To the library...and beyond!

PUPILS at Summerhill Infant School have given their verdict on their new space-themed library – 'it's out of this world'.

Their newly refurbished Space Lab Library was launched with the help of space system PhD engineers Valentina Lo Gatto and Gary Sutlieff from Bristol University.

Also in attendance were house captains Jessica, Sienna, Jude, Nylah, Erin and Kamelia; librarian and teacher Nicola Cox; Jenny Oulton, secretary of the Friends of Summerhill; and caretaker James Lewis.

The students spoke with the children about different scientific areas of engineering in space, from space crafts and satellites to the important work on the ground, and why they first got involved in space system engineering. 

The school's Stem Club then spent time with Valentina and Gary conducting jet propulsion experiments with balloons and rockets, as well as carrying out a controlled explosion in the playground. 

The project follows a year of fundraising by Friends of Summerhill (FOS) after house captains decided a space-themed library would suit the school's planetary-themed house system.

But it wasn't all plain sailing as disaster struck at the eleventh hour when the original furniture supplier went into administration just days after the school placed an order for furniture and seating.

Luckily, on hearing of the school's plight, Evesham-based Cotswold Panel Products offered to fabricate the whole design as close as possible to the original specifications on a tight four-week timescale.

Headteacher Ira De N’Yeurt said: “The result is an exceptional multi-purpose space that the children at Summerhill Infant School adore, with low-level seating, a lunar rover reading nook, space helmets, telescopes, rockets, nebula roller blinds and home-made astronauts. 

“The transformation took the children’s breath away and with lots of new features, including an emergency space suit drawer, there is plenty for them to explore and discover.”