Teach Secondary Issue 14.2

TimPeake reflects on how his school’s Combined Cadet Force programme laid the foundations for a career that saw him take to the skies – and then travel beyond the stratosphere... What I learnt at school What was your secondary school experience like? I attended a state comprehensive, Chichester High School for Boys. Getting there involved walking amile to the station and catching the train from Emsworth to Chichester, which felt a bit daunting at 11. I’d gone froma small village primary to amuch bigger school with around 2,000 pupils, but I made a couple of friends there. The first two years or so were very ordinary, but things changed once I turned 13 and became old enough to join the school’s Combined Cadet Force (CCF), which was responsible for some of my fondest memories of secondary school. Looking back, I didn’t hate the academic side – I can see now how those lessons helped sow the seeds of curiosity and wonder – but academically, I definitely blossomed after school, not while I was there. I stayed on to do ALevels inmaths, physics and chemistry, and ‘excelled’ in getting a C, a D and an E. Teachers are horrified when I tell them that now. Students often laugh – ‘Wow, that’s brilliant. If you can do that and still become an astronaut...’ Though I do caveat that by explaining that it’s been a constant process of self-development and learning since I left school. When did you first decide that you wanted to travel into space? I was different compared to some of my peers. My ESA colleague, Luca [Parmitano] for example, had wanted to be an astronaut since the age of four. My other colleague, Samantha [Cristoforetti], had her sights set on becoming an astronaut since at least her early teens. My decision to travel into space didn’t come about until my 30s, when the European Space Agency opened up applications for its astronaut selection to UK citizens in 2008. Up until then, my passion had been flying, qualifying as an instructor pilot before becoming a test pilot, while completing a degree in flight dynamics. Those experiences had brought me close to the space industry, so I’d already been following what was happening there for a few years when I applied. I was perfectly placed at the right time, with the right set of qualifications. It’s quite the story – putting your head down after leaving school, getting everything in place in time... When studying academic subjects at school, it might not seemapparent as to why you’re completing those quadratic equations or a Laplace transform. That had been the case for me, but when I commencedmy test pilot training – studying flight dynamics, control inputs, simulator tuning – the maths suddenly became very relevant. I sympathise with school teachers. There’s a lot to pack in to the school curriculum, and always a limit on time and resources. Teachers don’t have the luxury of being able to spend ages on wonderful experiments and exploring real world examples – but the more of that they can do in the classroom, the better. Were there any teachers who had a positive impact on your subsequent career ambitions and achievements? Mr Anthony Forrest was my chemistry teacher, as well as head of the school’s CCF programme, so I got to know himboth in the classroomand in an outdoor environment with the cadets. He was a strict, no-nonsense teacher, but his lessons were huge amounts of fun. You’d always come away with some snippet of information you didn’t expect, or having done some experiment that you perhaps shouldn’t have... He was happy to push the boundaries with what he showed to his students, and really brought chemistry to life. What are themost important aspects of knowledge that science teachers can pass on? Critical thinking and curiosity. It’s important to impart the knowledge of how to think, and why it’s important to think properly about a subject. Lessons should be about questioning things, developing the curiosity to find out why things happen, and always remaining observant and open to new suggestions and ideas. Tim Peake was the first British ESA astronaut to visit the International Space Station, on a six-month mission that saw him undertake scientific research, as well as educational outreach, engaging with over 2 million schoolchildren across Europe. He is also an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and The Scout Association The BBC has produced a series of video resources for KS3/4 physics introduced by Tim Peake, which can be viewed via tinyurl.com/ts142-TP1 21 teachwire.net/secondary C L A S S O F T H E PA S T