On Tuesday the 9^th of February at 9:30am, year 5 and 6 all went to Corfe Castle, but first we had a talk about the castle and the person who did the talk was Mr Reg Saville. We talked about how the Castle was used and how the Castle was made and things like that. At 10:45 the minibus came and picked us up and took us to Corfe Castle in two groups, year 5 and year 6. Year 6 went first and while we were waiting we went down the side of the Castle and had a look but we could not see much, so we went back to where we met year 5s and then we went in.

First we went to the place where the people used to look out for enemies, then we went to look at one of the wells but it was just a big hole. Then we went and looked at the horrible brown stains on the wall, you can probably guess what they are but if you can't guess it's where they used to go to toilet. Then Reg Saville said to us how they used to pour very hot oil on the attackers. They used to shut one of the portcullis and then when the attackers were try to get in the gate they would shut the other portcullis then they would pour oil over them through the murder holes that are in the top of the look out posts. Later we went into the Keep and looked at the rich people's tower. The King's wife stayed in there because she talked too much and got on his nerves, the two young princesses of Scotland because the Scottish kept coming and attacking England and also their lady in waiting. Then we started to go back down. When we got down Mrs Buckland just had to take a picture and so did Mr Kite, and we went back to Leeson House, but we went in two groups and year 6 were first so year 5 went into the gift shop.

After we had been to Corfe Castle we all walked over to the classroom where Mr Kite prepared us for the compass trails. First we learned how to read a map, then we learned how to take compass bearings.

On Tuesday 9^th February, in the evening, we all went to Mr Strange's observatory. It was great fun and it was really amazing to see some of the planets in our solar system. We were very lucky because the sky was very clear and if it had been cloudy it wouldn't have been as fun as it was.

We had to go in two groups to the observatory because it was very small inside. First the year sixes went to the observatory. When we got there Mr Strange took us into his hut to give us an introduction on the stars and planets. After we had had a discussion we went out into his back garden into his dome to look at the stars and planets through his telescope. On the wall of the dome there was a blind that you had to open up to get in. The wall of the dome actually moved around so you could look at any part of the sky. The first planet we saw through the telescope was Venus, which was the colour of some of the bright colours of the rainbow. The next one we saw was Jupiter, which was orange and you could also see some of its moons. The last planet we actually saw was Saturn. That was white and you could even see the rings which go around it. The last thing we saw was a young galaxy of stars, which looked like the four dots on a dice with a sort of cloud around the outside.

All the things we saw were really amazing and I really enjoyed seeing the planets through the telescope. After the year sixes had been to the observatory the year fives went but unfortunately they didn't get to see Venus because it had gone down, but I still think they too all enjoyed it.

By Katherine Barrett