Beach School
Georgina Maw
GMC Publications

Many readers will be familiar with forest school but this book is something different and particularly timely with the summer break fast approaching. It’s a comprehensive and informative guide that is written by the Head of Education at The Final Straw, a charity dedicated to the health of the UK coastlines and hence covers pretty much everything about outdoor learning by the sea.

The book starts with explaining what beach school is, followed by the benefits of beach play, how to stay safe, how to behave responsibly and respectfully. Next comes a section entitled Beach Skills and covers tides and how to measure them, the wind, clouds, knots, building shelters, campfires and navigation, each subsection including one or more activities.
The second main section is Beach Discovery and it’s great to see that its opening spread is mindfulness. Two activities that particularly appealed to me are making journey sticks and building a crab structure.

There are also lots of games to play and a section is devoted to these.

With colour photographs and illustrations on every spread, this is a truly creative, inspiring book that highlights the benefits of being in the great outdoors, using a play-based approach to the wealth of learning opportunities it suggests, including the development of such skills as communication, concentration and problem solving as well as discovering information about the natural world.

Anybody working with primary age children should get themselves a copy of this book.