Glass Sellers fund new observatory at Kingswinford School
On 27 September 2011 Kingswinford School, Dudley became the first state school in Britain with their own
observatory. Funding was provided by the Glass Sellers Charity and the Master and Mistress, Martin and Elizabeth Scarth were there for the formal opening of the observatory.
Kingswinford School, has specialist science status and the new full-size observatory and 12-inch Meade SC telescope will enable pupils to take their studies into the final frontier.
Anna Pinto, director of science at The Kingswinford School said: “We are very proud to be the first state comprehensive secondary school, to our knowledge to have this amazing facility. The observatory will be very effective in making astronomy more approachable and will allow users of all ages within the school and the community to get involved in star gazing and exploring the universe.”
Installation of the glass-reinforced plastic dome observatory took around six months and pupils at the school helped with construction.
The telescope is electronically controlled and lines up on objects in the night sky at the flick of a switch.
The school intends to share their new facility with other schools and amateur astronomers in the region and a series of young astronomers evenings are already being planned for the winter months.
This project is part of our Glass in Society West Midlands scheme. It is an impressive achievement and the Glass Sellers Charity Trustees are delighted that we could support the school.
