Kids beach schools ACTION on plastic pollution

Aim

Action on the negative impacts of plastic pollution on climate change by engaging schools, families and communities through beach schools.

Who are we?

Final Straw Foundation (FSF) is a small but mighty charity, focusing on ocean health and reducing plastic pollution. Founded by Bianca Carr in 2018.

Why? Well one day Bianca was making sandcastles with her kids on the beach and the children decorated them with different coloured pieces of plastics and micro plastics. Yep, micro plastics. Not shells or seaweed like we all used to use as a kid, but pieces of plastic rubbish. 

(Actual pic of what they picked up on sandcastle day. Heartbreaking)

So she founded FSF, 5 years ago now, with a simple idea to do some good in this world and inspire people to take a personal responsibility of their actions to help the future of our seas and our planet for future generations. 

Over the last 5 years we have educated thousands of children with our assemblies and workshops on the impacts of plastic pollution our Environment and plastic ingestion and entanglement on wildlife (147 assemblies and 131 workshops delivered to date).

Beach Schools Project

Yet we want to do more. We want our children to witness the issues we are talking about first hand. We want them so see the impact of plastic pollution, and learn the different types of plastic pollution, that it is right here on our coasts, and not just on far away islands. We want to be able to take school groups out onto our local beaches to see and experience life on the beach, and out in our stunning coast line with wildlife. 

Beach School translates complex marine science and geological topics through storytelling, hands-on activities and immersive projects. Students learn about ocean currents, marine biology, biodiversity, atmospheric science, beach safety, conservation and climate change all through engaging and interactive activities tailored to their age group. 

 The programme also hooks into the ‘Blue Health’ ethos. There is overwhelming evidence that blue spaces, such as the coast, rivers and lakes, can have an extremely positive effect on mental health. Alongside the learning objectives of Beach Schools, encouraging positive mental health is a core aspect of the programme.

 Students go home full of new understanding about the marine environment, hopefully without realising they have been learning, but also having enjoyed a relaxed and uplifting day full of fresh air. 

With this project we aim to inspire children to become marine champions and guardians of our oceans.  We will use this funding to help pay our Outreach Education Officers, buy equipment for beach cleaning and beach schools, and increase our online education resources for teachers. We want to connect more children to nature in order for them to appreciate it and feel they want to restore and protect it. 

What do the pupils and teachers that have been to the beach with us think? 

Teacher of year 5 pupil (age 9 – 10 children) “He really struggles in school and is known as being a disruptive child. He is like a different child on the beach, he was engaged, enthusiastic and polite.”

Haydee, Mum of home-schooled children “I just wanted to thank you for having us on Tuesday 9th at Hill Head. We had the most fantastic time. The children enjoyed the session and came away inspired and full of excitement. It was really lovely to meet you and to hear about Beach School. It’s so nice to find a new learning adventure for the children that’s so different from the usual groups. Quite possibly the most exciting find to date, and we’ve tried many! Thank you again for having us. The kids have told everyone all about it. If you do decide to run any more sessions or a fixed longer term progressive group, we’re invested”

Teacher of a year 3 pupil (aged 7-8) "Thank you so much, it's been great - the kids were buzzing when they got back to school too and we will definitely be booking again for next year!"

Levi, age 5. "I've never seen a real-life crab on the beach before. I now know the name of it and why we have to keep our beaches clean - to save the crabs"

This project is so important to us here at Final Straw Foundation and we have seen the positive impact these trips have on the children first hand. We would absolutely love to keep running this project and expand it to more schools. Have more children feeling those blue ethos benefits and leaving a day of learning at the beach smiling from ear to ear. 

Thank you so much for taking the time too read this. It means the world to us. 

This project successfully funded on 2nd August 2023