Rashielea Primary pupils made an environmental splash by releasing fish raised in their classroom

Primary 7a completed ‘Clyde in the Classroom’, an eco-education project that uses the life-cycle of a native Scottish species, the brown trout, to encourage children to engage with nature and protect their local environment.

Rashielea Primary is one of 83 schools from the Clyde catchment participating in the project, which is run by the Clyde River Foundation.

The children, assisted by scientists, have followed the development of brown trout from eggs to fly in a custom-made classroom hatchery over the past five weeks.

The children were responsible for the day-to-day care of the fish which required preparing them for release into a small tributary, in the Boden Boo area of Erskine, by using homemade ice packs to control the water temperature.

Teachers use Clyde in the Classroom to help deliver Curriculum for Excellence learning experiences and outcomes, tying in everything from art to mathematics with the project.

Class teacher Alison McLean said: “This interdisciplinary project has given the children the chance to experience the four Curriculum for excellence capacities in a real life, local context.

“They were captivated by the idea." of having live animals in the classroom so really engaged with the project and took on their nurturing roles with great enthusiasm and responsibility.”