Fishing 4 Schools lands a great year in the South West

The Fishing 4 Schools (F4S) project is going strong in the South West, with nine courses of fishing instruction completed at six schools during the academic year.

F4S is a national programme run by The Countryside Alliance Foundation. It runs short courses that offer a different way of learning for pupils, many with special educational needs, who may find academic work difficult but respond well to alternative learning. They integrate aspects of angling – for example weights and measures and fish biology - into the National Curriculum and encourage the youngsters to take up a new outdoor activity.

During the 2015/16 school year pupils from New Fosseway, Bristol; Threeways Special School, Bath; Eastover Primary School, Bridgwater; Elmwood School, Bridgwater; The Bridgwater Centre, Bridgwater and Long Sutton Autism Centre, Long Sutton all benefited from the project, visiting fisheries including Keynsham Angling Association's Century ponds and Jacklands Trout Fishery at Nailsea.

F4S organiser for the region, Charles Halliday said: "One nice story from this academic year was an ex F4S pupil from Elmwood School coming back to help his former school as a qualified angling coach and with a diploma in fish husbandry. There is also now a new after-school junior fishing club in Bridgwater for F4S pupils and other young people to link into and we are excited about working with Resourceful Earth in Keynsham to build a new pond and education centre at their site."

The F4S programme continues in the next academic year, with more children learning about the wonderful world of the water.

Email Catrin Robinson – [email protected] if you would like to help or find out more about the project.