Beech Class Head into The Wilderness

Six intrepid pupils from Beech class took a trip to the River Kennet at The Wilderness, Kintbury for ARK (Action for the River Kennet) River School last week.

The River Kennet is a 45-mile-long chalk stream. It rises in Wiltshire, flows through the North Wessex Downs, and merges with the River Thames at Reading, Berkshire. It provides crucial natural habitat and feeds the historic Kennet and Avon Canal.

Our pupils used nets to find bullheads, a young minnow and lots of freshwater invertebrates. They saw banded demoiselles on the wing, cinnabar moth caterpillars on the riverbank as they waded downstream to experience some of the changes in depth and flow that the river takes on its journey to eventually flow into the Thames.

Our pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves during their visit and made the most of cooling down in the water on a very hot day!

A big thank you goes to Anna, Education and Outreach Manager at ARK for leading our River School session, The Wilderness Fishery for hosting us and to River Keeper, Jimmy. A special thank you goes to Olive, Jimmy's dog, for helping!