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If its any help to you, I use 1 of the Drennan red reels coupled with a forcemaster 11ft feeder rod for my lad when we go fishing, he's had Bream to just shy of 8lbs and tench to over 5lbs and it is a really nice setup to play them on

You can pick up a set of ATT's for just over £200 at total fishing tackle at the minute. Just to add that as an option for you

For most fishing, especially rivers I would say 12 or 13 foot is best, but for still waters I think 10 - 12feet is fine. The main reason for a 12 foot rod is the water depth, in as much as you want a rod longer than the depth you are fishing, not easy to fish a float in 10feet of water with a 10foot rod, unless you fish a sliding float. Not many modern commercials are more than 10feet, hence the name of the rod, Shimano Forcemaster Commercial. The shorter rod is perfect for tight tree lined swims, for handling nice sized carp without being too long, and I would use it on most waters around now.

I played around with the Forcemaster rods when I worked in the tackle shop, and they were one of the rods I would recommend to people for children coming into fishing, because they have the power to deal with bigger fish at an affordable cost. The Hyperloop reels I would avoid though, they do feel a bit stiff. For the same sort of money reel wise look at the Drennan Red Range http://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/drennan-red-range-reel?gclid=CIu4sLP1qtMCFUkQ0wodutwCbw Even though I am a committed Shimano reel devotee, the Drennan is far better!