In December, the 9 students who attend the weekly STEM to Stars after school club were invited to visit Kielder Observatory. It was a fantastic day filled with new facts, information, experiences and moments of inspiration. The children had the opportunity to operate the NASA telescopes and the Sir Patrick Moore observatory deck. As well as this, the children walked on an actual piece of Mars and touched pieces of the moon. Who can say they have done that? The staff at Kielder Observatory commented on how much prior knowledge the children knew about the many topics linked to space and stars – we truly are budding scientists at Norton Primary Academy.

The clear sky at Kielder Observatory was truly special; the crisp air, the silence was bewitching, the stars mesmerising. We are very lucky to be alive on this tiny planet we call Earth and the Kielder Observatory educational visit certainly reminded us of that!