On Monday 17 May, we were thrilled to welcome astrophysicist Dr Eriita Jones into our Early Learning Centre to ignite the girls’ excitement about the book Give me some Space! By Philip Bunting, which was chosen for the 2021 National Simultaneous Storytime.

After reading the book together, Eriita inspired the girls with her incredible knowledge of space. She began by sharing images of Earth, which had been captured from space. Eriita introduced the girls to the robot ‘Perseverance’ and the helicopter ‘Ingenuity’, which are currently on planet Mars. Time was spent observing images of the sun and the moon and learning about where baby stars are born. Eriita’s presentation was inspiring and informative and pitched perfectly for our ELC girls. We would like to say a very special ‘thank you’ to Eriita for sharing her time, knowledge and passion for space with our budding scientists.

Not only did this learning encourage questioning and wondering, but it also launched the girls into deeper learning for the rest of the week, which included finding out about astronauts, drawing spacesuits and the value of our planet Earth.

On Wednesday together with over one million children around Australia in schools, libraries and ELCs, we listened to NASA astronaut Dr Shannon Walker read Give me some Space! from the International Space Station during the National Simultaneous Storytime. This initiative aims to promote the value of reading and literacy in children, and for us, it has achieved that and so much more.

We look forward to opening the next chapter of this learning.