Airline launches ‘easyJet Flightsize’ lessons for primary school children aged 7 – 10
Airline easyJet has today 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, as most schools in the UK remain closed during lockdown.
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 at least 8th March when schools could be 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 are able to return to the classroom, easyJet will 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.”
