Rivers in the Classroom

Ribble Rivers Trust has been delivering educational activities to primary schools for over a decade and we’re not about to stop now. In fact, we just want to keep expanding to reach more and more children and young people in the Ribble Catchment! While Covid-19 prevented our education team from going into schools, they have used that time to develop and update the Rivers in the Classroom programme.

See our new flyer below or click on the image to open as a pdf:

The Rivers in the Classroom education programme brings freshwater science into schools across the Ribble Catchment. By encouraging pupils to expand their knowledge of their local rivers, we hope to promote the value of the Ribble’s natural heritage and improve its condition for people and wildlife. Through field- and classroom-based activities, pupils learn about the relationships between living things and their environment. They discover how we can help to protect our rivers in the future by making small changes now.

All activities are linked to the KS2 National Curriculum and help pupils to develop Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) values, recognised by Ofsted as important components of an Outstanding school.

Taking part in the Rivers in the Classroom programme will help your class to achieve the River-Friendly School Award, an award that can be proudly displayed in your school for all to see. Get in touch to ask us how your school can become a River-Friendly School.

So, what activities could your class be getting involved with?

How about some Trout in the Classroom? Through the Trout in the Classroom project, pupils (and teachers) can truly experience the magical world of brown trout. Ribble Rivers Trust staff will set up everything you need before delivering 100 brown trout eggs for your class to care for and see develop into young fish. We will then help you to release them into your local river, where they will continue their journey. We will help you enhance your pupils’ learning experience by linking Trout in the Classroom to the National Curriculum and offering additional activities for them to take part in.

If you just want to get your pupils outside, we have a variety of riverside and field-based workshops to choose from. Your class could embark on a River Expedition to discover all they can about rivers before meeting the creatures that live beneath the water’s surface with a Freshwater Micro-Safari. Or, perhaps, learning a new sport through some Angling Coaching with a licenced Level 2 angling coach is something that would help your pupils connect with their local river. All of our riverside workshops will include a Water Safety session to give pupils some easy-to-remember rules for keeping themselves and each other safe by the river. Our field-based workshops allow pupils to take part in activities to create and conserve freshwater habitats, contributing to the future of the Ribble Catchment. They will learn that they have the power within themselves to make a huge positive difference to our rivers and seas through tree planting and litter picking.

If classroom-based workshops are more practical to fit into your school day, we have plenty to choose from to bring the freshwater fun inside! For an indoor Freshwater Micro-Safari, we will bring the minibeasts to you so pupils can learn all about the invertebrates living in their local river and why they are so important. Or how about Exploring the River Landscape with our interactive river table? Pupils will learn all about the water cycle and river formation and see the impacts of climate change and pollution on our rivers. They will also learn how to conserve rivers from home and then race to restore the Ribble. Our Junior River Explorer activities have been designed as either stand-alone workshops or activities that can run alongside other workshops to give pupils a variety of activities to keep them busy. Take your pick from our six sessions covering a range of subjects including science, geography, English, music, art and well-being.

Finally, if you want a full, action-packed activity day with Ribble Rivers Trust, then take a look at our day packages which combine our riverside, field-based and classroom-based workshops. We have three different packages on offer, each with a slightly different but still river-relevant theme. Remarkable Rivers includes half a day of River Expedition and Freshwater Micro-Safari, and the other half of the day made up of Exploring the River Landscape and Junior River Explorer workshops. Terrific Trees is the one to choose if you want to be outside all day, with half the day exploring your local woodland with our Woodland Treasures book and the other half of the day spent planting trees. Our third day package is Sensational Streams, which includes a Sensory River Expedition to help your pupils experience their local river using their senses followed by an afternoon of creative workshops and river reflections.

Click on the image below to open up our full Rivers in the Classroom information pack:

For more information or to book Rivers in the Classroom for your school, get in touch with our Education and Engagement Officer at christi@ribbletrust.com

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