IT was up, up and away for children at Oaklands School when a lesson on flight took them to the Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit.

Pupils at the school, in Albion Hill, Loughton, were able to sit in a police helicopter, see how they are maintained and how they take-off and land.

The visit to the helicopter base, in Lippits Hill, High Beach, was organised by the school to tie-in with its current focus on the study of flight.

Deputy headteacher Cheryl Macnair said: “Originally we wanted a helicopter to land in our school but our field wasn’t big enough. This was a much better idea. The people there were absolutely fantastic and lovely with the children.

“We were shown round and the children found it really interesting. They were able to sit in a helicopter and see it land and take-off. They all found it hilarious because we had to stand in a certain position with our hands over our ears and one of the smaller pupils when the helicopter took-off almost took-off with it.

“They had a fantastic time they really did and they learnt a lot. At the end we asked them about it and about 80 per cent of the children now want to be pilots.”