October 6th 2020
Trip to Wittenham Clumps
On a (thankfully) sunny Thursday, the whole of Year 5 headed to Wittenham Clumps on a Humanities site visit to tie in with their Celts topic. The boys were able to stand on top of the Iron Age fort and spot all of the elements that early Celts required for a settlement, for example a river, good building materials, surrounded by fertile farmland and the ability to spy any enemy ‘for miles’.
Boys were able to compare contour lines on a map with the different gradients of the neighbouring Clump and were able to make the connection between the 2D map and 3D landscape!
The boys were also able to see first hand the fortifications from the ancient hill fort. At first sight the boys were not overwhelmed by the magnitude of the site, but the advantages of building at height were soon proven on a beautiful clear morning and estimates for how far could be seen ranged from 5 to 20 miles. They were amazed by the depth of the hand dug ditch and were not sure if they would have liked to attack a defending force by running up it, especially into a hail of arrows and stones!
The boys, this year, also took part in an art activity where they used charcoal and found sticks to focus on the Hill fort and its location in the landscape. They found it difficult to begin with, but soon began to look, rather than imagine what they saw. It was an amazing way for the boys to create their own vision and interpretations of the landscape. There are certainly some future artists emerging in the year group!
