This week it was the turn of Baydon St Nicholas Primary School to release the baby trout they had cared for since January into the River Kennet. The children and teachers donned waders to join Anna Forbes and Sean Dempster from Action for the River Kennet in the river at Axford.
Then came the moment that each beaker containing a baby trout was carefully lowered into the water and the trout were carried away by the current. There were some sad faces but Anna told the children, “We mustn’t be sad to see them go, it’s time to put them back into their natural environment. Over 50% of your trout survived, in the wild it would only be 5%.”
Action for the River Kennet is celebrating eleven years of its ‘Trout in Schools’ project which has involved working with over forty schools and thousands of children.
Baydon St Nicholas received one hundred alevins in a tank in January. Since then the children have watched several life cycle stages of the fish happening in their classroom and taken an active part in daily checks and water changes.
This included feeding the fish with specialised, high protein fish food which they all agreed was very stinky!
Anna Forbes told marlborough.news: “We revisit the classes over the duration of the project to run sessions that help the children gain a better understanding of their local chalk river and get them close up to the rich variety of wonderful creatures that depend on it being unpolluted with a plentiful flow of water.”
In addition to learning about trout the children also learned about saving water and spotting plants and birds as part of their ARK passport. Each pupil also hosted Dave the trout – a very large cloth trout – for a time and wrote his diary.
Emily was inspired to write the following poem :
Water, water everywhere
Please don’t waste it, you must share
Turn the tap off nice and tight
And brush your teeth with a cup at night
Get a bucket, not a hose
You’ll save water to feed your rose
Have a shower, not a bath
You’ll be quicker with a laugh
Don’t forget these nasty leaks
Get your tool bag every week
Water, water everywhere
Please don’t waste, it you must share
Carol Rasberry is the class teacher of Skylarks, Years 3 and 4: “It’s been a fantastic project for the children to be involved in. They have found out about trout and the conditions they need. They are very excited today to be releasing them back into the wild.”
