Company Starchaser – which hopes to send people on space trips in the next ten years – showed excited youngsters a massive model version of the craft that will eventually take tourists out of this world.

Rocket making and launching sessions, with technology lectures, were also on offer to help bring science to life and encourage students to study the subject.

Chemistry teacher Grant Cooper said: “Space tourism is an exciting prospect, the trips will just come out of the Earth’s atmosphere so people can experience weightlessness.

“It’s expected to cost up to £10,000 but that’s a big difference from what it has been.”

Youngsters from other primary and secondary schools have also visited the Mill Hill Lane school to enjoy the Starchaser programme.

Mr Cooper added: “This project is paid for by a grant that aims to get schools working together, which is what we’ve achieved.

“Numbers of students going on to study sciences are falling, so we want them to see the interesting side of it. We want to encourage them into the field.”