Schools come together for Festival of the Moon

Children from across four local primary schools visited Stamford Junior School last week for an evening of interactive learning based on the theme of the moon, coinciding with the penumbral lunar eclipse.The community of families, teachers and Year 5 pupils from St Augustine’s, Malcom Sargent, St Gilbert’s, St George’s and the Stamford Junior School gathered at the School to participate in a host of activities from crafting to observing constellations, stars and planets.Dr Tracey Dickens, from the University of Leicester’s Physics and Astronomy Department gave an interactive talk to parents and pupils, whilst Stamford Endowed Schools prefects and Old Stamfordians helped visitors view the stars, planet Venus and the penumbral lunar eclipse through the telescope and Skyview app.Additional activities involved a planetarium dome show for the children and an exhibition of posters and movies about moon exploration, created by Stamford Junior School pupils. Children were also able to make pin hole constellations and create and launch glowing rockets. Refreshments were then provided by the Stamford Junior School Parents Association.Responses to the inaugural evening were praising, with one parent saying: “It was an absolutely fabulous night. It was very well organised and completely fascinating!“Both the adults and children were captivated and totally engaged for the whole evening.”Mrs Helen Britton, Teacher of Science at Stamford Junior School, said: “We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful sky and view of the moon.“It was great to see so many children with their families and school friends engrossed in learning about physics. “