Shrewsbury welcomes Britain's first astronaut and Outreach Ambassador Helen Sharman to school

For our last Shrewsbury Dialogue of this term we were very fortunate to welcome Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman CBE.

Helen is a pioneer, a role-model and a world-class inspirational speaker. In 1991, she became the first British astronaut to visit and carry out experiments on the Mir space station.  

She now works as the UK Outreach Ambassador at Imperial College London and her visit was connected with the Shrewsbury STEM Potential programme, which is supported by the university. The programme supports widening access to STEM courses for bright and able pupils in Shropshire. 

Helen spoke to our pupils as part of a whistle-stop two-day tour of Shropshire that saw her visiting schools all over the county.

Helen visited the Marches School in Oswestry and then moved on to Shrewsbury Colleges Group before talking at Shrewsbury School in the ‘Dialogues lecture’ open to other local schools. 

The following day she travelled to the two secondary academies from the Alpha Academies Trust in Stoke-on-Trent and the local Sixth Form College there, before coming back to Shropshire to be guest of honour at the official opening of Packwood School’s new Science building.  

Her account of her life journey; from her early school days in Sheffield, to chemical research, followed by a seemingly improbable selection out of over 13,000 applicants to be thrust into orbit on the Mir Space Station, was a fascinating lesson in the importance of taking chances when they are presented.

Helen’s key theme was the important role that STEM disciplines play in our modern society and the need for all young people to have a core level of scientific literacy, whether they go onto a career in science or not. Music to the ears of Dr Briggs, our Head of Science.

Helen inspired the audience, which contained visitors from a number of our partner schools, with stories of her astronaut training, including the minor task of learning Russian from scratch, time spent in space and above all the wonderful opportunities that Higher Education STEM courses can afford.

Deputy Head (Academic) Dr Richard Kowenicki said: “It is amazing to think that she very nearly didn’t apply for the competition that led her into space. She is a fantastic role model for all young people and the sizeable queue of pupils waiting to speak to her after the talk spoke for itself.”