School Of Fish
Session Delivery Plans
The delivery standard for every session type School Of Fish advertises. The assessor guide says what a pass looks like; this says how to run the session that produces one. Every fact here matches the public pages. Where a section reads To follow, the framework is ahead of the writing.
Every session, no exceptions
At least two adults. Risk assessment submitted before the session. Pre-session forms read where they exist. Safety brief checked by show-or-tell-back. Peg or pegs set up before learners arrive. Finish on time. Session note written and Clubmate updated the same day.
First Time Fishing · Skills School · The Squad · Try It · Learn It · Skills Plus · Specialist Days · The Adult Social · Open Days and Taster Events
First Time Fishing
Free · 90 minutes · junior, accompanying parent bankside · minimum one Lead Angling Coach and one Angling Support Assistant · one adult per learner
The promise
One-to-one tuition with a qualified coach, all kit and bait provided, a no-pressure first taste of angling.
Session shape
Risk assessment is the Lead Angling Coach's first job on site, before anything else. Coaches set up entirely: pegs, platforms and tackle ready before any learner arrives, two learners to a platform, one adult per learner. Buoyancy aid and first aid kit on site. The welcome covers the safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back, where the toilets are, and that any worry goes to any coach. The coach talks through the basic tackle: pole, net, box, keepnet, float, hook. Fishing is a 4.5 metre take-apart pole with maggot or corn: the learner holds the pole, watches for the bite, and catches their first fish, with the Lead Angling Coach rotating between platforms as fish come. The learner nets their own fish, unhooks on the mat, and the coach demonstrates a safe release. The accompanying parent is part of the session: talked through the Diploma, what comes next, and guided to book Skills School. Coaches do all the pack down. Finish on time; Clubmate updated the same day.
Where a learner was sent the first-session page, the day runs exactly as that page promises: solo, one coach throughout, packing down together.
Badges in reach
Assessed throughout for all five First Cast badges: Kit Check, Safe Hands, First Cast, First Bite, First Fish. If the fish play, the whole First Cast Award in one session.
Kit
4.5 metre take-apart poles, maggot and corn, fishing platforms, landing nets, unhooking mats, keepnet, buoyancy aid and first aid kit. All provided by the school; learners bring nothing.
Coaching points
To follow
Skills School
£10 per session · fortnightly, April to September · junior club · two-adult minimum
The promise
A fortnightly fishing club run by qualified coaches: learn new skills every session and work through the SOF Diploma.
Session shape
Arrive and set up before learners. Welcome and safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back. To follow Pack down together, finish on time, Clubmate the same day.
Badges in reach
Whatever comes next for each learner. Every session should move at least one badge for every angler, signed to the written standard.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow
The Squad
£50 per year · fortnightly training through the season · juniors who want to compete · two-adult minimum
The promise
Learn how to weigh in, fish to a clock, and win matches, with entry into recognised junior competitions including the Let's Fish League and the National Celebration of Young People and Fishing.
Session shape
Arrive and set up before learners. Welcome and safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back. To follow Pack down together, finish on time, Clubmate the same day.
Badges in reach
Match-craft badges sit naturally here, and the Match specialism criteria for Graduates.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow
Try It
£30pp, half-day taster · three hours on a weekend · up to six adults per session and two coaches · £150 books it exclusively
The promise
Turn up, fish, catch something, go home. No experience, kit or membership needed.
Session shape
Arrive and set up before learners. Welcome and safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back. To follow Pack down together, finish on time, Clubmate the same day.
Badges in reach
Kit Check, Safe Hands and First Cast are within reach on the day; adults work the same Diploma.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow
Learn It
£150, four-week course · four consecutive Saturday mornings, three hours each · same coach, same group
The promise
Get properly good, properly fast: by the end of the course the learner has earned First Cast and Hooked and started on Lone Ranger.
Session shape
Week-by-week arc to follow. Each Saturday runs the standard shape: set up before arrival, welcome and safety brief, coached blocks, pack down on time, Clubmate the same day. To follow
Badges in reach
First Cast and Hooked completed across the four weeks, Lone Ranger started, fish caught unaided.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow
Skills Plus
£20 · monthly adult-only Saturday session · book as and when · two-adult minimum
The promise
The slow-burn route through the rest of the Diploma.
Session shape
Arrive and set up before learners. Welcome and safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back. To follow Pack down together, finish on time, Clubmate the same day.
Badges in reach
Whatever comes next for each adult learner, signed to the same written standard.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow
Specialist Days
£45 · single-topic deep dives · Float on the Nene, Intro to the Pole, Feeder for Bream, Lure for Pike
The promise
One topic, done properly, in a day.
Session shape
Arrive and set up before learners. Welcome and safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back. To follow Pack down together, finish on time, Clubmate the same day.
Badges in reach
The day's topic decides. For Graduates, the Masters specialism criteria live here.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow
Open Days and Taster Events
Event delivery · First Cast Award deliverable · one standard, no event version
The promise
Same criteria, same sign-off, awarded in Clubmate on the day; an event award that meant less than a session award would cost the scheme its currency.
Session shape
Arrive and set up before learners. Welcome and safety brief, checked by show-or-tell-back. To follow Pack down together, finish on time, Clubmate the same day.
Badges in reach
The First Cast Award, earned to the standard or not signed.
Kit
To follow
Coaching points
To follow