Education Archives - South East Rivers Trust

Promise sticks and sit spots – an education outlook

Posted on 24 August 202330 August 2023 by Ian Lamont

Jonathan Dean, our Education Development Officer, writes about how the South East Rivers Trust education programme is evolving to address our climate and ecological emergency.

When environmental education really got going more than half a century ago, there was a belief that it would increase environmental awareness and lead to more pro-environmental behaviour.

Research is now proving that our colleagues only got it half right. Environmental education does raise awareness of the climate and ecological emergency, but it doesn’t automatically lead to pro-environmental behaviour. For that, we need promise sticks and sit spots.

A recent RSPB report highlighted that four out of five children in the UK are not connected to nature, specifically their sense of their relationship with the natural world. There are five pathways to nature connectedness: noticing, feeling, beauty, celebration, and care for the natural world.

We’ve taken inspiration from the nature connectedness research group at Derby University to play our part in improving this relationship for the wellbeing of humans and nature.

We’re pleased to be officially including nature-connection activities in all our Project Kingfisher sessions from this September onwards, following successful trials in the previous year. We still deliver learning linked to the National Curriculum, but more than 80% of feedback from teachers and pupils has highlighted that our new nature connection activities are the most popular and memorable parts of the session.

“In the interactive walk they honestly just loved being in nature. So many kids don’t get a chance to be in and explore nature and they loved it!! Pooh sticks was great fun!!” Hillbrook Primary School wrote on our feedback form.

What are promise sticks and sit spots and how do they work?

Pupils contemplate the river during a session

Promise sticks and sit spots are activities designed with the five pathways in mind, to improve young people’s connection to nature.

Promise sticks are a nature-connected version of the classic “Pooh sticks”. At the end of a busy session, having learned all about river features, wildlife and the challenges faced by our streams and rivers, ‘promise sticks’ is a chance to reflect on learning, make meaning of what’s been seen and make a promise to take care of nature.

Children search out their favourite stick and come back together as a group. Each child, holding their stick firmly in both hands, quietly makes a promise of action they will take to care for their river.

They might promise to pick up litter, reduce their water consumption, or bring friends along to share their newfound knowledge.

The key is, we (the grown-ups) don’t get to know what the promise is: it’s between them, the promise stick, and the river! From a bridge over the river, children take their turn to give their promise to the river and watch their promise stick flow downstream – and out to sea. They have made a promise to all of it, to do their bit for now and the future.

Taking a quiet moment

SERT staff take a few moments to try sit spots during a staff day

Sit spots are a formalised way of taking a quiet moment for yourself. We were hesitant when we first trialled this activity. We wondered if 30 primary school children would manage to sit or stand quietly at the water’s edge for five whole minutes and take the opportunity to connect with the sights and sounds of the environment.

We couldn’t have been more wrong! Sometimes it takes a few moments for the pupils to settle in, but this chance to connect with the beauty of nature and feel alive through the emotions and feelings that nature brings, has yielded some of the most powerful learning experiences for the children we work with.

Here are a couple of comments from pupils who we took to the River Wandle at Ravensbury Park – proof of the simplicity involved in nature:

“School is always go, go, go, so it was great to have time to just chill out, have some peace and quiet and enjoy nature.”

“I noticed the female duck had a blue patch on its side which I never saw before.”

We don’t always call them back after five minutes either, we tell them to come back when they think five minutes has passed. It’s not uncommon for us to witness children paying close attention to the ripples, the fluttering leaves and the floating birds for up to ten minutes. We’re proud to be able to provide these opportunities to young people and give them a bit of respite from hustle and bustle of daily life at school.

Our Project Kingfisher sessions are available across the Beverley Brook, Wandle and Hogsmill river catchments in south London.

Elsewhere, Our River, Our Water continues to run as a partnership programme with other rivers trusts across part of Berkshire, Hampshire, south London, Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

These latter sessions are free and some schools are eligible to apply for support with the costs of transport to get to our river education sites. Check out our website for more information.

Visit our education webpage for details of all sessions and how to book.

Also read: Seven reasons to put the local river on the school curriculum.

Become a Junior River Ranger at London Rivers Week sessions

Posted on 15 May 202324 May 2023 by Ian Lamont

Children aged 5-11 can become official Junior River Rangers for the South East Rivers Trust during London Rivers Week (29th May to 4th June).

Nature scavenger hunts, craft activities and river dipping demonstrations are all part of three interactive sessions packed with family fun that are being put on by the waterways charity.

The sessions will give primary school-aged children the chance to explore and understand the natural world around them and learn about what thrives along popular spots in south London.

Learn from our experienced educators

Children learn by exploring nature — Children who sign up to our half-term sessions can become fully fledged Junior River Rangers © South East Rivers Trust

Children will learn why rivers are important and pick up water saving tips from SERT’s experienced educators, completing enough “green” and “blue” activities from the charity’s Junior Rivers Rangers scheme to earn a badge and certificate on the day.

The sessions, as follows, are free but must be booked in advance.

30^th May 9.30am to 12pm: Discover wildlife by exploring the Beverley Brook in Barnes through crafts and scavenger hunts. Session supported by Barnes Common.

31^st May 9.30am to 12pm: Sign up for river dipping and other fun while exploring the River Wandle at the Sutton Ecology Centre, Carshalton. Supported by Sutton Council.

1^st June 9.30am to 12pm: Explore the River Wandle with scavenger hunts and a chance to get close to nature at Kimber Skate Park. Supported by Enable at Wandsworth Borough Council.

‘Experiencing nature first hand is key’

Robyn Shaw, SERT’s Assistant Education Officer who is leading the sessions, said: “Inspiring children to love and value water at the earliest opportunity in life is at the heart of our education programme.

“There’s no better way to understand the types of wildlife that thrives in our rivers than to experience it first hand and to explore it through creating nature art and seeing what is in the river.

“Our popular Junior River Rangers programme also ensures youngsters champion water saving in their homes and gardens. The activities are designed to show them how the water in our rivers is connected to what we use, stirring them to think about climate change, which is a key them of this year’s London Rivers Week.”

London Rivers Week, now in its seventh year, aims to inspire the public to help learn about and protect the capital’s waterways through walks, talks, interactive sessions and seminars.

Focus on climate change

This year’s theme is climate change and how river restoration can reduce its impact, for people and wildlife, through restoring habitats to reduce the effects of extreme weather.

London waterways charity Thames21 is co-ordinating the week, which features more than 30 events spread across the capital. Liz Gyekye, Communications Manager, said: “There’s a very wide range of events for people to get involved with this year, from meandering river walks to craft classes and topical debates.”

Sir Tony Robinson, actor, author and TV presenter, said: “As a devoted admirer of the Thames and its tributaries, I am proud to be supporting London Rivers Week 2023. We need healthy rivers to help us to tackle the negative impacts of the climate crisis.”

* London Rivers Week is run on behalf of the Catchment Partnerships in London (CPiL) via its sister organisation London Rivers Restoration Group (LRRG). The full list of events can be found here.

More than 40 river restoration projects – reinstating a natural process and biodiversity to waterways – have taken place in London since 2000. Since 2000, about 28 miles (45km) has been restored. The principal organisations running London Rivers Week are the Environment Agency, Thames21, the South East Rivers Trust, London Wildlife Trust, ZSL, CPRE London, the Thames Estuary Partnership, and Thames Water.

* The Junior River Rangers scheme is part of the Trust’s educational programme. Education is one of SERT’s mission’s cornerstones. We have a range of initiatives to encourage young people to engage with rivers. Project Kingfisher is our core educational programme covering our South London Rivers (Wandle, Hogsmill and Beverley Brook). For more information visit our education page.

SuDS not floods – pass it on!

Posted on 14 October 20214 July 2022 by Ian Lamont

The South East Rivers Trust has been working with Sutton Council to deliver a SuDS in Schools project in Carshalton. Delivering a sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) project has been a new and valuable experience for the Trust.

Timing could not have been better for this SuDS project. Along with all the extreme weather events around the world that have been in the news, closer to home flash flooding has hit the headlines. Not only does this demonstrate the urgent need to address surface water flooding, but it has brought the issue to the public’s attention. It is the perfect chance to capitalise on the growing awareness of climate change and interest in environmental issues to get SuDS on the public agenda.

For more information on SuDS, click here.

School River Challenge on the Emm Brook

Posted on 14 July 202114 February 2022 by Ian Lamont

While works are being planned to restore the Emm Brook in Riverside Park, Wokingham, the South East Rivers Trust has begun engaging the community through an interschool competition.

Primary schools in the area were all invited to take part in the School River Challenge. Schools competed to get the most pupils to become certified Junior River Rangers. The prize? A class set of river dipping equipment.

The competition was run over the June half term. It was launched in each school with an assembly – delivered virtually over Zoom – in the week beginning 17th May. Many teachers took the week before half term to undertake some of the Junior River Ranger activities as a class. Children were then encouraged to complete the remaining activities with family and friends. In the course of the competition, we received more than 300 hits on our Junior River Ranger webpage!