Partial Eclipse Captivates Pupils and Staff

The partial eclipse of the sun cast an eerie chill over Bablake yesterday morning at its peak as inquisitive pupils and teachers explored different ways of safely witnessing the phenomenon.

With the sun breaking clearly through some light cloud cover, up at the Games Field a group of Shell and 2nd year pupils made investigations with Bablake's climatologist Mr Steve Jackson, who runs the Bablake Weather Station. We look forward to hearing their findings.

Mathematic teacher Mr Shoyeb Memon's U6th tutor group, whose form room looks over our main field, had set up a pinhole projector in the window which clearly reflected the crescent left by the moon's partial eclipse of the sun. For extra atmosphere, Mr Memon's tutees had also set up an 'Eclipse' playlist (of musical contrasts) that included Pink Floyd's 'Dark side of the moon' and Bonnie Tyler's 'Total eclipse of the heart'. They were also streaming the BBC's live coverage of the eclipse!

The first lesson of the day then saw a number of classes safely viewing the phenomenon using the pinhole camera effect. A Business Studies group, unsuccessfully it has to be said, even tried to stay outside longer by suggesting to their teacher that 2090 might be far too long to wait for the next total eclipse!

For those who recalled 1999 and the last full eclipse, yesterday brought back happy memories. We understand 2026 will bring the next partial eclipse and hope those intrigued by this year's sighting will recall fondly the inquisitive moments in Bablake yesterday then.