25/05/2005 - The Environment
Agency has recently made it possible for a
group of Solihull school children to have
their first ‘bite’ at angling.
The pupils attend the Triple Crown Centre,
part of the Solihull Home Teaching Service.
The centre specialises in teaching pupils
temporarily outside of mainstream education.
Over the past few weeks they have been attending
classes at Woods Farm Fishery, Shirley. We
have contributed half the funding, £250,
needed for the project.
A class of eight pupils from the centre have
been finding out about how to get involved
in this popular pastime, from what needs to
be done before you can cast your line to the
fundamentals of fish welfare.
Speaking about the project, Sally McCabe,
a teacher from the school, says: ‘The scheme
has proved a great success with all our pupils.
Not only have they acquired knowledge about
fishing but also they have enjoyed the delights
of the environment in general. The opportunity
to sit quietly and reflect has proved very
valuable to our pupils. We would like to thank
the Environment Agency for their support and
Ian Boden, our coach, for his time and effort.’
Derrick Dennis, one of our fisheries officers,
says: ‘We are always working to make angling
accessible to all. We have a policy of working
to give young people interested in the sport
a chance to get out learn about it in the
right environment. I’ve been along to a couple
of the sessions for the school and it has
been very rewarding to see the pupils’ positive
reactions. Hopefully other schools will follow
their lead.’
