TheSchoolRun.com closure date
As we informed you a few months ago, TheSchoolRun has had to make the difficult decision to close due to financial pressures and the company has now ceased trading. We had hoped to keep our content available through a partnership with another educational provider, but this provider has since withdrawn from the agreement.
As a result, we now have to permanently close TheSchoolRun.com. However, to give subscribers time to download any content they’d like to keep, we will keep the website open until 31st July 2025. After this date, the site will be taken down and there will be no further access to any resources. We strongly encourage you to download and save any resources you think you may want to use in the future.
In particular, we suggest downloading:
- Learning packs
- All the worksheets from the 11+ programme, if you are following this with your child
- Complete Learning Journey programmes (the packs below include all 40 worksheets for each programme)
You should already have received 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep. If you haven’t received these, please contact us at [email protected] before 31st July 2025, and we will send them to you.
We are very sorry that there is no way to continue offering access to resources and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Reading comprehension: Visit from outer space
This reading comprehension encourages children to think about the feelings and behaviour of characters in a text. It includes answers to the questions.
What reading skills are developed in Year 3?
Year 3 children typically develop a range of reading skills, all of which build upon their existing knowledge and help them become a more confident and independent reader.
Here are some key reading skills that are focused on during the academic year:
Fluency
- Increasing their reading speed and accuracy: Children work on reading more smoothly and accurately, with fewer pauses and errors.
- Expression and intonation: Children will begin to read aloud with expression and intonation, bringing the text to live and demonstrating an understanding of the intending meaning.
Reading comprehension
- Understanding texts: Children learn to understand and interpret a variety of texts.
- Answering questions: Children practise answering questions about what they've read, focusing on both explicit details and implied meanings.
- Summarising: Children will start to summarise paragraphs or sections of texts.
Vocabulary development
- Expanding vocabulary: Year 3 students encounter new words and phrases, often through reading a diverse range of texts.
- Using contextual clues: Children practise using contextual clues to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Analytical skills
- Identifying themes: Year 3 children will begin to identify themes, messages and moral lessons in the stories they read.
- Character and plot analysis: They will start analysing characters' actions and motivations, as well as understanding the structure of the plot.
Phonics
- Advanced phonics: Year 3 children will continue to develop their phonics skills, learning complex sound patterns and new word structures.
- Spelling patterns: They will learn and apply common spelling patterns, which helps them to decode new words and improving spelling accuracy.
How will this teacher-made resource help your Year 3 child improve their reading skills?
This reading text and activity mirrors the type of reading challenge that your child will come across at school. They must first read the fictional text about aliens visiting from outer space, and then they will need to use their understanding of the text to answer the questions, which have been developed by an educational expert to improve reading comprehension skills.
If you're looking for extra help with Year 3 English, check out our hub page, or try a new activity such as our Year 3 English Challenge Pack.
