Throughout April, groups of Year 6 children took part in the fantastic experience of spending a day and night sailing the stunning ship 'The Maybe' up and down the Humber (www.maybe-sailing.com). The Maybe, a traditional Dutch Sailing Ketch, was first launched in 1933. She was fully restored in 2007 and as well as hosting school visits, she also regularly takes part in 'Tall Ships' races.
The children were involved in all aspects of sailing from taking the helm, to completing the ship's log, to raising the main sail.
Also on a nautical theme, back at school, the children have been learning about the sinking of the Titanic. Their task has been to collect evidence from reliable sources to enable them to write a discussion about whether the Titanic was safe.
Outside in Forest School, we decided to use our new found nautical knowledge to help us create our own sailing craft.
Various materials were tried out from wood cookies to branches. The Scots pine bark from our fire circle proved to be particularly buoyant. Though rather rudimentary and lacking in the opulence of the Titanic, all of our ships sailed successfully (perhaps with the exception of Mr Parducci's, whose wood cookie boat listed rather alarmingly!) It was decided that our boating scene would not be complete without a few 'icebergs' and there were some overt attempts to sink my ship!
Next time, we will look at how we can make a more sophisticated boat construction and perhaps consider how we can construct a larger course on which to sail (a trip to the stream at the local woodland seems in order).
A lovely link between the high seas and the landlubbing arena of a school ground!
ReplyDeleteI knew a Canadian student who spent a whole term sailing across the Pacific Ocean - it was a module offered by her not-so-ordinary high school!