At Beachborough Prep, a leading independent prep school for children aged 2.5 years to 13 years based near Brackley, Northamptonshire, we enrich our curriculum in a number of ways, immersing our pupils into real-world learning opportunities, taking them out on topic-based trips and of course, utilising our own state-of-the-art facilities to host educational specialists for TED Talks, showcasing subject areas which are shaping our world.
On Monday 13th January 2025, our Form V pupils and their families were invited to spend an evening with the stars! Ross and Frankie Hockham, the husband and wife team and founders of UK Astronomy, took to the stage in the Whybrow Theatre to inspire a new generation of Astronomers.
UK Astronomy is a charity, based close to Beachborough Prep, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and which aims to educate, inspire and excite others by sharing their knowledge and passion for space by offering astronomy outreach, educational workshops and public engagement for anyone or any organisation who thinks that space is awesome and wants to find out more!
Ross’ inspiring talk to a 60-strong audience, enlightened the pupils with amazing facts about each planet in our solar system. Audience participants volunteered to become the planets in this interactive and informative presentation, bringing the stage to life.
After the first presentation, everyone was welcomed to go outside and give the telescopes a try – unfortunately, on this occasion, the weather did not allow any star gazing to be had but all attendees were warmed with hot chocolate and biscuits!
The second talk of the evening was a real treat and included a presentation on stars, constellations, comets, planets and galaxies. The audience were taught how to observe the wonders of the universe by using the naked eye, binoculars and telescopes.
Head of Science, Mrs Susan Caddick and organiser of the event said,
“I am delighted at the participation and enthusiasm of the pupils who definitely left the talk inspired by the UK Astronomy team, to go out into their gardens or other open spaces and observe the wonders of the universe and I am sure that our Form V pupils benefitted from information from the evening, which they can now take back to their in-classroom learning.”
Form V pupil Edith said, “the talk was really interesting and you got to learn about all of the planets. I learnt that Venus was named after the God of Beauty” and Eddie said, “the space talk was fun, I got to stay up late and learnt that it rains diamonds on Saturn. The hot chocolate was really good!”
A huge ‘thankyou’ to UK Astronomy, we look forward to welcoming you back to Beachborough again soon!
To learn more about our curriculum enrichment, or to find out more about Beachborough Prep, please contact our Admissions Team on admissions@beachborough.com
