Hundreds of primary six pupils from across Moray have descended on RAF Lossiemouth to see how their hard work in the classroom translates into job skills.
More than 300 students from across 18 different schools arrived at the base yesterday for day three of the force’s STEM in the Workplace event, providing students with an insight into how Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are used across a variety of trades.
Military personnel from across 10 trades participated in the event alongside a variety of local and national partners hosting a series of interactive demonstrations, exhibitions and workshops based on everything form the theory of flight and RAF Police forensic science techniques to computer coding and problem solving.
Wing Commander Chrissy Ashton joined the force just over 12 months ago, giving up her job as an English and drama teacher.
She spoke of how STEM influences the air force and how important it is to engage students at such a young age.
She said: “I think STEM is amazing, but you also need that element of creativity to be successful. Everything we do is about being better, faster, smarter because we have to keep our leading edge and so STEM is the thing that allows us actually do that.
“One of the biggest things we do in the RAF is innovation and we always have to innovate and transform because the RAF is a really technical service and if we don’t innovate and transform then we will lose our leading edge, we will lose our advantage.”
She added: “They are the future of the royal air force and they are the future of farming industry, environment, sustainability; all of those things that make the country better.”
More than 1,200 pupils from across the region have turned out for the event which has been held at various locations across the base in recent years.
Squadron Leader Paul Duke, from RAF Lossiemouth’s STEM Outreach team, said: “This is a big event for the station but it’s certainly been a few months in the making.
“There are kids at this age who get it, understand and are comfortable with those subjects and are comfortable knowing it will lead me somewhere but it’s those ones who don’t understand the relevance of those STEM skills. Its skills you can pick up in the classroom or at events like this that have a really big relevance to the world of work and the disciple from it.”
