13 September 2024

Starfish
 

Beach school this week has been all about snails!  Our story this week has been ‘Super Snail’ by Elys Dolan.  Today we practised writing the letter ‘s’ on snails.  After our writing and snack we went for a Starfish adventure in the dunes to look for snails.  We didn’t find any, only an empty snail shell.  We then made little snail houses.  Some of us made our snails shell beds.  We took our tiny snails for a walk to the see the sea.  We carefully balanced them on lolly sticks trying hard not to drop them!  We then drew spirals like snail shells in the sand, we have been painting spirals in the classroom this week so we were able to transfer our skills to drawing in the sand.

After lunch we sat and watched the waves and clouds for a while.  We practised our counting while watching the waves.  We then worked together to make a big sand castle snail.

We played a game of ‘nippy lobster’ which was a chasing game and when you got caught, you got turned into a ‘nippy lobster’ too until everyone was caught.  We finished our day at the beach by digging holes and measuring how deep they were.

Puffins
In science this term we are thinking about our bodies.  We started off by thinking about our senses and wrote about what we could see around us.  Year 2s were challenged to not start their sentences with 'I can see..'  We then wrote about what we could hear and feel, before going and tasting our snacks!
After snack time we practised some maths.  We are focussing on small number additions for our CLIC Learn Its, so we had to collect some number sticks in the sand and say what the answer to the calculation was. We measured our stick shadow, which was about 7 cm longer than the previous week, and discussed why that might be the case.
Next it was back to more science.  We went round the circle trying to name as many different body parts as we could.  We managed over 40!  Then we got into groups, drew round each other in the sand and used lolly sticks to label some different body parts.  Before lunch we were challenged to make a sandcastle and a hole in groups without using any part of our hands or fingers.  It was quite tricky and we reflected on how some people do not have hands, and how things might need to be adapted for them to be able to do things on their own.
After a delicious lunch we went back onto the beach.  We started off by having some calm time watching the waves, as the tide was right in, and enjoying the sun on us (who knows how much longer we will be lucky enough to have mild days this year!) before doing some art.  We talked about what the word 'texture' means, and then found some objects on the sand with different textures.  We shared what we had found and then talked about different ways that we could represent that texture in our drawings, before having a go at some different techniques.  
Finally, as we had 15 minutes before we had to go back up to school, we joined Starfish Class for a bit of digging in the sand with our friends.
Seals
At Beach School this week, we began our day with a wonderful worship by the waves, led by Mrs Popay. The soothing sound of the water provided a perfect backdrop for our reflections. After our worship, we embarked on creating an Acrostic Poem about the beach. We focused on using alliteration to make our poems lively: “Sandy shores sparkled under the sun.” We also included similes like “the sea shimmered like diamonds” and personification such as “the waves danced cheerfully along the shore.”

Next, we discussed the qualities that make a good friendship. We shared what we liked about our partners, which helped us understand the importance of kindness and support. To express our thoughts, we drew a person in the sand and labelled them with the qualities we admired, such as 'loyal', 'funny', and 'trustworthy'.

After enjoying a delightful snack, we switched gears to build a model of the digestive system. We labelled the key parts—such as the stomach and intestines—to understand how our bodies work. We ended our busy morning with a quick-fire maths game which was both exciting and educational.

After lunch, we completed our science quizzes, testing our knowledge on what we had learned. Finally, we practised one of volleyball's key skills, serving, which helped us improve our teamwork and coordination. All in all, it was a fantastic day full of learning and laughter!