GATWICK Airport has partnered with the Gatwick Aviation Museum and the Royal Aeronautical Society to host a year-long series of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based events for primary schools.

In the first of the year-long series of educational ‘Cool Aeronautics’ events, taking place at the Gatwick Aviation Museum, 71 students from Southgate Primary School in Crawley were invited to attend a day of talks with pilots and Gatwick’s airfield operations staff.

They also had a tour of the museum and participated in a number of aircraft design challenges.

First launched in 2007, Cool Aeronautics is the Royal Aeronautical Society’s primary school outreach programme which aims to encourage STEM interest and introduce children to careers in aerospace engineering, space and the aviation industry.

The programme has continued to grow since it was first established, with more than 4,000 students participating in events in the past two years alone, across the UK and around the world.

The event partnership forms part of Gatwick Airport’s Community Engagement ‘Inform, Inspire, Invest’ education strategy, including partnerships with other STEM initiatives, such as the Big Bang Fair and Learn Live broadcasts.

The airport is also supporting the Government’s national ‘Year of Engineering 2018’ campaign, and is celebrating engineering and helping to raise its status as an aspirational career path among young people, their parents and teachers.

Gatwick Airport’s Community Engagement Manager Paula Aldridge said: “Cool Aeronautics is a fantastic event to inspire children living near the airport.

“Investing in these types of events allows us to nurture the next generation of young people who might consider careers at Gatwick, helping us to build a pipeline of talent for the future.”

Royal Aeronautical Society’s Careers & Outreach Officer, Jonathan Axford, said: “A love of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths often begins at primary-school age but schools do not always have the resources to get their pupils excited about the possibilities of these subjects.”