Description:

Our visit to St Lawrence School, on the west side of Jersey, involved a very different format. The whole morning was taken up with small-group question and answer sessions, where about 8 pupils in each session asked a question they had come up with during the previous week. The idea was that students ask a question that they cannot easily get from an internet search, such as ‘do you think aliens exist’, ‘which other planet would you live in’, or ‘what would happen if you fell in a black hole’. We had some really good questions in the end, and were able to use our resources to expand a little on each of our answers. With the sessions taking place in a cosy corner of the library, it was an idea that really worked well, and allowed to to focus on each child’s understanding of the Universe. After lunch, we ran a ‘stars and constellations’ session, where pupils created their own planisphere and learnt the names and patterns of a few constellations to keep a look out for on a clear night. We finished the day with a chat about ‘Space Exploration’, which looked at some of the important missions that have helped to expand our knowledge of the Solar System, together with a brief look at some of the exciting things that will be happening in the future.