Water company Thames Water has recently attended a presentation to reward a number of pupils from Trevelyan School in Windsor who have successful passed the NFA’s angling education course, ‘An Introduction to Angling & the Environment’.

Richard Aylard, Head of Marketing and Communications for Thames Water visited the school in Windsor to see how angling is being used to help educate young people about the environment.

Following the presentation, Richard commented, “”It was inspiring to see the effort the children had put into gaining this qualification, with the encouragement of their school and excellent coaching from Fire Brigade volunteers.  These young anglers clearly now have a good understanding of the need to protect the environment while fishing safely and sensibly – so let’s hope many others will decide to follow the same route.”

The course was run as an after school activity for Year 8 pupils (12-13 year olds) at Trevelyan School in Windsor. Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service staff members and fully qualified NFA Level Two coaches, Steve Carvell and Barry Ratchford delivered the course in the school while working closely with Liz Rhodes, Education Development Officer at RBFRS.

Liz has worked closely with the coaches regarding delivery of the lesson plans ensuring that the course supports many of the Government’s ‘Every Child Matters’ criteria, including Being Healthy, Staying Safe and Making a Positive Contribution.  The Introduction to Angling and the Environment course also supports the Fire Brigade’s aims of offering a positive role model to young people and providing potentially lifesaving information about water safety.

Steve Carvell who has been leading the coaching and who is a qualified NFA Level Two Angling Coach added, “Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service are committed to this course because it supports many of the governments “Every Child Matters” Criteria. Any course that gets youngsters out into the environment has to have a positive effect”.

Headmaster at the school Trevelyan School, Jim Griffiths stated, “The real impact of this exciting project will stay with the boys for the rest of their lives”.

Paul Baggaley, Chief Executive of the NFA commented, “The value of the OCN to angling continues to grow. I can’t thank Richard from Thames Water, Steve and his team enough. These are the people that are making a difference.”

NFA coach and editor of coaching website allthingspiscatorial.com, Steve Gray who attended the presentation added, “I was very impressed with the commitment that has been shown to the OCN and the children who attended the course. The passion and dedication that the coaches had shown to get the children through the course was exceptional. As a result of the OCN, these children now have a better understanding of the environment and good practice whist angling”.

The NFA’s qualification is open to all organisations which work with young people, so if you would like any more information please visit our website, www.nfadirect.com or email education@nfadirect.com. An essential part of the course is the availability of qualified coaches to assist in the course delivery so if you are interested in becoming a coach and delivering the qualification please again visit our website and refer to the coaching section or email coaching@nfadirect.com.