Rhunahaorine students study satellites at MACC

The sessions are based at Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) Business Park, which is home to Discover Space UK and Spaceport Machrihanish, and pupils aim to end the project with a spectacular finale by holding their own rocket launch there.

Building from previous lessons delivered by Jo last year, the pupils quickly applied their knowledge of coding by programming Lego Spike satellites they had constructed.  

P6 pupil Charlotte O’Hanlon found it “very cool” making the Lego satellites, while Eilidh Parkhouse, who is in P4, said it is “very fun” learning about space.

Camille Loganbill in P5 said: “I think coding is very cool and you can code lots of different things like robots, televisions, laptops, devices and much more, and even code something that has never been made before.”

P2 pupil Angus Hurd has shown a keen interest in space and said of his coding: “I made it so it can do a smiley face when you put a block in front of it. It was fun.”

Materials used for this exciting project are from AmbaSat, a company that creates space satellite kits and educational courses. 

Until now, they had only offered such a project at secondary school level but thanks to grant monies received from the West Kintyre Windfarm Trust, they adapted the programme for primary-aged pupils.

On completion of the project, it is envisaged other schools will be able to benefit from this package.

On their first visit to MACC Business Park, facilitated by Tim Bailey, project manager at MACC Developments, pupils and school staff enjoyed a tour of the grounds. 

Head teacher Catriona Brown was surprised at the expanse of the site and the variety of businesses based there. 

“The highlight was when the children came off the minibus at the MachLab, which is the Glasgow University rocket engine testing lab, and met a NASA employee and a PhD student building a test area for rockets,” said Mrs Brown. 

“It is amazing to know this work is in Kintyre and potentially young people from the area could be working in the space industry.”

The youngsters also used spinners to learn about how parachutes are used to slow satellites down as they are brought back to earth, something that particularly interested P6 pupil Edel Parkhouse.

On the project so far, P7 pupil Emme Scott said: “It is an amazing experience. I’m glad we get to do it,” and Juliette Loganbill in P2 said: “I love to go to Machrihanish.”

Cayden Cleland, in P6, added: “It shows us you can do anything.”  

The project will run until February 2025 – watch this space for more updates as the children progress.