Children with special educational needs and more vulnerable people should also be given the chance to look through a telescope and explore the Moon, the planets and the stars. Joanne & Patrick Poitevin took up the challenge to roll out the initiative for the United Kingdom. Schools for special educational needs and institutions for children with disabilities are donated a telescope, a binocular, and loads of education material through sponsorship. All free of charge!
Each SEN school or institution who got this telescope will get the necessary support to use the telescope and all the material. For 2016 we had 13 telescopes, 12 binoculars and loads of educational material to donate.
See webpages
http://patrickpoitevin.weebly.com/scopes4sen.html
Tel. +44 7709703854 Email: [email protected]
What each SEN School got donated in 2016
- 12 Bresser 80/900 telescopes donated by Bresser Germany/UK with home build mounts/tripods at reduced cost from Kijkerbouw VSRUG Belgium
- 25 meteorites donated by Aerolite Europe via Nick Howes of which 13 iron Canyon diablos and 12 NWA 869 stone chondrites
- 12 Nightscenes 2016 donated by Astrospace Publications via Paul Money
- 12 Online Astronomy Courses donated by Online Astronomy Society Academy via Alastair Leith
- 12 Sun Catchers and Solar Rainbow Makers donated by Rainbow Symphony
- 100 Solar Safety Glasses donated by John W ONeal II & fb SOLARACTIVITY Group
- 12 Moongazer's Wheel by Astronomers Without Borders via Mike Simmons
- 12 Peterson First Guide to Astronomy by Jay M Pasachoff donated by Lisa White from Houghton Miffin Harcourt via Jay M Pasachoff
- 12 The Christmas Planet by Dave Dooling (donated by Dave Dooling, New Mexico Space Museum) + electronic version of a screen play
- 12 Welcome to Astronomy (donated by Kalmbach Publishing Company)
- 12 Different back issues, each 12 copies of the Griffith Observer (donated by Ed Krupp, Griffith Observatory)
- 12 Sky at Night 2016 Calendar and December 2015 back issue (donated by Sky at Night via Chris Bramley)
- 12 packs Twinkle Twinkle Super Bright Stars - The Ultimate Glow-in-the-Dark Stars - 49 Stars & 1 Moon donated by Daniela I Valdes along with Nestor Garcia Morales, Elena Espinoza and Aurora Barraza
- 12 Night Sky posters and 12 Planispheres donated by Astronomy Now via Laurie Young
- 12 Space:UK winter edition magazines, leaflets and 12 Tim Peake postcards donated by National Space Centre via Rebeca Leggat
- 12 PHILIP'S Month-by-Month Stargazing 2016 donated by Opticron via Rob Laughton
- 12 London Stereoscopic Company OWL Stereoscope and 12 Series 2 Astro OWL 3-D Stereo Cards donated by Dr. Brian May
- Digital version of books "Easy Things to See With a Small Telescope (A Beginner's Guide to Over 60 Easy-to-Find Night Sky Sights)" and "2016 The Night Sky Sights (A Guide to Over 100 Astronomical Events to See Without Telescope)" donated by author Richard J. Bartlett
- Hyperion 68 degrees Modular 13mm eyepiece, Celestron 2x Barlow, H20mm eyepiece, SR4mm eyepiece, Barlow lens 3x, Celestron collapsible binocular, Multi coated 25 mm eyepiece, Dark Sky Discovery leaflet, Kennedy Space Center leaflet, Mylar Solar Viewers, Grey filter donated by Wendy Clark
- 17 giant posters Anatomy of the Sun and 15 giant posters Studying the Sun, and 13 each received 3 booklet posters The Sun, Big Telescopes, Big Bang donated by Science & Technology Facilities Council
- 2 Calendars 2016 The art of Nature by PROBA-V
- 8x HCM Kinzel Planetarium Glow Solar System Mobile Making Kit, 2 HCM Kinzel Space Explorer room projector and 2 HCM Kinzel Glow Planets & 100 Nova Stars by Astroshop.co.uk c/o nimax GmbH
- 12 The ESA/ESO Exercise Series booklets Introduction, Toolkits, Exercise 1, 2, 3, and 4; and 12 Postcard each The Orion Nebula, Jupiter bruised, and The heart of the Milky Way donated by Spacetelescope Hubble Shop
- 100 CBSAP solar glasses and 26 CBSAP spectral gratings (via Mark Townley)
- 50 Daystar/Solar Sidewalk Astronomer solar glasses, 13 SDO leaflets, 13 CDROM Cosmic Collision NASA, 16 MMS Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission mock-ups, 13 Holographic SDO (dozen wavelengths Sun), 1 book Fenomena Cetuson Matahari, 13 posters SDO from Pam Shivak and the Solaractivity Group
- From Lunt Solar: 24 UV color changing beads, 12 Holograms SDA w/12 wavelengths, 12 MMS Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, 12 Bookmarkers - UV detection beads experiment, 12 The Sun & Space Weather DVD, 12 Heliosphysics disc, 12 SDO posters - all via Jennifer Lunt
- 12 Upclose G2 10 x 50 binoculars donated by Celestron
- One year old Skywatcher Startravel 120mm telescope donated by Peter Cain
- Digital version The Easy Guide to the Night Sky - a follow-up to Easy Things to See With a Small Telescope by Richard Bartlett donated by Richard Bartlett
- 12 UK Solar Eclipses from 1-3000AD by Sheridan Williams and donated by Sheridan Williams
- 12 books The dark skies of the North Pennines by Graham Relf, donated by Sheridan Williams
- 250 self-build Spectroscopes donated by Astronomy Without Borders via Mike Simmons
- EQ2 Mount tripod provided at a reduced cost via Widescreen Centre - for Skywatcher 120 telescope
- 2 William Optics eyepieces 20mm donated by Peter Cain
SEN Schools we donated to in 2016 (so far)
Alderbrook Day Centre - Chinley High Peak, Derbyshire UK
Ashgate Croft Special School - Chesterfield, Derbyshire UK
Royal School for the Deaf Derby (RSDD) - Derby, Derbyshire UK
Action for Blind via Touching Space, Lancashire UK
Galloways Blind via Touching Space, Lancashire UK
Bracken Hill School - Kirkby, Nottinghamshire UK
St Martins School - Alvaston Derby, Derbyshire UK
St Clare's Special School - Mickleover Derby, Derbyshire UK
Summerlea Community Primary – Rustington, West Sussex UK
Francis Baily Primary School – Tatchem, Berkshire UK
Calaiswood School in Dunfermline – Dunfirmline, Scotland UK
Sponsors in 2016
Bresser Germany/UK; Kijkerbouw VSRUG; Volkssterrenwacht Armand Pien; Universiteit Gent; VVS; KNVWS; Artist group Lak@rt; ENGIE Electrabel; Aerolite Europe; Astrospace Publications; Online Astronomy Society Academy; Rainbow Symphony; Sky at Night; FB SOLARACTIVITY GROUP; Astronomers Without Borders; Houghton Miffin Harcourt; Kalmbach Publishing Company; Astronomy Now; Opticron; Daniela I Valdes & Team; National Space Centre; Dr Brian May; Richard J Bartlett; Science and Technology Facilities Council; Wendy Clark; PROBA-V; AstroshopUk/nimax; Spacetelescope Hubble Shop; CBSAP; Lunt Solar; Celestron; Peter Cain; Sheridan Williams; Widescreen Centre London.
Support in 2016
Aurora Barraza, Richard J Bartlett, Simon Bennett, Chris Bramley, Peter Cain, David Clapham, Wendy Clark, Trish Clements, Anthony Wallace Cross, Dave Dooling, David J Eicher, Elena Espinoza, Jasmin Evans, Nestor Garcia Morales, Nick Grey, Jean Pierre Grootaerd, Ian Howarth, Nick Howes, Ed Krupp, Rob Laughton, Rebeca Leggat, Alastair Leith, Jennifer Lunt, Mark Margolis, Dr Brian May, Paul Money, John W ONeal II, Jay M Pasachoff, Harrie Rutten, Mike Simmons, Pam Shivak, Nancy Scherlinck, Dominik Schwarz, STARMUS Festival 2016, Andy Thompson, Mark Townley, Daniela I Valdes, Laurie Young, Lisa White, Sheridan Williams, Chris Woodcock.
Donations in 2016
Louise Tirre, Anthony Wallace Cross, Alan Lewis, Cathy Battaloglu, Anonymous, Aleka Adami, Lee Worrallo, Anonymous, Vicky & Andy Bartlett, Liz Bice, Mark Naples, Marcel-Jan Krijgsman, Laurence A Le Gal, Tony Berry, Adam Harris, WI Tissington, Mike Simmons, Alexandra Agg; Beccy Smith; Tissington Well Dressing committee; Jana Conradi, Cielo Cantoni, Liz Berry, Nancy Allen; Simon Thompson; Marty Crook; Carole Unwin.
And … 2017?
Our aim for 2017 is to collect and to donate to 10 SEN Schools: a telescope, binocular, meteorites, books, magazines and plenty of educational material each – FREE. Get in touch if you want to obtain or if you have contacts at any SEN School!
What we obtained so far for 2017
- 20 Celestron 60 mm refractor with COSMOS eye nebula graphics, permanently red dot mounted finderscope, rugged tripod with steel legs.
Pan handle Alt-Azimuth control with clutch for smooth and accurate pointing, 2 Kellner eyepieces, mirror star diagonal, free planetarium app, and Cosmic Calendar poster obtained at a much reduced cost from Celestron
- 14 Celestron 7x50 Cometron binoculars donated by Celestron
- 2 William Optics eyepieces 20mm donated by Peter Cain (2016)
- 40 Campo Del Cielo meteorites from Aerolites Meteorites via Nick Howes
- 30 Solar Safety Glasses donated by John W ONeal II & fb SOLARACTIVITY Group (2016)
- 12 books of First Guide to Astronomy written and donated by Jay Pasachoff
- 12 books Stars and Planets written and donated by Jay Pasachoff
- 30 CBSAP solar glasses via Mark Townley (2016)
- 10 CBSAP spectral gratings via Mark Townley (2016)
- 10 Kinzel Glow Solar System Mobile Making Kit from Nimax Astroshop
- 10 Daystar/Solar Sidewalk Astronomer solar glasses from Pam Shivak and the Solaractivity Group (2016)
- 25 books Night Scenes 2017 written and donated by Paul Money
- 10 UV color changing beads from Lunt Solor, via Jennifer Lunt (2016)
- 10 books Hubble Reborn donated by Astronomy Now
- 10 Night Sky Posters donated by Astronomy Now
- 10 Stereoscopes donated by Brian May and The London Stereoscopic Company
- 50 self-build Spectroscopes donated by Astronomy Without Borders via Mike Simmons (2016)
- 10 books UK Solar Eclipses from 1-3000AD by and donated by Sheridan Williams
- 6 books The dark skies of the Northern Pennines donated by Sheridan Williams
- 22 Sky at Night magazines with 2017 Calendar donated by Sky at Night Magazine
- 10 mini Vixen magnifiers which have an illuminated red light for viewing star charts donated by Opticron via Rob Laughton
Sponsors, Donations, Support for 2017 so far ...
Celestron with Jared Donkersley and Nick Grey; Peter Cain; Laura Hammond-Bach; Jay Pasachoff and HMH Trade Publishing with Emily Snyder & Lisa White; Nick Howes; nimax Astroshop with Dominik Schwarz ; Paul Money; Astronomy Now with Laurie Young; Ilda Romero; Brian May and the London Stereoscopic Company; Sheridan Williams; Clare Watkins; Noel Woollard; Tissington Halloween Display; Sky at Night Magazine; FC McCann (via Sarah); Opticron via Rob Laughton; Tissington Christmas Display;
Scope4Rent
We provide a telescope and binocular for those who want to “borrow”, for weekends, camps, astronomy outreaches with family, friends, neighbours, schools, ... Just connect with us and we provide calculations for what, where and when to see the night sky. Just for "a donation" to Scopes4SEN and we can arrange a scope for your private astronomy outreach.
SEN Schools so far for 2017
ALDERWASLEY HALL SCHOOL, Alderwasley, Belper, Derbyshire
Alderwasley Hall Sixth Form Centre, Wirksworth, Derbyshire
CHICKS Daleside Retreat, Fenny Bentley, Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Get in TOUCH
You want to sponsor, donate, support, help, … know of any schools or institutes … you want to borrow a telescope for your own outreach … ? Get in touch with us.
See webpages http://patrickpoitevin.weebly.com/scopes4sen.html
Tel. +44 7709703854 Email: [email protected]
Keep well and have a lovely Christmas!
Joanne & Patrick