- Identify key words
- Summarise key points in their own words
These skills will help them become more independent readers and learners as the year progresses.
A reminder to keep filling in your reader’s diary and bring them in on Friday’s– we are aiming for 15 minutes each night, 4 X week.
Writing:
In Writing this week, our Year 3 students have begun a brand‑new unit on informational and explanation texts. We are learning what makes this type of writing unique by exploring its key features, including clear structure, factual language, and topic‑specific vocabulary. Students are discovering how writers explain how or why something happens, using precise details and logical sequencing.
To connect our learning across subjects, this unit links directly to our Reading focus on non‑fiction texts about waterfalls. Students are gathering information from what they read and will soon use their knowledge to write their very own explanation piece about how a waterfall works.
Throughout the unit, we are focusing on:
- Identifying the purpose and structure of explanation texts
- Using technical and descriptive language
- Organising ideas in a clear, logical order
- Building strong topic sentences and supporting details
It’s been wonderful to see students engage with real‑world information and begin shaping it into their own informative writing.
Maths
In Maths, we have been diving into our Time unit, building confidence with how we measure, compare, and manage time in everyday situations. Students have been hands‑on with stopwatches, timers, and real‑life activities to help them understand how time passes and how we can keep track of it.
Students practised starting, stopping, and resetting stopwatches as they timed short activities such as star jumps, saying the months of the year and other mini challenges.
Before each activity, students made predictions about how long they thought it would take. They then compared their estimates with the actual measured times, discussing why some activities took longer or shorter than expected.
We looked closely at the duration of different events, ordering them from shortest to longest and talking about what makes some tasks quicker than others.
Students creating simple schedules, thinking carefully about the order of events and how much time each one might need. This will help them see how time connects to planning in real life.
Year 3 would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Mrs Newton and wish her all the very best as she begins her maternity leave. We celebrated her last day with a special Year 3 Baby Shower afternoon, where students shared their most creative baby name suggestions and had lots of laughs playing the Chocolate Nappy game together.
We will miss Mrs Newton’s kindness, enthusiasm, and the wonderful energy she brings to our classroom, but we are so excited for her as she prepares to welcome her new little bundle of joy.
Inquiry
This week in Inquiry, we’ve been diving into one of the most important parts of being our magnificent, marvellous selves — sleep. Students have been investigating why our bodies and brains need rest, what happens while we sleep, and how good sleep habits help us feel calm, focused, and ready to learn.
We’ve also been noticing how we feel after different kinds of sleep and reflecting on routines that help us wind down at the end of the day. It’s been wonderful to see students making connections between healthy habits and their overall wellbeing.
As we continue our Magnificent, Marvellous Me unit, sleep is helping us understand that taking care of ourselves is a superpower, one that helps our minds shine and our bodies thrive.
Religion
This week in Religion, Year 3 continued learning about Lent by exploring the story of the Last Supper and the key events of Holy Week. Students reflected on the messages of kindness, service, and sacrifice shown by Jesus, and discussed how these moments help us prepare our hearts for Easter. We recently worked collaboratively to create a Lenten Prayer, thanking God and Jesus for the sacrifices they have made for us and asking for their support in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We will pray this prayer all together in the lead up to Easter.
Respectful Relationships:
Mr O’Dwyer visited Year 3 on Monday to discuss our wellbeing. We discussed staying safe, who keeps us safe, who are the safe people we can talk to and how things like eating healthy and going to bed on time are all a part of being safe. We also discussed the kinds of things at school which might make us feel unsafe and what we can do, or who we can go to ensure our safety. Mr O’Dwyer explained that we all need 5 trusted people that we can go to if we ever feel unsafe. Thank you Mr O’Dwyer for your insights!
Year 3 Team