Lessons where eclipsed at Christ Church School lessons as pupils watched live coverage from the Faroe Islands off the coast of Scotland. Lucy, a year 6 student said “This was outstanding – a once-in-a-lifetime event!” For most pupils here at school this was their first solar eclipse.
Every child at Christ Church School gasped at the moment of totality, then as Baily’s beads appeared and finally when the diamond ring shone out from behind the moon. Mr Gauld, the headteacher, explained that showing the children the eclipse would boost their understanding of the world and science. The children learned that a solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon and Earth are perfectly aligned. Despite the sun being 400 times bigger than the Earth, the moon is 400 times nearer to the Earth so the two appear to be almost the same size.
Christ Church pupils were not allowed to go outside to view the eclipse in case they damaged their eyes by looking at the sun. In the end, thick cloud cover prevented the children seeing the eclipse, although they did notice that the light dimmed.
The next solar eclipse in the UK is forecast for 2090. “This was one of those special lifetime experiences and Christ Church pupils were not going to miss it,” said Mr Gauld.
Yr 6 pupils Olivia Radcliffe and Daisy Young