Fairfield High School made an eight minute film of the Transit of Venus - where the planet past across the face of the sun.
This is an extremely rare event, and the transit earlier this year was the first to be seen in this country since 1283.Fairfield High School's film was originally chosen by an international jury in Germany as the only selected British entry to go forward to the European VT video competition. The finalists' films were screened during European Science Week in Paris last weekend and the Fairfield video was awarded top honours. Second and Third Prizes went to teams from the Czech Republic and Poland.
The film will now become part of a DVD about the Venus Transit event across Europe. Off to Chile
It means the makers of the film, called "Venus Transit in the Golden Valley," have won an all-expenses trip to see the largest telescope in the World, located in Chile.  | | Transit of Venus as seen by the children |
The Golden Valley transit event involved 400 children from 20 schools and included sending their images of Venus passing in front of the sun to North Loburn Primary School in South Island, New Zealand, because the transit was not visible in that part of the southern hemisphere. The events also marked the 25th anniversary of Golden Valley schools working closely together. The first public screening of the film was on Monday, October the 25th, at Clifford Primary School, when 97 people attended and families of the children involved with the Summer School received their individual copy of both the VT and Summer School films. The film has also been shown to Herefordshire Council staff - those in the Local Education Authority - so they know what is being achieved in our schools. Mark Chamberlain, School Services Manager, was one of the many "stars" of the film and was "over the moon" with the news. "I do a bit of narrating and tell the story of how I've been waiting 45 years - since I was a schoolboy - to witness the Venus transit.
"This rare astronomical phenomenon last occurred 122 years ago," said Mark. "This is a fantastic achievement. Our youngsters loved it and it and puts the Golden Valley on the European map," he added. Skills on show
Louisa Llewellyn used skills learned as a Broadcast Journalist, to good use to help make the film the success it has been. "When colleagues found out about my background they asked me to get involved with the project - which was the first of several I've now been involved in," said Louisa, Officer in the Schools Excellence Cluster.  | | The Transit of Venus seen on the webcam at BBC Hereford and Worcester |
"This is a fantastic achievement - it really is an astronomical achievement," said Paul Haley, Extended Schools Adviser who organized the event. Of course, the main reason for the events was to allow youngsters to witness the rare passing of Venus in front of the Sun. "It's great to be involved in something which benefits our youngsters and also gains recognition for Herefordshire on such a massive scale," he added. "The fact that we've won the top honour in this European-wide competition is the icing on the cake," added Paul. | 
