NASA astronauts Dr Michael Foale CBE and Dr Steve Swanson took centre stage during the official opening of Tonbridge School’s Barton Science Centre on Saturday 23rd March.
The astronauts, who had been based at the school in the week leading up to the opening as part of the Mission Discovery educational programme, unveiled the commemorative plaque at the end of the ceremony.
Dr Foale and Dr Swanson, both former International Space Station commanders, also gave a short talk in which they recounted their experiences of going into space, and gave their impressions of the new science facility.
Dr Swanson said: “This is a centre which will inspire the next generation … where students can start to have ideas, interests and dreams.”
Dr Foale added: “You have ignited a fire here in Tonbridge for learning and discovery, and for achieving something special.”
The opening ceremony was attended by nearly 200 specially invited guests, including the Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, Mrs Marion Regan, school governors, parents, Old Tonbridgians, members of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and other friends and supporters of the school.
The ceremony began with a fanfare composed by Tonbridge boy Harry Mobbs, who had won a competition at the school to write a piece for the event. Inspired by the opening bars of the theme music for Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the fanfare was performed by Harry and other members of the school’s Symphony Orchestra.
In his welcome address, James Priory, Headmaster of Tonbridge School, described the Barton Science Centre as “an extraordinary and beautiful building which is already inspiring innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and becoming a hub for science education in the wider community”.
Mr Priory paid tribute to Tonbridge’s impressive scientific history, telling guests that its original Science Centre, created in 1887, is believed to be the first purpose-built science facility in a British school. The Barton Science Centre is a blend of the old and the new, combining much of the original Victorian architecture with a magnificent new extension, state-of-the-art classrooms and latest technology.
The achievements of four of Tonbridge’s most distinguished scientists – Sir Derek Barton, Norman Heatley, Charles Garrett and Bill Hamilton – were remembered in the opening ceremony, which was attended by a number of their family members and close friends.
The centre has been named after Sir Derek Barton, an organic chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1969, and several of the school’s most notable scientists have been honoured in the naming of laboratories and libraries.
The Barton Science Centre’s features include an interactive periodic table, a roof garden and greenhouse, a TV wall, three libraries and a bee hive. The centre will also have a wider public benefit: the school will be expanding its popular ‘Science for Schools’ days for local primary and secondary pupils, and will be hosting public lectures and a variety of other events.
Celebrations continued on Saturday afternoon as more than 300 local people came to the centre, many for the first time, to take part in the school’s Science and Space family event.
Mission Discovery, a programme which gives pupils from various schools the chance to work with astronauts and world-renowned scientists. took part at Tonbridge School between Monday 18 and Friday 22 March. The winning science experiment picked by the judges will be flown into space and carried out by NASA crew aboard the International Space Station.
Tonbridge School are one of our Leaders in… Science – click here to see why.