Beech Grove Primary School
Autumn Term 2026
Head Teacher Message
Welcome back to our new Autumn term. On behalf of the staff, we would like to welcome you to a new school year and hope that 2026/2027 is just as brilliant as last year. It was wonderful to see our whole school community trying their very best for our children to try and reach their maximum potential. I am positive this year will be exactly the same.
Once again, I cannot thankyou enough for the tremendous efforts you went to during last year to support your children and the school. We should, as a school community be really proud of the way we continue to stick together and support one another.
I hope that you have all had the chance to relax and recharge your batteries during the summer holidays (wasn’t the weather just fabulous!) and are ready once more to attack the new school year with vigour and enthusiasm.
It is so important that our children attend regularly in order to continue to make the brilliant progress that they made last academic year. Our school attendance needs to be better! It is not acceptable to keep your child off for anything other than genuine illness and bereavement. Our school attendance will only get better with YOUR fantastic support.
I’m positive with your continued efforts, our excellent teaching and well-planned curriculum and interventions, our children will continue to achieve well and try their very best in all lessons.
After all my years at Beech Grove. I continue to be amazed by our children. I am so proud of them all and the way they have started back this Autumn term. The children’s continued resilience and adaptability is outstanding.
Our Next-Door Neighbour Qualities of Respect, Tolerance and Kindness shine through in their everyday school life. It is wonderful to see.
As always, our teachers have lots of interesting activities planned for this term and hope that you will enjoy hearing what children have been working on at consultation meetings, and will support them with their homework and reading outside of school. READING is the key to EVERYTHING and unlocking the children’s true potential! Please, please, please x10000000 encourage them as much as you can with their reading at home. It really is greatly appreciated by all staff.
John Dixon
Our work for this term
English
Our writing, this term will be inspired by the author’s Philip Pulman and Oliver Jeffers and our Topic on Volcanoes. Our class novel this term is The Firework Maker’s Daughter and we will also be reading Oliver Jeffers’ Fate of Fausto. We will be writing a range of different genres from instructions to help catch a fire giant, dairy entries, news reports, persuasive letters and modern fables. Our poet study this term will be Robert Louis Stephenson.
Reading
In year 3, the children are encouraged to take control of their own reading choices. They will be choosing their own books from the book corner and will bring them home. Most children will bring home chapter books which they may keep at home for as long as they are reading them. In Y3, the children are expected to read at home 3 times each week.
Spelling
Each child has access to our online spelling scheme of work. Your child has been set spelling tasks, individualised to their own needs.
Please allow your child to access spelling shed at least once a week.
Homework
Homework is given out weekly and will be a recap of the learning that your child has undertaken in school. We also encourage your child to visit Seesaw regularly. This is our learning platform where you and your child should be able to access all some of their learning and talk with their teachers regularly.
Please see attached letter for details of how to log access your child’s online learning platform.
Maths
In maths, we will continue building on our knowledge of number, increasing our understanding of 3 digit numbers and learning the 3 and 4 times tables. We will learn how to measure length and perimeter, comparing mass and capacity and begin to develop our understanding of unit and non unit fractions.
Times tables
In Year 4, every child takes a times table test. We aim to support them to know all of the multiplication and related division facts to 12 x 12 by the end of Y4. In Y3 we begin to practice their times tables and regularly assess their progress in preparation for Y4.
Please allow your child to access TT Rockstars at least once a week: www.ttrockstars.com
Science
Our Science this term is ‘Rocks, Fossils and Soils’ . We will be comparing and investigating different kinds of rocks and soils learning about the Palaeontologist Mary Anning. In the second half of the Spring Term we will be learning all about the Sun, the moon and the planets.
Topic
Geography
Our geography topic this term is Tremors. We will be learning all about how the Earth is build up of layers and learning all about how and why volcanoes and earthquakes occur.
History
In history we will be learning all about the Ancient Greek civilisation. Finding out about how they lived and how the way they live has influenced our lives today.
PE
Physical Education is an important part of the National Curriculum and just as with subjects such as Mathematics and English your child is required to take part. It is also important for reasons of safety and hygiene that your child has a change of clothing for PE.
Suggested P.E. Kit is as follows:
- Indoor – Plain T shirt and shorts. Plimsoles or trainers.
- Outdoor – during the colder months children may wish to wear jogging pants and a sweatshirt.
- School shoes should not be worn for PE.
- All items of clothing should be marked with the children’s names.
Y3S PE Monday
Y3W PE Wednesday
Keeping Safe and Healthy (What we are teaching children to help them keep safe)
In PSHE, we will be looking at what it is like being part of a class team, and being a citizen. In the second half of term, we will be looking at how we can celebrate people’s differences, and what makes us all so special.
Dates for your Diary
Autumn Term: Tuesday 1st September 2026 – Friday 18th December 2026
Half Term: Monday 26th October 2026 – Friday 30th October 2026