Ross and David from The Wessex Rivers Trust came to talk to the boys about chalk streams. Ross started the session with some questions about the River Itchen. He talked about how chalk streams are formed and why the water is so clear. The boys then put some chalk into a bucket of water to see how permeable it was. He moved on to talk about the natural and made parts of the river and discussed the Itchen Navigation and how it was used in the nineteenth century. The boys were able to answer many of Ross’s questions based on what they had learnt from their Geography lessons and from personal experience. Ross was very impressed with their knowledge.

The boys then tested how fast the river was flowing but using a dog biscuit, tape measure and timer. They also used a flow meter stick. Amongst other interesting facts, Ross discussed how fast a trout swims, compared to how fast a boy could run. Finlay enjoyed demonstrating!

The highlight of the session was the kick sampling. Year 4 were taught how to safely collect invertebrates which live in the river.

The boys were amazed to find an array of different animals from caddisfly larvae, mayfly nymph, shrimps, worms and leaches. Some boys were lucky enough to see a bullhead fish and a lamprey. The boys absolutely loved identifying the different invertebrates and comparing what they had found.

It was a truly brilliant morning, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed their Rivers session. Their conduct was exemplary, as expected. Back in class, 4M wrote about their session and what they had learnt. They all worked very hard on this. Thank you to Edward for writing such a detailed account. Also, a big thank you to Ross, David and the many members of staff who helped make the morning so special. 

Karen McGrath, 4 Teacher