Terrington Hall School

Middle School Field Day Visit to Magna

On arriving at Magna (the Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham) we were greeted by a very friendly guide who told us a little about what we were going to see and finished by telling us that magna means BIG. The building seemed very large from the outside but once inside we could tell it was vast. We made our way to the first pavilion, FIRE, here we learnt about heat, fire and had a great time exploring the interactive activities. Next we went out onto the gangway that runs the length of the building, about one third of a mile. The old electric blast furnace came to life, roused like a sleeping dragon, in a flurry of pyrotechnics to demonstrate how this had once been a record breaking steel mill. Moving on to the second pavilion, WIND we staggered in front of a wind tunnel, fired air cannons and played with musical bottles amongst other activities. Lunch was taken outside where the adventure playground was a great hit. Back inside we made our way to the third pavilion WATER, here the lock system and water wheels were very popular. Our last pavilion was EARTH. Deep below the ground we ground rocks, crushed stone and, my personal favourite, pushed the plunger to dynamite a quarry wall.

After a mercifully quick visit to the gift shop we headed out to the water park. At first this seemed like it might be a damp squib as the fountains, showers, water cannons and such were not operating. Mrs Whitfield stepped in, organised the Magna staff and within seconds Middle School were soaked, hurray! This was the undoubted highlight of the day and probably all the Middle School parents may have learned about field day from their children. It was great fun, even for big kids, and on a hot and sticky day was the perfect way to cool down.

I'd like to add my thanks to those of the children; to Mrs Cole for running up and down the stairs whenever anyone forgot anything, to Mrs Gill for joining us for the day and 'mucking in' with all the activities and to Mrs Whitfield for organising the whole day. 

I certainly had a great day, learnt a bit and thoroughly enjoyed getting soaked at the end of the day.

Tom Eddy