Not only did the children name the tunnel boring machine (Lily!), which will create space for a huge underground pipeline to house 5.5 million litres of stormwater in periods of heavy rainfall, the talented youngsters also created beautiful posters for a United Utilities competition to show what they love about rivers and ponds. Winning posters will be displayed on a board by the Moor Pool!
Due to the children’s enthusiasm and creativity, we wanted to further support their learning – particularly in year five’s ‘rivers and coasts’ geography module. Armed with a lot of knowledge about local waterways and the Knutsford landscape, we thought it was only right to talk local tributaries, meanders and more!
The lesson was delivered by United Utilities Catchment Manager Annabelle Nolan, who covered a host of topics including the features of rivers – from source to sink – and flooding causes and impact. Annabelle also explained the importance of sediment removal in Moor Pool, covering United Utilities’ role in protecting and improving water quality.
Annabelle says:
“I had such a great day at Bexton Primary. It was really rewarding to teach the students about their local rivers – they were particularly surprised to learn that the River Lily in Knutsford ends up in the Irish Sea.”
“We all enjoyed the ‘sieve vs saucepan’ demonstration which challenged children to think about how water travels through some environments and not others, helping them to understand how we can help manage flooding by using permeable, ‘spongy’ materials like raingardens to help slow the flow of rainwater into our sewers and protect our rivers.”
A huge thank you to the school and to the fantastic children for hosting us over the last few months!
United Utilities will continue working with the local community in Knutsford and will be supporting a bat walk in the park in September.