what a fun day I had yesterday!
I was one of many parent helpers who accompanied 3 classes of 5 year olds out to Bethells Beach for a Beach Education day. Bethells is a pretty tough beach with strong undercurrents and rips and black sand. Quite different from the sort of beach we normally visit.
Despite drizzel and wind we all had a blast and the kids had about 20 minutes playing in the surf. The parents stood in the surf forming a human blockade. Luckily the majority of parents and children had wetsuits and it was a great opportunity for the littlies to safely experience the wild west coast surf.
I can’t believe that trip was 2 years ago! We just had a repeat, this time to Piha, and over a number of days the entire school took part.
I went with my daughter’s class – 8-9 year olds. They did several activities and inbetween were taken up onto the beach for instruction (and a head count?) while the parents broke ranks and went body surfing.
At the end we let the kids wander up and get changed while we snuck off with the boogie boards and took an extra 10 minutes for some surfing.
Some parents were dubious about their own involvement at first but afterwards we all had big, silly grins on our faces. This has to be the best school trip on the calendar!