Brighton and Hove Beach School launched

Brighton Girls is delighted to announce the launch of ‘Beach School’, a new initiative to make use of the school’s fantastic coastal location to teach and inspire their girls. In early September, teacher Poppy Pointon was trained by the Sussex Wildlife Trust on the coastline of West Sussex and returned to the Prep school and trained up Pre-Prep staff.

Beach school has come about after the huge successes that were found with the more common ‘Forest School’ approach. The coastline is a wonderful, natural learning resource which is on the school’s doorstep, so the school has sought to put it to good use. The Beach School experiences have been designed with the girls in mind, to bring out their best, build their self-esteem, resilience and self-confidence, and, ultimately, to make learning in the outdoors a motivational experience.

The girls will learn about the natural world around them, sea-side safety and develop their practical, emotional, teamwork and intellectual skills. They are able to learn in an open, creative and ever changing environment that is real, current and known to them! A quote that Poppy found during her research summed up these benefits: “Taking children into their environment is like unclipping their wings. The shy ones, the ones who find it hard to sit still and the ones who disengage in the classroom, come alive and flourish on the beach”.

Beach school will involve all girls from Brighton and Hove Pre-Prep (Nursery –Year 2) and will focus on key themes this academic year; the local area and beach safety, weather and tides and rock pools and biodiversity. The school is looking forward to welcoming Nikki from Sussex Wildlife Trust after the half term break to talk to the girls about outdoor learning and the amazing projects they complete along the Sussex coastline.

Follow the school on Twitter and Facebook for pics and updates from Beach School.