The Air League gives 40 students an aviation experience to remember
Caption: Harrison at the controls. Image: The Air League
More than 40 students from schools across Hertfordshire and North London took to the skies at London Elstree Aerodrome last week…
Caption: Harrison at the controls. Image: The Air League
More than 40 students from schools across Hertfordshire and North London took to the skies at London Elstree Aerodrome last week after completing a seven-month programme that breaks down barriers for state school students to pursue a career in aviation and aerospace sectors.
Organised by the UK’s leading aviation and aerospace charity, The Air League, 42 students joined a series of Air Experience Days at the London Elstree Aerodrome this week. They took part in workshops to help develop team-building and communication skills, before experiencing a half-day flying lesson with powered planes.
The day marks students completing The Air League’s Soaring to Success programme, a careers enrichment course for pupils aged 13-17 at state-funded schools that bridges the gap between education and industry. It aims to inspire, enable, and support the next generation to consider a career within aviation and aerospace.
The charity was joined by representatives from the programme’s key sponsors from industry-leading organisations and companies including Boeing, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Careers and Enterprise Company.
Cohorts of students from Edmonton Academy in North London, Hertswood Academy in Borehamwood and Birchwood High School in Bishop’s Stortford took part in the charity’s flagship seven-month programme.
Students from schools in Yorkshire and the West Midlands also took part in the programme, bringing the total number of young people who participated in the free course to 200.
Founded in 1909, the Air League is the UK’s leading aviation and aerospace charity. It aims to increase and improve social mobility through the inspiration and realisation that opportunities and possibilities in the aviation sector are accessible to all.
‘Soaring to Success’
Ian Morrison, Chief Executive at The Air League, said: “Our Soaring to Success programme is the best way to engage and inspire young students who might not have previously thought a career in aviation was possible. Seeing the development of these students over a seven-month period, from their confidence to their ability to work constructively with one another, has been a real treat.
“The opportunity these students have been given would not be possible without our partners and sponsors. Each and every one of them has contributed to their future endeavours and to them we are very grateful.”
Sophie Jones, Head of Organisational Capacity and STEM sponsor at UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said: “Soaring to Success plays an important role towards enriching students with the right knowledge to pursue a career in aviation and aerospace.
“Through the Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund, organisations are able to provide outreach and deliver targeted projects to students from diverse backgrounds who are gaining opportunities to develop the essential skills needed for the sector.
“We hope the work being done through the programme will continue to inspire young people to use their talent to lead the future of aviation and aerospace.”
Judith Crimes, Careers Leader at Birchwood High School in East Hertfordshire, said: “It’s been brilliant; the whole day has been extraordinary, and the amount of time people have given up to interact with the students and show them all the different opportunities there are within aviation, it’s just fantastic.
“For those students who had a narrow idea of aviation just being about the pilots, they’ve had their eyes opened to all the different roles there are. We’ve had students also being really interested in the engineering side and we’ve been able to introduce them to the different aspects and areas having been joined by the ambassadors and volunteers from all areas of aviation.”
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