Astronomy is very popular here at Nottingham Girls’ High School and we’re vey lucky to have our very own in-house astronomer, Mr Barrett.

On Friday 18 June, Year 5 and 6 girls arrived at school with their sleeping bags and a sense of excitement for a special event which was the brainchild of Mr Barrett – a Space Camp Stargazing Sleepover!

At the end of the school day it was into the Sports Hall where there were fascinating displays set up including telescopes and electronic equipment as well as photographs and charts of Mr Barrett’s research. The girls were tasked with some scientific experiments of their own.

They fully understood how the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.78 cm a year from data collected by the Apollo Moon Missions in the 1960s and 70s. Mr Barrett was very impressed at how the girls completed their practical Earth/Moon measurements very well. He had them thinking like scientists with a wide range of fascinating questions.

The girls had great responses as to how they could terraform planet Mars for a permanent base for humans in the future and great ideas about how to stabilize Earth when the Moon drifts too far away to stabilize the planet.

It was a great evening which everybody found really interesting – the girls were totally engaged in the subject and loved spending the night at school. What an adventure!

Thanks to Mr Barrett and all of the other staff involved in making this possible. We plan to do more of the same later in the year for Senior School students.