Homeschooling? Take off with these Flightsize Lessons - The Worcester Observer

Homeschooling? Take off with these Flightsize Lessons

Worcester Editorial 23rd Feb, 2021   0

Airline easyJet has announced the launch of ‘easyJet Flightsize’, a collection of online video lessons, to support parents across the nation still juggling home-working and home-schooling.

easyJet Pilots are fronting the new initiative and have created a programme of online lessons that include elements of basic geography, science and demystifying the magic of flying.

The collection of bitesize video-based lessons for primary school children aged 7 – 10 is designed to help parents keep kids engaged and entertained at home until 8th March when schools are due to reopen.

Fronted by the airline’s pilots, Captain Iris de Kan and Captain Brij Kotecha, the topics include ‘How Planes Fly’, ‘Why Weather is Important’ and ‘How do Pilots Know Where They Are Going?’.




The video series uses a mixture of animation and pilot tuition to help young children understand the scientific principles of flight – how wings, thrust, drag and lift allow planes to fly.

Additional lessons cover cloud formations and the impact of wind on flying, as well as a look behind the flight deck door at the controls of an aeroplane, and informative takes on what makes different parts of a plane – such as the tail, engines and nose – important.


Each of the videos also contain related activities and challenges for children to try at home including; making paper aeroplanes, drawing and identifying cloud formations, practising pilot announcements and drawing detailed maps of their hometown – ensuring children will continue to be kept entertained and informed after the lessons have finished.

When school lessons return to the classroom next month, easyJet will also be launching a virtual pilot school visits programme to continue inspiring the next generation of pilots.

This programme is a continuation of the airline’s successful Amy Johnson Initiative, which is focused on encouraging more girls to become an airline pilot.

The airline will be releasing information on how schools and teachers can request a virtual easyJet pilot visit in the coming weeks.

Johan Lundgren, easyJet CEO, said: “We know it isn’t easy for parents having to balance home-schooling with work during lockdown which is why they are always looking for ever-more exciting ways to keep their children busy and entertained in what we hope is the final stretch of home schooling.

“I am delighted that our pilots and easyJet as an airline can help out in a small way and I hope that children enjoy learning from our fantastic pilots all about how planes fly as well as a behind-the-scenes look at what the job of a pilot is like with these Flightsize lessons.”   

Click here for the easyJet Flightsize Lesson Plan:

Captain Iris de Kan, an easyJet pilot fronting the Flightsize lessons said: “As parents we know just how stressful it is trying to balance home schooling and childcare with everything else right now.

“So, we are here to help with our educational easyJet Flightsize lessons, to keep kids entertained and engaged at home.

“And once schools are able to return to the classroom, we look forward to launching our virtual pilot school visits.

“It’s important that girls have visible role models to bust gendered stereotypes of jobs and even though we can’t visit in person right now, we’ll continue to keep up the important work of our Amy Johnson Initiative to encourage more girls to consider a pilot career.”

As part of easyJet’s wider commitment to support the public during the pandemic, easyJet cabin crew are supporting the NHS in vaccination centres as part of the vital nationwide effort to distribute the Coronavirus vaccine.

The airline also stepped in to provide a little light-relief for the public last December, as they brought the joys of flying to people’s doorsteps. easyJet’s ‘Trolley Home Delivery’ service saw uniformed easyJet cabin crew arriving at doors across London wheeling an inflight cabin trolley, complete with complimentary drinks and snacks.

Previous activations from the airline have also included the roll out of ‘Flybraries’ – the airline’s child literacy programme to help kids get hooked on a book at the start of each summer holiday which saw 60,000 books for kids stocked on 300 easyJet aircraft on flights across  Europe to encourage summer holiday reading amongst children.

To access easyJet Flightsize click here.  Happy take off!

 

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