Luss Primary School pupils win ITV
Animal Honours award
The following story was published by Argyll and Bute Council on the 16 th April
and provides a very positive example of how an interest in science can be
generated in children from an early age
Luss Primary School in Argyll and Bute has received national recognition for
environmental project achievements. Thanks to the pupils’ outstanding efforts
to save Loch Lomond’s native powan fish, they were invited to appear on a
television programme which featured the winners from among the UK’s
animal lovers and animal charities, volunteers and animal welfare
organisations.
Nominees in a variety of categories were suggested by the public and winners
chosen by a jury of thirty animal experts, charities and celebrities.
The powan has been under threat since another species of fish, the ruffe, was
introduced accidentally to the loch around twenty-five years ago and began to
devour the powan’s eggs. The future looked bleak for the native fish until
funding from Scottish Natural Heritage started local schools hatching powan
eggs and returning baby fish to the water.
In partnership with the Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust and the Loch Lomond
National Park Authority the Luss pupils have raised and released hundreds of
this rare whitefish, which in Scotland only occur in Loch Lomond and Loch
Eck, to try to save the species from extinction.
Lead Councillor for Education and Lifelong Learning Richard Trail said
‘I would like to congratulate Luss Primary School pupils and staff on this
recognition for their valiant efforts to help save a native fish species. Projects
such as this give our children a great opportunity for active learning and make
a valuable contribution to our environment.’
Luss Primary School has a strong track record in environmental projects and
has been awarded Eco School status several times in recent years. The EcoSchools project was launched in 1994 in Denmark, Germany, Greece and the
United Kingdom with the support of the European Commission. In the summer
of 2012 the school won the Scottish Total Green School Award, Totally Clued
Up, for the second year running, and eco-activities have been integrated with
the whole curriculum, including constructing bat and bird boxes to place
around the village, and planters for the Village in Bloom Competition.
A key aim of the Women@work Project is to increase the involvement of
women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) by
highlighting opportunities for women to further education in STEM subjects
and employment opportunities utilising these qualifications. Also to
encourage those who are not currently considering STEM subjects to
consider them when knowing the opportunities they can bring. This was the
central theme in this year’s conference ‘A Bright Future for Women in STEM’.
We would love to hear about other examples of projects or activities with
similar aims and to look for opportunities for joint working.