The benefits of celebrating fifty years of education on our Wearde Road site continue to be felt in all aspects of our school life. Many ex-students have made contact with the school, including Cambridge graduate, Les Baldwin, now part of the European Space Agency team and an employee of the Open University.
Les, who grew up in Saltash and lived at 27, Newman Road, was one of the first students to walk through the doors of the new school buildings in 1965. Just before he sat his O Levels, his family relocated to Wales and it was there that he took his O and A Levels, before embarking upon a Physics degree at the University of Cambridge.
Les contacted the school back in June when he realised there were going to be many events to mark the occasion of the golden jubilee. He agreed to return to his old school at the start of September to speak with students in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, who are all studying separate sciences and/or computer science at GCSE and A Level.
Sonia Cooper, Head of Physics, who organised the visit for Les, said, ‘It was such an interesting and thought provoking day. Les was the person who designed the software for both the Beagle 2 Mars Lander and the Philae Lander which touched down on a comet earlier this year. His story was inspirational with a really key message about never giving up and attention to detail at all times.’
Mrs Bryce added, ‘It was so brilliant that an ex-student, whose team at the Open University have just received a prestigious ‘Sir Arthur Clarke Award’ for scientific exploration and advancement, should have taken the time to come back and visit his old school. I am sure our students, and staff, will have felt motivated and inspired by Les’ presentations and feel that ‘the sky really is the limit’ for all they want to do and achieve in their lives.’