Welcome to year 3!

Are you ready to embark on a spectacular and fascinating adventure to explore

'The Rise of Humans'?

Year 3, welcome to the Autumn term where we are going to take a step back in time to focus on the compelling period of the Stone Age. We will use a range of primary sources, such as mysterious historical artifacts and beautiful cave paintings, to investigate this crucial period when our ancestors first learnt how to create tools and start fires. We will further investigate this period through enriching secondary sources in the form of non-fiction texts and research via historical websites. Our investigations aim to answer our enquiry questions and uncover the truth behind how early humans lived, ate, and survived and compare this to our modern ways of life.

To futher immerse ourselves within 'The Rise of Humans', our core text for the term will be the classic children's novel 'Stig of the Dump', written by Clive King and illustrated by Edward Ardizonne. 'Stig of the Dump' was originally published in 1963 and the blurb is as follows:

'Everybody had told Barney not to play too close to the edge of the chalk pit. But today was one of those grey days when there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. Except the chalk pit. The dump. And so Barney lands in a cave in the middle of the rubbish dump - and that's where he meets Stig.'

Stig is the name of a cave boy discovered by Barney as he accidentally finds himself in the chalk pit. The novel elicits themes of friendship, resourcefulness, and understanding, as Barney shares modern objects and ways of life with Stig, while Stig introduces Barney to making use of discarded items to survive. This not only links to the period of the Stone Age but provides a message conveying the importance of recycling and the reduction of unnecessary waste.  

'Stig of the Dump' will be a challenging yet engaging read that combines elements of fantasy, adventure, and even time travel! While reading this novel, we will have discussions around new or interesting vocabulary, make predictions, ask questions, and infer character's feelings, thoughts, and motives from their actions. We will also use this text as a stimulus for our literary work, including creative writing, letters, reports, and poetry. Weaved within our reading and writing will be opportunities for drama to deepen our understanding of the characters within the story.