Inspirational Stuart jets back to Hathershaw

Hathershaw College has played a pivotal role in Stuart Beech’s life

As part of National Careers Week and British Science Week, Hathershaw College was proud to invite back ex-staff member and ex-pupil Stuart Beech.

Pilot Stuart and his colleague visited the Hathershaw College to deliver a Resilient Pilots’ Aviation Inspiration Workshop (supported by the Department for Transport (DfT) and the United Kingdom Reach For The Sky Programme).

The school has a very unique history, having been commissioned by Avro Lancaster in 1955 to be built in the shape of the famous WWII bomber.

The school has also played a pivotal role in Stuart’s life.

His parents met at the school in 1973 during a science lesson, and Stuart’s mum became a dinner lady at the school, retiring in 2018 after 40 years’ service. 

Stuart attended as a student and returned as a mathematics teacher in the early 2000s, before embarking upon his career as a pilot.

This week Stuart returned to Hathershaw to inspire the next generation of very talented young people as part of Resilient Pilot’s NextGen Programme.

Year 7 students that show an interest in aviation will be enrolled into the five-year continuous virtual programme that will support the development of personal and professional behaviours required in the aviation industry.

Stuart delivered an assembly to Year 7 pupils about the aviation industry and the programme, then ran two workshops with the students where they got a taste of what it’s like to work in the industry.

Students were given a boarding pass and a seat on the ‘plane’, and some were given roles such as cabin crew, pilot, engineer etc.

They also had to do a few realistic calculations to find out how long the flight would take, how much fuel would be needed, and even weather effects on the flight.

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