Year 3 Beach School

Yesterday we began our beach school journey and we were blessed with such glorious weather. It was wonderful to see all the children being outside and having fun exploring the Mermaid Beach. We are so lucky to have this right on our doorstep. Mr O‘Neon began our session with some rhythmical drumming using stones, the children showed excellent listening in the call and response and amazing team work when they had to pass the beat around. Next, the children were shown examples of natural artwork using stones to create patterns, objects and shapes. The children were filled with fascination and wonder as to how these pieces were created. The children were given time then to create their own and this is when the children really came alive. They were exploring the environment and questioning how they could use each stone, what colours they could see, what shapes and how it would all fit together. Some children chose to work by themselves whilst others partnered up or became a group. The children were all so proud of their creations and were buzzing when we had a walking gallery to view all of the created pieces. The children also had another task running alongside which was to create a Carpet of Curiosity. If they found an interesting item then it could be placed on the mat where they could explore it further using the hand held microscopes and magnifying glasses. We finished our session with some peaceful quietness as we watched the waves roll in and out (some of us opted to lay back and look at the clouds crossing the sky.) Throughout the session lots of the children spoke about litter and Mr O‘Neon has said that during our next session we will do our part in keeping our precious beaches clean and the children are very excited about this. On our walk back to school the children were speaking so excitedly of their Beach School session and how they couldn't wait to get back!