Over the school holidays our Head of School, Kristie Goodsir, and our Deputy Head of School, Jessica Davidson were selected out of 200 applicants to participate in the School to Skies programme at the Whenuapai Air Force base above Auckland.

This was a 6 day intensive camp aimed at year 13 girls. 38 girls across the country took part in the course.

Kristie and Jessica’s account of the week is given below:

“We both loved our experience at School to Skies right from having to wake up at 6:30am everyday to getting to fly in a military aircraft! We did so many amazing hands-on activities that “civilians” would never get to experience. We also had time in the classroom getting to know the theory side of the process which was really nice as we were able to see a real life application to what we learn in class at school.

In the classroom we learnt the principles of flight, and a bit about the engines and all the stages it goes through. Then we had a few personal development sessions with the base psychologist where you get to learn a lot about yourself, and about leadership and resilience. Another cool thing we did was navigating, we did a pre-flight planning for a search and rescue scenario.

For the practical side of things, we were spread out around the base doing heaps of different hands-on activities, military skills, and getting to see what different trades do. At the same time also getting to experience what a normal working day on base looks like. Our favourite experience was using the seasprite simulator, which meant getting the chance to fly a helicopter around with total control. We also enjoyed getting to build and fix components on a real life aircraft. On top of this we did metal work, welding, nondestructive testing, and survival skills.

On the last day we were lucky enough to have lunch with and hear from the Governor General and the Chief of the Airforce. After this we were given the opportunity to take a ride in a Hercules aircraft which felt like something out of a movie, especially when they opened up the ramp at the back so we got a unique view while we were flying over Auckland city!

We both definitely learnt a huge amount, about what life is actually like in the military and also about ourselves and our future. Both of us plan on joining the Airforce and are super excited for what’s ahead. It’s so crazy because if our careers adviser never told us about School to Skies we would never have thought of it as a possible career path, so we really encourage girls to look at a variety of opportunities they have available to them after high school. School to Skies was the most incredible experience and we are both truly grateful to have been a part of it.”