Old plane converted to classroom

Kingsland School, Stoke on Tent UK

Children at a Stoke-on-Trent school have had their first lesson in their new classroom - a commercial airliner. The plane was saved from scrap after children at Kingsland Primary School were given the chance to choose what they wanted as an extra classroom. "One little boy said an aeroplane so we went and found one," head teacher David Lawrence said.

The decommissioned S-360, which used to operate to Ireland and Spain, has been fitted out with desks and laptops.

Mr Lawrence said opening the aircraft to the children was the culmination of nearly two years' work by them. They came up with the idea of using a plane as a classroom after a visit to see Concorde. "The children's imagination has been fired up by the idea and they are enthused and motivated. We are sure this will lead to improved attendance, give us better and more opportunities for our creative curriculum and raise attainment," he said.

Paul Hawkins, of project managers King's Wings, said the plane had been spotted in a field in Market Drayton, waiting to be scrapped. It was bought for £11,000 and then transformed into the classroom.


Above: Year 3 and 4 pupils from Kingsland Primary School in Stoke-on-Trent prepare to enter their novel new classroom.


Above: A teacher gives a lesson in the decommissioned aeroplane.

BBC NEWS