| Year 4 | School Community
On Monday 30th November we were delighted that one of our parents, Mrs Frassl-Kew, joined us for a fascinating virtual ‘meet’ to talk about astronaut selection!
Mrs Frassl-Kew has much experience working in space medicine research and astronaut wellbeing.
The children were very excited and inspired by the visit and came up with lots of questions to ask; such as how do you select astronauts?
What happens if they get cross with each other and they can’t get away?
What types of food do they eat?
What happens if they are poorly in space?
Our children learnt that astronauts have to be healthy – physically and mentally, have to have a degree in science, engineering, mathematics or medicine and work experience. Ideally, they are trained pilots, they should speak excellent English and Russian if possible. They need to manage working under stress, be excellent team players and adapt easily to new challenges. Astronauts need to be able to cope with isolation. This has helped their PSHE learning in that astronauts need to look after themselves and each other and have a Growth Mindset. In addition, the children discovered that astronauts should have a good understanding of different cultures, as the crews are usually multicultural from different countries.
The session also complimented our Year Four Children’s learning in STEM where they now have had an insight into life onboard the international space station. A fun fact the children also discovered is that a favourite food eaten in space are tortillas and chocolate pudding cake!
We would like to extend a massive thank you to Mrs Frassl-Kew for taking the time to talk to us - it really was a fascinating virtual ‘meet’ - move over Tim Peake there are now 40 more aspiring astronauts in the U.K!