"Explore" at Milford-on-Sea Primary School!
At MOSPS, as part of our "We CARE" (Courage, Aspire, Respect and EXPLORE) we have a ‘Classroom without Walls’ approach to our learning and embrace the great outdoors as part of our rich and exciting curriculum.
The school provides Forest Schools for all children from Reception to Year 4. The Forest School philosophy is to encourage and inspire positive outdoor experiences and we provide this through our very own ‘Little Wood’ in the grounds of the school. Children have the opportunity to learn about the natural environment, how to evaluate and manage risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and co-operate with others.
A typical afternoon in the ‘Little Wood’ might see children whittling wood, making miniature animal creatures out of clay, role playing in the ‘mud kitchen’, climbing trees, building dens and enjoying a hot chocolate by the campfire. It is no wonder that we wanted to extend this exciting curriculum and philosophy by offering Beach School to our older pupils.
Every week at Beach School, a group of Year 5 and 6 students spend their afternoon studying the coast, marine life and conservation. We are also able to link activities to curriculum areas like literacy, art, science and geography. Children enjoy paddling in the sea, creating sculptures from driftwood and foraging for interesting materials. Children have even started to make a ‘Beach School Museum’ collecting all the weird and wonderful things they find at our beach – which is serving to highlight the increasing problem of plastic pollution and waste in our oceans.
An important part of the Beach School philosophy is about sustainability and looking after our coastline. Children are taught to treat the beach environment with respect and to leave the beach as they find it. Each session always finishes with a litter pick to ensure that the children are giving something back to the community for their time on the beach.
Beach School is all about exploring and gives children freedom to learn in a wonderfully, stimulating environment. The fresh sea air and exercise has a positive effect on children’s well-being and self-esteem. We often see a completely different child down on the beach, to how they are in the classroom. Beach School gives children the opportunity to be independent and assess risks for themselves. It is fantastic to hear children sharing advice on how to stay safe before embarking on activities, instilling them with the necessary resilience and skills to take on risk and challenge in their future lives.
So whatever the weather here at MOSPS, you can be sure to find our enthusiastic students in waterproofs and wellies, ready to embrace the ever changing beauty of our great outdoors!
We are always looking for volunteers to help with our Forest or Beach School sessions, if you have a free afternoon and would like to offer you time, please contact the office on:
adminoffice@mosps.hants.sch.uk
Tel: 01590 642945
Find out more about our Beach School & Forest School by clicking on the links below: