Young children poured into Cowes lifeboat station yesterday to learn about the RNLI’s life-saving role and how to stay safe in and on the water.

Fifty one pupils of two reception classes at Lanes End Primary School, Cowes, had a close up view of the Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Sheena Louise, with crew member Graham Creagh aboard in his dry suit.

The youngsters, divided into three groups, went on to have a guided tour of the boathouse and crew changing room, colour in pictures of lifeboats, and receive a gentle lesson about sea safety.

Tara Hopkinson, a teacher with one of the classes, explained that the visit was all part of the school’s aim of teaching children about people who provide help in the community.

“It is really nice to get them out and about like this,” she said.

“The whole experience has been fantastic for them, with the talks by the RNLI volunteers pitched just right for the age of the children. They live so close to the sea, anyway, and some of them are also involved with boats.”