Trout in the Classroom is an award winning hatchery scheme initiated in schools within the valley of South London’s River Wandle. The project was pioneered in England by Alan Suttie, the Chief Executive and Thames 21. It is now partnered with the Environment Agency and supported by The Wild Trout Trust, Water UK, The National Trust, The Atlantic Salmon Trust, Sparsholt College Hampshire et al. Doctor David Bellamy is the organisations's President. This scheme is now to be rolled out countrywide.
						There are few better opportunities for young people to be involved in first hand conservation work than the award winning Trout in the Classroom initiative. Pupils take delivery of a micro-hatchery which is used to rear the fry of brown trout, or salmon, to a size where they can be released into local rivers. In this way the pupils not only care for the young trout but they also help to restock local waters in a manner approved of by the Environment Agency. Thanks to Thomas Trophies, the Environment Agency, Ham & Huddy jewellers and Baywater Anglers, the pupils at Highweek Community Primary & Nursery School had their own hatchery and were successful in rearing young salmon to a point where they were released into the wild. The pupils, especially 6A, were extremely responsible with their charges while enthusiasm for the project ran very high. For Baywater, one of the main advantages of the project was the fact that it would give the pupils the chance to take a hands-on role in a real life conservation project. This was a major draw because we believe that young people need to be educated not only as to the existence of such projects but also to the fact that each and every individual can make a difference. Instead of just handing over the money to someone else to do it for them, the pupils have an active and responsible role, which we consider to be both empowering and very helpful in building a sense of responsibility. We are very grateful to the Environmental Agency and our other sponsors for giving us the chance to make this happen for the pupils at Highweek. Their response has made the project extremely worthwhile, especially as the children were so successful in their care for their charges that they actually managed to successfully release into the wild a much higher percentage than was originally expected. They did very well indeed.