Airbus

Airbus is proud of its 3-year working relationship with ABLAZE and its achievements to date within numerous South West schools near to its engineering and manufacturing facility in Filton, Bristol. The company works in partnership with education bodies to support the Government drive to raise education standards and support the ‘Life Long Learning’ agenda. It aspires to encourage school children to take an interest in engineering, science, technology and maths in the hope they may pursue a future career in engineering and business.

As part of its Educational Partnership initiatives, Airbus donates professional time and finance to support schools in a diverse range of projects, including engineering competitions, careers events and work experience.

In the South West, Airbus currently works with ABLAZE on two initiatives - the Airbus Innovation Challenge and Number Partners.

Number Partners

Fonthill Primary is in Southmead, Bristol. The community has many strengths, but it is an area of deprivation, and its children face more than their fair share of challenges. Most importantly they need help with raising their expectations of what life can offer them, and they need support to make up for low educational starting point.

That is why we feel the support we have from the Reading Buddies and Number Partners from Airbus is so important. Help and support from the community sends the message that people care, and that is a very powerful motivator for both pupils and school staff.

 Here is one small story. Geoff and Mike work as Number Partners in our school with some Y2 children. This is what Josh (6) says.

 ‘I work with Geoff. I play different games with him that help me learn to do maths. Today we played a game with circles and numbers, which we had to double and half. I do really well at Maths now because Geoff helps me.'

 Josh started the year well below national average at 1c. He is now working above national expectations at 2a. That is phenomenal progress.

 Geoff gets a lot out of it too. Very enthusiastic (if a bit nervous) to start, he is really impressed by the willingness of some children to learn, and gets excited about the dramatic progress they can make. This engagement makes him very perceptive about the children.

 ‘Kids get lot of confidence because they are not being made to feel silly when they can't do something. Working in two's lets them take chances, so failing is more of a joke than something bad. The opportunity to talk is important too. Some questions have no right or wrong answers, so talking it through and explaining really helps them'

 Just one child - but a life time difference

Airbus Number Partners volunteers are actively involved in addressing some of the key issues in education in the South West, such as learning basic mathematical skills. Each week volunteers from Airbus visit certain local schools to play a set of numeric games specially developed by BEAM Education. There are currently around 40 volunteers from Airbus supporting the Number Partners project that have mentored hundreds of pupils to date.

 

Airbus Innovation Challenge

The Airbus Innovation Challenge provides pupils with a direct insight into the world of science and engineering, teaching them how some of the soft skills like creative thinking, communication and team working can make a real difference to the outcome of a project.

The Airbus Innovation Challenge is timetabled to integrate with the school calendar and, each year, numerous teams of pupils from local schools enter the challenge. The children gain experience of design work within their teams, developing and translating their designs into reality then, finally, testing the effectiveness of their solution in a Grand Finale fly-off. The challenge has been recognised by teachers and parents for the way it helps children learn a variety of skills in a fun environment.

“Many pupils have said that they enjoyed working together and the Wow factor was terrific when they realised that something they had designed actually worked.” – Stuart Roach, Hareclive primary school in Hartcliffe.


If you would like more information about any of our School Liaison activities, please contact Duncan Greenman on 0117 936 2057 or email him at Duncan.Greenman@airbus.com.