On Wednesday, January 8th, members of the Society visited Wentworth Junior School in Crayford for an evening of stargazing. Unfortunately, poor weather prevented outdoor stargazing, so the event moved indoors. Despite this, the pupils remained enthusiastic, engaging with the activities and asking questions about telescopes, meteors, the phases of the Moon, and the solar system. The pupils were also fascinated by images of recent auroral activity. Overall, it was a rewarding and enjoyable evening for everyone involved.
Wentworth School wrote in their newsletter ”Our year 5 children welcomed the Crayford Astronomy group to school. They came armed with different telescopes and a mountain of knowledge! This happened to fall on the day that snow was predicted. With snow comes clouds and limited visuals and therefore a tweak to the proceedings. The children experimented by looking at a model of Jupiter, and saw a variety of pictures of the sun, moons and planets that had been taken throughout the South East of England. They also learnt about the orientation, facts and amount of moons and other features you find in space. We even discovered that there was an asteroid named Wentworth! This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening arranged by the astronomy group and we are extremely grateful that they could share their expertise!”
CMHASD Chairman John Archer wrote ”Last night (Wed’s 8th) a group of us returned to Wentworth Primary School, not far from Crayford, to educate and entertain the pupils. There were telescopes on display, activities in the gym & hall as well as a presentation on the night sky and member Aurora images. The teaching staff were delighted with how things went, and hoped we will return next year, (perhaps with clear skies).
I wanted to thank those who braved the sleet, and gave up their evening to share their interest and knowledge of astronomy with the younger generation – It’s entirely possible that the next generation of space explorers or alien life discoverers were with us last night – stranger things have happened!”
Below is a wonderful card made by the pupils in appreciation of our visit last week despite the horrible weather.
Tags: Public Outreach, Wentworth Primary School