Barry Comprehensive School

The young astronomers with Head of Physics Mr Peacock

The results from Barry Comprehensive School’s astronomy projects are in and some of the work submitted is out of this world!

Astronomy has fascinated man since ancient times and it still grabs the imagination of many young people today. The Physics department, under the leadership of Mr Peacock runs an Astronomy Club at lunchtimes with a view to preparing students for a GCSE in Astronomy.

The recently completed project involves Year 9 finding out about the Earth, satellites, the solar system, stars and their formation as well as the Big Bang Theory. Certificates were awarded to students to mark the completion of the work and the top four projects have been made available for anyone to read in the school library. The quality of the work and the presentation of these projects is outstanding and in some cases comparable to a good textbook on this subject.

The first prize was awarded to Ben Callow who produced a beautifully illustrated piece of work. It was felt that anyone reading this project regardless of their previous knowledge of astronomy couldn’t fail to understand the ideas expressed due to the clear and concise use of English.

Remaining prize winners included: George Scott, who produced a very in depth report displaying an extensive knowledge of astronomy, Luke James, who wrote a very succinct and accurate piece of work and Caelum Davies, who made a tremendous effort displaying his passion for this subject.

A further seven pupils qualified for a certificate having submitted projects of a good standard. These were Joseph Smit, Leighton Jones, Tom Ellis, Jacob Adams, Ryan McPeake, Liam Hodges and Daniel Beddoe.

A very high standard has been set and we hope the current Year 9 will produce a similar batch of exceptional work.

AC 2009-02-10