Thousands of primary school children across west London are learning about the ins and outs of Heathrow Airport thanks to a new school challenge.

Heathrow Primary School Challenge aims to encourage children to begin thinking about career prospects while teaching them about how the UK's biggest airport exports things like jewellery, machinery, tonnes of fresh salmon and medicines to many destinations across the world.

The initiative is tailored towards children under the age of 12 and will be available to more than 3,100 pupils in 50 schools across Ealing, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Slough and Spelthorne until the end of October this year.

During lessons, children will learn about the Airport's exports before using a computer programme called Scratch to create their own cargo journey.

"Heathrow is working with local primary schools to ensure that children have a positive bank of memories, skills and experiences to use when they are ready to get into the world of work" said Heathrow’s head of economic development Sundeep Sangha.

"And with 40,000 additional local jobs and up to 10,000 apprenticeships created through Heathrow’s expansion and additional runway, there will be a huge opportunity for students to start their career with us.

"We have refreshed and refocused this year’s challenge to make it even more exciting and inspiring for these young students by drawing some inspiration from the little known, but crucially important role, Heathrow plays as the UK’s biggest port by value.

Children at Foxborough Primary School in Slough engage with the project

"We look forward to meeting what could be our future colleagues, and having some fun along the way."

The challenge is part of the Heathrow Community Investment Programme which aims to raise aspirations and academic achievement by engaging with local schools, colleges and universities.

According to Heathrow Airport in the past 11 years more than 23,400 local students have benefited from skills taught as part of their programme.

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