Major Peake, the first Brit to be selected as an astronaut by the European Space Agency (ESA), took time out from his training in the US to talk to our school during a special press conference about his forthcoming six-month mission. 

The BBC, Sky TV and many others were welcomed into our school for a live press conference with Tim Peake. 

BBC news, Sky news and NASA covered the event while children from our school were able to ask him questions on his upcoming visit to the International Space Station. 

Ten-year-old Susu El-abbas asked Major Peake whether he had trust in science, prompting a smile from a man who is about to hurtle through the atmosphere to board the ISS, which is travelling around earth at more than 17,000 mph. 

“I have a huge belief in science,” he said. “I loved studying it and it is something I do as a hobby, I pick up science books and read them. I have a huge amount of trust in science.” 

Mario Albu, 9, said afterwards that watching Major Peake talk about his mission was inspiring and exciting. 

He added: “I love science. It’s my favourite subject because I like experimenting and finding out how things are done. I just really like discovering things.” 

This was an extremely proud moment for our pupils, school and community.