Star-struck Marden Lodge pupils left in awe by space studies

The phrase ‘stars on the chart’ has taken on a whole new meaning at Marden Lodge Primary School recently after the whole school took part in a project about the solar system and space exploration.

​The topic, called ‘Out of this World’, was run by the school’s Science lead Emily Turner, and featured events such as stargazing, the visit of a ‘space dome’ to the school and most excitingly, an opportunity for the children to handle actual moon rocks and meteorite samples.

“Having the Space Dome come to the school was a fantastic way to start the project, as it captured the children’s interests and inspired them for the rest of the programme” explained Miss Turner.

“Our stargazing plans were affected somewhat by cloud cover, however we still managed to teach the children about the positioning and size of the planets, but the best thing by far was the meteorite samples,” she added.

“Handling real life meteorite particles and examining the rocks with magnifying glasses, to see how they compared to rocks on Earth was an amazing experience for the children. The rocks created a genuine sense of awe among the children, and the feedback we’ve had from parents has been fantastic – the children can’t stop talking about what they’ve learned."

Having a close encounter of the classroom kind with items from outer space has clearly been an inspirational experience for children at Marden Lodge. And the good news for star-struck pupils is that the project will continue.

“We’re part of the Tim Peake Primary Project, which is connected with British astronaut Tim Peake’s upcoming visit to the International Space Station,” Miss Turner said. “Someone from the mission will be visiting the school for a special assembly, so we’re getting the children to do some astronaut training of their own and keep space mission diaries.

“This has been an amazing project and an absolute pleasure to organise and I am looking forward to it continuing."