Ford Class 2024-25

Beach Day Thursday 10th July
Ford class had a fantastic summer beach day, making the most of the sunshine and warm weather while ensuring we took regular shade breaks to stay safe and cool.
On our walk to the beach, the children were quick to spot seasonal changes, as they always do, and recognised that the tide was low. Once we arrived, we headed straight into the forest area to explore our geography topic on rivers. Working in groups, the children used natural materials to create models of river features. They showcased their understanding brilliantly, including tributaries, estuaries, deltas, floodplains and other river landforms. 
Next, we returned to the beach to continue our learning in the sunshine. We explored how tides occur and then used the sand to recreate coastal landscapes. The children identified and modelled key coastal features such as cliffs, beaches, and headlands with great enthusiasm.
After a busy and exciting morning, we stopped for a well-earned lunch. In the afternoon, we walked to the other side of the beach and discussed tourism, thinking carefully about the benefits and drawbacks it can bring to coastal areas. To finish our day, the children had the chance to be creative in the sand once again, this time designing and building models of their favourite memories from the school year. It was a lovely way to reflect on all they’ve achieved.
We ended the day with some time in the park. We had a truly lovely day. Thank you Mrs Johnson for planning and delivering all of our wonderful beach days this year, we have had lots of fun!

 
Ford Beach Day - Friday 28th March
Ford class had a fabulous beach day last Friday. Once we had arrived, we explored our weather topic further by acting out different weathers. After this, we consolidated our knowledge of climate zones and created a world map featuring arid, temperate, mountains and tropical zones. Following this, we explored the weather further by making our own wind sock to check wind direction and power whilst examining the clouds and making weather types in the sand. 
 
After lunch at the Hindmarsh hall, we headed up Bracken hill and completed a field sketch. We observed and discussed the key features we would need to draw such as the horizon and mouth of the river. Whilst looking out, we also discussed the tide and how it had changed from low when we first left for beach day to now high. To finish the day we went to the forest and put our science knowledge to the test by creating teeth sculptures and models of the digestion system using natural materials. We had a super day, thank you Mrs Johnson and all our volunteers.
 
Ford Beach School - Tectonic Plates, Volcanoes & Rocks 
 
We were so lucky as although the weather had definitely become wintery, the sunshine was so kind to us and we had a wonderful first Beach School as a new Ford Castle Class for the year.  We enjoyed our walk to the beach identifying the signs of winter in nature.  After taking part in a beach version of the National Santa Dash to help us appreciate the benefits of having an active lifestyle we then had a very geographical beach day of thinking about the movement of tectonic plates and their effects, understanding volcanoes and their role in shaping landscapes and also exploring and classifying rocks and looking for fossils.  
We loved the teamwork involved in making our volcanoes and had some very creative displays to show and tell in the morning.  During lunch we were inspired by the story of Mary Anning.  However, we could have spent all day collecting, sorting and classifying rocks and looking for fossils as we created our own fossil museum in the afternoon.  Once we began noticing all the variations we became fascinated in the wonder of rocks in nature and did not want to stop.  We had a fantastic day and were rewarded with a quick visit to the park at the end as a reward for all our enthusiastic learning throughout the day.  Well done, Ford Class.