9:20pm Tuesday 25th August 2009
By Tom King
GIFTED, talented, and aiming for the stars – that’s Woodside School in Basildon.
As the highlight of a week spent studying space and flight, the school was treated to a visit by a 58ft spacecraft.
While strictly earthbound and grounded on this occasion, it was a genuine working rocket due to launch into space in November.
It was brought to Basildon and demonstrated by the Starchaser organisation, a company that specialises in space tourism.
Pupils themselves could claim to be high-fliers after an intense course of study during the summer holiday.
Space and Flight was the theme selected by the school when it was chosen for Essex County Council’s coveted Gifted and Talented scheme, Limited to ten schools in the county, the scheme provides a summer course for young people identified as being future leaders or those with potential to excel in their chosen fields.
Woodlands assistant headteacher Seddeer Amran said: “We wanted to find a theme that covered a wide range of disciplines, and Space and Flight proved perfect.”
Woodside’s gifted and talented youngsters constructed their own working rockets, powered by compressed air, which were fired off in the school grounds.
The explosive climax came when Starchaser’s rocket scientists, set up a rocket factory and demonstrated explosive propellants.
One of the pupils, Connor Hodgson, 11, of Ghyllgrove, Basildon, who hopes for an Army career, said: “It was better than fireworks.”
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