It’s not every day that you hear a child say:

“I used to not like eels, now I love eels and they’re my second favourite animals in the whole world.”

 

But that’s exactly what happened during this year’s Eels in the Classroom project, delivered by Cambridgeshire ACRE with funding from the Centre for Landscape Regeneration.

For several weeks this spring, two primary schools in the Fens hosted tanks of European eels and they quickly became class favourites. By the end of the project, children who had never heard of the European eel were confidently talking about migration routes, conservation and even eel personalities. As one child put it:

“At first I only knew a few things and now I have a whole brain full of knowledge about eels.”

Hands on learning

The project aimed to help children understand the lifecycle of the European eel, an endangered species that plays a key role in our local rivers. Cambridgeshire ACRE introduced the eels (as elvers) and supported the schools with weekly visits to clean tanks, check equipment and taught the children about eel lifecycles, habitats, and how to care for them. By the end of the term the eels had become teachers in their own right, helping children learn about geography, environmental change and empathy.

 

Growing through challenges

The project wasn’t without its challenges. Several eels became temporarily trapped in the filter, tank water went cloudy, one eel escaped. But soon children began naming the eels and noticing patterns in behaviour; how the eels feed, where they liked to relax (!), their changing colour and their non-stop quest to climb the tank walls. Mrs McLean, a Year 5 teacher at Lionel Walden Primary, told us:

“From the eels – in particular Big Boy Barry – they have learned the power of resilience and determination and how not to judge a book by its cover. Some children learned to like – if not love – animals where they had previously been afraid or repulsed.”

 

A new respect for nature

Many of the children had never considered that endangered species might be found close to home. They knew about tigers and pandas but not the European eel, which travels thousands of miles from the Sargasso Sea to the rivers and drains of the Cambridgeshire Fens. “They know the way to go – like Google Maps!” one pupil wrote.

Looking after the eels helped children think differently about nature. They stopped seeing it as something ‘out there’ and began seeing it as something they were connected to. That change of mindset is one of the reasons Cambridgeshire ACRE runs projects like this.

 

As Rachael Brown, our Senior Community Development Officer, explains:

“Eels in the Classroom is about helping children connect with nature, care for it, and understand that the Fens is home to some really special wildlife.”

 

The project may be over for now, and the eels released back to the River Ouse, but the impact will last. The children involved have a new appreciation for the wildlife on their doorstep. They understand that the Fens are home to rare and remarkable creatures, and that they have a role to play in protecting them.

One pupil summed it up best:

“Thank you eels and Rachael, you inspired me to like all animals.”