Flying high at ESLA

Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) has launched a Business Class Partnership to help students at nearby Enterprise South Liverpool Academy (ESLA) in Garston, be better prepared for future careers and life in the outside world when they finish their current education.

The partnership has been co-ordinated by Business in the Community, the business led charity who have helped the airport and the academy come together and devise a series of initiatives as part of their ‘Business Class’ programme. This is aimed at developing long term partnerships between schools and businesses giving support to young people. The work to be undertaken with the airport has been specifically tailored to meet the needs of the students and to complement their other academic studies.

Throughout the academic year, managers and other employees from the Airport Company will be giving up their time to work through a number of initiatives with students across all years. These will include:

Visiting the academy to give reading support and student mentoring to help with other studies

Taking students on a maths trail around the airport to illustrate real life examples of maths being used in the workplace

Attending the academy’s breakfast club to be interviewed by students about their career path and current role

A ‘writing to persuade’ initiative with students working on a marketing brief based on a real life case study from the airport.

Andrew Cornish, LJLA’s new chief executive said: “Schemes like this are an excellent way for the airport to be more involved with local communities. The students of today are our prospective employees of the future and we want to help encourage them to be better prepared for life in the outside world when it comes to thinking about a future career, whether that’s at the airport or elsewhere.

“The other big attraction for us, is that this is a ‘win-win’ situation for both organisations, as the activities we plan to undertake with the students will also be an excellent way to help develop our own staff too, helping to improve their management and communication skills as well as giving them the chance to be able to make a difference in the local community.”

Jack Pendlebury, principal from ESLA said: “We are delighted with this initiative which supports our planned development as an academy. The partnership with LJLA is an opportunity for education and business to develop a shared language that meets the needs of both organisations. We are looking forward to the ‘Business Class’ having a positive and measurable impact on the effectiveness of all concerned.”