KIDS in Barrhead have been making an environmental splash after rearing brown trout to be released into the town’s waterways.

St John’s Primary School youngsters have spent weeks caring for the fish after taking delivery of their eggs earlier in the year.

They were just one of 83 schools in the Clyde area taking part in Clyde in the Classroom an eco-education project that uses the life-cycle of the native Scottish species to encourage children to engage with nature and protect their local environment.

The children, assisted by Clyde River Foundation scientists, have followed the development of brown trout from eggs to fry in a custom-made classroom hatchery over the past three weeks.

The children were responsible for the day-to-day care of the fish which required preparing them for release into Levern Burn by using homemade icepacks to control the water temperature.

Dr Willie Yeomans, Catchment Manager with the Clyde River Foundation, said: “Clyde in the Classroom is a great focus for science education – it is unique in that it puts both live fish and working scientists in front of our environmental stewards of tomorrow. One of our aims as a charity is to increase the engagement of local communities with their rivers and Clyde in the Classroom is a great start.”

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.

Primary 6 pupils agreed that the highlight of having the fish was being responsible for them and watching them grow which has been a lot of fun.

Clyde in the Classroom started in 2001 with five schools in Glasgow and has grown each year. This year, 91 classes from 83 schools across the eight counties of the catchment are participating, totalling over 2300 pupils.

Clyde in the Classroom 2016 is crowd-funded by the participating schools plus a range of supporters including Glasgow Science Centre, The Mickel Fund, The WM Mann Foundation, The Cruden Foundation, The Margaret Murdoch Charitable Trust, The John Mather Charitable Trust, The Brownlie Charitable Trust, WA Cargill Fund, JSF Pollitzer Charitable Trust, the Bridge of Weir Angling Club, Beaton Brothers Independent Funeral Directors, the River Kelvin Angling Association, UCAPA Ltd. and the Lamington and District Improvement Association. For more information see www.clydeintheclassroom.com and www.clyderiverfoundation.org or call the Clyde River Foundation on 0141 330 5080.