St. Lawrence Church of England Primary School

Jepps Avenue, Barton, Preston, Lancashire. PR3 5AS

Telephone: 01772 862664

Headteacher: Mrs J E Goodwin BA (Hons) QTS NPQH

Email:

Bursar: Mrs M C Smith

Email:

10th March 2015

Dear Parents

SOLAR ECLIPSE

You may be aware that there is to be an eclipse of the sun on Friday 20th March. This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity. Mr Phillips (Charlie’s dad) has kindly offered to come in and explain the eclipse to the children during assembly time next Wednesday. He will then return to school on the Friday morning to watch the eclipse with the children.

If the skies are clear we should be able to see something starting to happen from around 08:30 with the best sighting visible from around 09.30 to 10.20. Even if the sky is cloudy, it will go very dark so the children will be able to experience the eclipse whatever the weather. During this time we hope to get the children outside to see the eclipse happening. Mr Phillips will bring a pin-hole camera to project the image for us to see. It is VERY important that the children do not look directly at the eclipse. The following quote has been lifted from Physics and Astronomy online:

If you're planning towatch the solar eclipse on Friday, March 20you must make sure you take precautions to avoid damaging your eyes. It is vital that you protect your eyes as the Sun’s UV radiation can burn the retinas, leading to permanent damage or even blindness. This can occur even if your eyes are exposed to direct sunlight, even for just a few seconds. You should never, under any circumstances, look directly at the sun without the appropriate protective eyewear … you should either be sure to time it very carefully (and allow for a good margin of error), or just view the thing through one of those sets of cheap "dark" glasses they sell for the express purpose of looking at the sun without getting hurt.

As ordinary sunglasses are not suitable for this purpose, I have ordered some “cheap dark eclipse glasses” as described above. Should you wish to allow your child to look at the eclipse, these can be purchased through school at just £2 per pair (cost price £2.55). I will also need you to sign the attached permission form. Unfortunately, if the permission form is not returned, children will not be able to take part in this activity. To keep costs to a minimum, siblings will be able to share the glasses so one pair per family will suffice. The eclipse will take a good hour to pass, giving us plenty of time to make sure that children stay indoors until their eyes are protected.

Yours sincerely

Julie Goodwin

Dear Mrs Goodwin

I enclose a £2 contribution towards the cost of a pair of solar eclipse glasses and give permission for

______to wear them to view the eclipse on Friday 20th March.

Signed ______Parent / Guardian