PUBLISHED 15 June 2022
Pupils in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 have enjoyed a week of outdoor learning in the glorious sunshine.
The week:
On Monday, the children were based in the school grounds, where they took part in a variety of outdoor activities including fire lighting, nature portraits and archery. Reception and Year 1 were also joined by our Year 6 Round Square Adventure Pillar leader, John, who helped them with the Tug of War games. Year 2 particularly enjoyed tag rugby and the Tug of War against staff. The day was topped-off by toasted marshmallows.
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the children were either based at the RSPB centre at Fairhaven Lake, Park View in Lytham, or on St Anne's beach. Activities included: science, art, design and technology, and PSHE-focused activities.
On Friday all the children had a fantastic visit to The Wild Boar Park in Chipping, Preston. They were treated to an exciting tractor ride, a thrilling zip wire and climbing wall as well as learning all about wild boar families and their lovely, stripy piglets.
The locations:
At Fairhaven Lake pupils learned about birds. They spotted and named some of the birds they saw, including Canada Geese with their goslings, a grey heron, and mallard ducks and drakes. They also discovered why birds have differently coloured and sized feathers, looked at what different nests were made of, and collected materials to build their own. They went on a worm hunt, listened to different bird songs and created their own dawn chorus!
At Park View, the pupils had an excellent day learning forest skills. They made dens, made toast over a campfire, printed their own bunting using natural dye from petals and leaves, as well as enjoying a restorative hot chocolate after all their hard work. Year 2 children said they thought it was, "The best day ever" and even asked if they could stay the night!
Pupils arrived at St Anne's beach armed with spades, rakes, buckets, and a collection of natural materials, including sticks, logs, and pine cones. The plan was to recreate some of Andy Goldworthy’s inspirational temporary artworks on the beach. The children took a line for a walk to mark the sand before making trails of wriggles, squiggles, curves and swirls with a range of tools.
As holes are an important feature of Andy Goldworthy’s work, the children worked in teams to dig large holes before decorating with sticks to intensify the circular shape. They then made spirals using pine cones. The process was lots of fun and led to discoveries, such as the different coloured layers of sand. There was also the opportunities to make sandcastles and other interesting constructions.
To support their history lessons, Year 2 also went for a ‘Victorian walk’ along the seafront after their beach art session and visited Lytham Hall after their Park View activities.
At the Wild Boar Park the children were treated to an exciting tractor ride, a thrilling zip wire and climbing wall as well as learning all about wild boar families and their lovely, stripy piglets. One of the highlights of the day was learning how to hold beautiful, fluffy chicks so that they were safe and comfortable. Less fluffy, but equally exciting to hold, were Gail the African land snail, Millie the giant millipede and a beautiful orange coloured snake.
It was wonderful to see all the children embrace the various challenges and enjoying learning outdoors. Well done everyone!