Stellar space fun for Oakwood School pupils

World Space Week was celebrated in stellar style by pupils from Oakwood School.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Oct 2016, 18:53 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:58 BST

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

Milli Jones helps Albert Scholes put the final touches on his spacecraftMilli Jones helps Albert Scholes put the final touches on his spacecraft
Milli Jones helps Albert Scholes put the final touches on his spacecraft

They enjoyed a whole day of space related activities.

Wearing space-themed fancy dress, pupils and staff at the Chichester Prep school designed and built rockets, learnt about the Rosetta programme, enjoyed a fascinating talk by a space engineer who himself worked on the Rosetta probe, created models of the solar system and discovered all sorts of exciting facts about shooting stars.

The run-up to the day saw a Facebook competition called ‘Guess the Spaceman’ in which pupils had to guess the identities of real European astronauts who kindly agreed to be photographed holding Oakwood Space Day posters.

Oakwood astronaut, from left to right: Lilly Adams, Henry Aspinall-Nessling, Maddie Ronnquist, Sam Hardie and Nathan RonnquistOakwood astronaut, from left to right: Lilly Adams, Henry Aspinall-Nessling, Maddie Ronnquist, Sam Hardie and Nathan Ronnquist
Oakwood astronaut, from left to right: Lilly Adams, Henry Aspinall-Nessling, Maddie Ronnquist, Sam Hardie and Nathan Ronnquist
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The answer to one of the ‘Guess the Spaceman’ questions was German astronaut Thomas Reiter.

The day itself was started with a personal video message from astronaut Tim Peake.

Andrew Knight, a space engineer with may years’ experience, gave talks to the pupils and was very impressed with the level of interest and knowledge shown.

He said: “Some questions were really insightful.

Guess the Spaceman: German astronaut Thomas ReiterGuess the Spaceman: German astronaut Thomas Reiter
Guess the Spaceman: German astronaut Thomas Reiter

“A younger boy asked me ‘how can the universe explode if there is nothing there to start with?’ and questions designed to make the children think about our Solar System, for example ‘how come all the gas planets are far from the sun’ were answered, in this case by someone who was probably no higher than year three and got it bang on.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s quite something when children as young as that are able to follow the logic of how we were able to postulate the Big Bang and then test it.”

World Space Week is observed from October 4 to 10, and is officially defined as “an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.” It is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.

Find out more at www.worldspaceweek.org.

To infinity and beyond for Year One pupil Fleur ElseTo infinity and beyond for Year One pupil Fleur Else
To infinity and beyond for Year One pupil Fleur Else

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.chichester.co.uk/

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ChichesterObserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @Chiobserver

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Chichester Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.

Related topics:FacebookTim Peake