Welcome to Year 5 Willow Class.

A word about your child's teacher, Mr. Bennett:

I have a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology and studied Egyptology at the University of London. The first few decades of my working life were spent as an archaeologist, travelling to such wonderful locations as Egypt, Palestine, Mexico, the USA and many sites in the UK. When I finished that career, I decided to become a teacher. I worked as an Archaeological Tutor for the University of Nottingham WEA and then when I moved here, I was a tutor at The University of Oxford and Reading University. I received my PGCE reasonably late in life when I decided I wanted to teach in Primary School and after working at various schools, I found a home at Riverside. I've been here now for several years and really enjoy life at this school. I will be updating you about what we are studying and what projects we will be embarking upon. As always, I urge parents to read with their children at home. I cannot stress the importance of regularly using the English language at home, through TV shows and DVDs, speaking, conversing with siblings in English and most importantly, reading and being read to. There is a proven link between reading and improvement in writing and this is a commitment we have, not only in Year 5, but throughout the school.

 

Year 5 children chilling out in the newly expanded reading corner. Twice a day, blissful reading for pleasure. Shoes off and lulled by soft music and the magic of reading a good book.

Children get the opportunity to take turns at the Creation Station; a chance to get out gel pens, cool stationery, dictionaries and story cards to sit and do some creative writing. There is a Marvel superheroes diary for anybody to jot down feelings, ideas and to draw pictures of what they want to write about. During English lessons, it is also a space where a student can sit alone with their thoughts, having all the resources they need to make a success of their writing task. 

Riverside Combined Year 5 class trip to the Pitt-Rivers Museum of Anthropology and the Oxford Museum of Natural History.

 

Below are some pictures from the Willow Class visit to the Pitt-Rivers Museum to learn all about the Mayan people of Ancient Mexico. A useful thing we learned is that the Mayan people have not vanished. Their pyramids might be 500 years old, but the people are still alive in Mexico and Central America. They are facing the same problems indigenous people all over the world are suffering - deforestation, government corruption, poverty and high unemployment. The afternoon was spent visiting the Museum of Natural History where we were delighted by the dinosaurs, terrified by tarantulas, mesmerised by meteors and dazzled by the dodo. Hope you enjoy!