Labour MP Natasha Irons paid a visit to Croydon’s biggest girls’ fee-paying school this week, to find out first-hand about Mission Pegasus – Croydon High’s attempt to become the first all-girls school in the world to design, build and launch a satellite into space.
Back to school: Labour MP Natasha Irons (back, centre) in class with girls and staff from Croydon High
The MP’s visit follows her Early Day Motion in Parliament, where she highlighted the outstanding work of the Croydon High Astrogazers club, set up by the school’s award-winning head of physics, Arabi Karteepan.
Irons’ EDM called for a discussion on getting more women into the workforce for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – the STEM subjects.
Irons joined pupils for a presentation that showcased their research, engineering thinking and ambitions for the next stage of Mission Pegasus, followed by a Q&A in which the MP was asking many of the questions of the girls about their love of space science and how hands-on STEM experiences have rocket-boosted their confidence.
“I left my visit with Astrogazers feeling inspired,” said Irons, the MP for Croydon East, after her visit to the independent school in Selsdon.
“The depth of thinking behind Mission Pegasus and the tenacity these young women have shown when things haven’t gone to plan is remarkable. Their ambition to build and launch a satellite shows what can happen when young women are encouraged to lead in STEM.
“I was proud to champion their achievements in Parliament, and it was a pleasure to see their confidence in person. I look forward to the next stage of their mission as they work towards becoming the first all-girls team to launch a satellite into space.”
During the visit, the MP also met Cathryn Mitchell, the professor of radio science at the University of Bath, and her colleague, senior lecturer Dr Robert Watson, who have both given significant assistance to the Croydon High School project.
Also attending was the UK Space Agency’s Ingmar Kamalagharan and Dr Suze Kundu, who works at NASA, the US space agency. Dr Kundu is a former pupil of Croydon High.
“We were honoured to welcome Natasha Irons MP and thrilled that she could hear the girls’ passion first-hand,” said Croydon High’s headteacher, Annabel Davies.
“Her support, along with the insight from our guests, made the visit truly memorable. As we move into the next phase of Mission Pegasus, the belief others have in our girls only strengthens their determination to reach new heights.”
Astrogazers completed Phase 2 of Mission Pegasus last summer with flight on an airborne laboratory at Cranfield Airport in association with FAAM: the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements.
Phase 3 will see Mission Pegasus building the engineering model of the payload and preparing for the next stage of development.
They are now seeking sponsorship to help fund the construction of the final flight-ready satellite using space-grade materials.
Read more: Institute of Physics praises work of Croydon High’s star teacher
Read more: Three large private schools will cut fees to reduce sting of VAT
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I’m surprised that a fee paying school let a Labour MP in given that Labour declared war on “priveliged children” by taxing private schools.
Such is the ignorance of how VAT works, many independent schools did not realise until after VAT was added to school fees that they could now reclaim their “input tax”. It meant that there was little real impact on their usually highly profitable balance sheets.