Youngsters get to see STEM skills in action on Hovertravel school trip

The children from Haylands School were given a guided tour of the world’s only year-round commercial passenger hovercraft service, inside the engine room and pilots’ cockpit. The eager learners were then served lunch in Hotertravel’s Solent Views meeting room facilities, with unique views over the hoverport and across the Solent to Portsmouth.

Loretta Lale, head of commercial at Hovertravel, said: ‘Part of the purpose of the visit was to raise awareness of how hovercraft work and what makes hovercraft different. By reaching out to a younger audience, there's the chance to inspire curiosity-led interest in a different form of transport which is on their doorstep.’

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Haylands teachers, Emma Platts and Gareth Thomas said: ‘At Haylands Year R we have been learning about different ways of travelling. We especially focussed on the ways we travel on the Isle of Wight and visiting the hovercraft seemed like the perfect opportunity to see our unique travel method in action. The children loved finding out about the hovercraft and the pilots. We were so grateful for the welcome Hovertravel gave us and how accommodating they were.’

Hovertravel has a well-established school groups booking procedure and can tailor a visit with talks from pilots, engineers, crew and commercial executives, as well as arranging a flight to demonstrate the hovercraft’s capabilities. Any schools interested in visiting Hovertravel should visit their website – click the link for more.