Fred Nicholson School is not just any school: it is a mixed-age educational setting for 197 children and young people who all have complex educational needs.
Located in the market town of Derham, Norfolk, it strives to offer development, cognition and learning, through communication and interaction with its pupils of mixed abilities.
Dan Kelly, the lead teacher at Fred Nicholson, was first made aware of the benefits associated with angling through his previous role with Locksley, Short Stay School for Norfolk, where he became acquainted with Jamie Benfield, Phillipa and Richard Winser – the Eastern Region team.
Having engaged with the Fishing for Schools programme for the first time last year, Fred Nicholson School were delighted to have a further opportunity this academic year.
Twelve students were selected to participate in this year’s course, based on their behaviour, an expression of interest and recommendation from their class teacher.
Two days in the classroom centred on topical areas, including:
All of which was linked and aligned to core personal development areas within the conventional school academic curriculum. This built up to a two-day crescendo at Narborough Trout and Coarse Lakes, where two groups of six deployed to put everything into practice.
The ethos at the school is “building for successful futures”, recognising all aspects of development, communication, physical and mental health. It was very apparent that effective listening, communication and teamwork were central to both practical days on the bank and a pivotal consideration within the course.
In total, more than 90 common carp were landed and safely returned to the water. With that came the inherent success of mastering a new challenge, personal fulfilment, self-belief and lasting memories.
In short, it was a triumphant course, with each student achieving the highest accolade but taking much more away from it on a personal basis, both collectively and individually.
The school will move to new premises at Swaffham in the next few weeks, which is even closer to Narborough! Who knows what comes next?
In conclusion, Dan said:
"I just wanted to say a massive thank you for everything Richard and Philippa did to support our young people for the fishing project. I have had such good feedback from the students. Thank you again."
With thanks to Richard Winser, Fishing for Schools Coach, for contributing this article.