Shore start

Once a week, all year round, a group of lucky children from Northumberland swap their classroom for a day on the beach. This natural setting provides a great way to learn, writes Caro Giles

For most of the year, Embleton Bay is almost deserted, a magical curve of sand on the edge of the world. When you approach from the dunes, the crunch of sea-scraping sand hits you first, and the marram grass slaps your legs. Pearly shells litter the path and oystercatchers erupt into the air as the skies unfold.

The dunes drop away on to the beach and you are greeted with a clear stretch of glossy sand burning orange under the sun, licked by dancing waves that froth and churn. If you are lucky, a black head will be bobbing in the water, the whiskery face of a seal. Further out, beyond the ancient rocks below be e Dunstanburgh Castle, dolphins flick spray into the air, arching their gleaming bodies like rainbows.

This is where the pupils of Embleton Primary School come every Friday - to learn. Pulling on waterproofs and wellies, 53 children, aged from three to 11 years, walk down the hill towards the sand dunes. "It's my favourite day of the week," seven-year-old Mia tells me. In all weathers, the children, along with seven teachers and learning support assistants, cover topics as diverse as electricity and fractions, as the beach is dotted with high-vis jackets and squeals of excitement float over the rocks.

FRESH-AIR APPROACH

The beach school is part of an outdoor learning movement that has grown in popularity since the 1990s, when forest school provision became more widely available. The Institute for Outdoor Education describes the importance of outdoor learning in enabling children and young people to form sustainable self-led relationships with the natural environment, and engage more effectively with education to benefit from better health and wellbeing. Beach schools are a relatively new initiative; international training organisation Forest Schools Education developed the first accredited beach school training for teachers over 10 years ago.