Sgt Bob Bralee and Cpl Chris Donoghue

Year 9 students got a taste of real life maths challenges faced by the Royal Air Force. RAF Careers Liaison officers, Sgt Bob Bralee and Cpl Chris Donoghue visited Brooke Weston with four different maths based tasks, including the intricacies of loading cargo onto a Hercules plane, organising catering problems and observation exercises.

All Year 9 students got a chance to take part in groups of four or five. Sgt Bralee said: 'It's challenging but because it's based on the curriculum maths that they've done it brings maths very much to life. Rather than being a "dry" classroom subject, it shows students that there are practical applications for what they're learning here.'

Sgt Bralee and Cpl Donoghue are one of seven motivational outreach teams working to increase liaison between schools and the Royal Air Force, using tasks based on a variety of school subjects. They cover the East Anglia and East Midlands area and visit up to 700 schools in the district. Sgt Bralee said: ' We travel around doing a number of activities for curriculum support. This allows students to discover, in a fun way, what the Royal Air Force does and obviously raises awareness of careers opportunities while helping with their education. The students at Brooke Weston have been absolutely superb and we've enjoyed working with them.'