1 Year 6 at
1
2
Beach School
2 Reception and Year 1
girls enjoying Forest Day
3 Year 5
exploring the coastline at West Kirby beach
3
Where Learning Knows No Boundaries At Queen’s, we believe in the transformative power of outdoor learning. Our approach goes beyond traditional classroom boundaries, offering opportunities for our pupils to engage with the natural world. By immersing our girls in outdoor activities, where they actively participate and take ownership, we cultivate a profound connection to the world around them. OUTDOOR LEARNING
At the Lower School, our Beach School and Forest Days are an extremely popular part of our outdoor learning programme as the dynamic coastal and woodland environments encourage exploration, curiosity, and a deep connection to nature. Through hands on activities like scavenger hunts, tide pooling, and beach clean ups, pupils develop not only academic skills, but also a heightened awareness and responsibility towards our planet, preparing them to become compassionate and environmentally conscious global citizens. These programmes inspire a lifelong love for learning, nature, and the world around us, increasing the girls' knowledge and understanding, whilst importantly having lots of fun. Reception had a wonderful time on their first beach trip this year, as they searched the sand for interesting treasures and were extremely excited to find sea glass, sea pottery, pretty shells, and a mermaid’s purse. They returned to the beach with Year 1 and were tasked with working collaboratively to bring a story to life using resources provided by nature, showcasing their creativity and teamwork. Year 1 also enjoying making use of metal detectors to see if they could find any metals under the sand and using their scientific knowledge to discuss the materials. Year 2 took up the role of palaeontologists, digging for fossils and signs of dinosaur life. They also recreated 1666 London out of sand, using pebbles, shells, and other materials at their disposal. Year 3 imagined being transported back to the Stone Age, searching the beach for resources that might provide them food, water, warmth, or shelter, before creating imaginative cave paintings in the sand. Year 4 applied their new knowledge of river features to identify streams, tributaries, meanders, the main channel, and the mouth of the River Dee on their trip; Year 5 took an alternative approach, as they walked from West Kirby beach to Hilbre Island and took part in a workshop on how to accurately use compasses. Finally, Year 6 enjoyed showing their appreciation for the environment, including all it has taught them throughout their time at Lower School, by
carrying out a thor ough beach clean. They then finished off the day by showing off their understanding of the Ancient Mayans by designing and building cities from natural resources. The end of spring term sees the start of our popular Forest Days. Reception particularly enjoyed making use of the woodland environment in their maths lessons; collecting a variety of resources and sorting them into categories, while keeping count of how many they had. They were joined by Year 1, where they delighted in playing a variety of circle games that fostered teamwork, before venturing into some exploration and free play, learning amidst the natural surroundings that the forest provides. Year 2 utilised their creative skills as they made tree trunk sprites out of clay, using flowers and foliage to bring their sprites to life. Year 3 and 5 enjoyed taking advantage of the woodland environment during their Forest Days, as they worked in teams to build their own free standing shelters, demonstrating some great teamwork and creativity skills throughout. S’mores around the campfire are always a highlight for the girls, fun activities that boost their confidence and self esteem without them even realising.
Year 2 pupils creating images in the sand
7
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software