Evening of Reflection at East Dene

With spring in the air, the Allnatt Centre at East Dene in Bonchurch is gearing up for the new season. East Dene was once the home of the Romantic poet Algernon Swinburne but is now one of the Island's most popular outdoor education venues. 

Every summer the centre welcomes school parties from the UK and abroad to enjoy a programme of education, play and inspiration in the peaceful coastal and woodland environment. This week the centre invited the new staff for East Dean and the sister centre at Swanage to train up for the season.

Last night's training focused on Reflection, a regular activity undertaken on the programmes, where youngsters reflect on themselves, their team and their achievements during their stay. Karen Chislett, East Dene's Head of Teaching, who attended Stokey's Solar System Walk launch event, said, "Many nights we finish with a bit of stargazing and I thought Stokey's Solar System presentation was really inspiring and knowing his knowledge on the night sky, wanted to share this with the new staff to inspire them, as they too expressed a wish to learn more and to pass this on to the students. Both centres get great views of the night sky and students love hearing about our very limited knowledge."

So Stokey once more delivered part of his Wonders Of The Universe course, bringing to life the distances of the Universe and the constellations of the night sky. After the presentation, the team moved up into the woodland, lit a fire and enjoyed putting their knowledge into action, spotting the planets and constellations visible in the clear, dark skies. We could see Orion, the planet Jupiter and Sirius, known as the Dog Star and the brightest star in the night sky.

Also visible was the orange giant star Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus and so huge that our Sun appears tiny in comparison.

The team really enjoyed the evening and practised using their new-found way of telling the time by the stars....which I'll share in the next blog post!