About Us...
What sets Heli-Wise apart from other companies is its unique combination of skills – photographic, teaching, genuine love for aviation, and an ongoing passion for teaching children by delivering a fun, real life experience.
The idea of flying helicopters into schools – as a learning experience - is the brainchild of Heli-Wise’s Managing Director, Malcolm Morgan.
Elementary Mapping Skills and Britain’s “Iron Lady”
Back in the 1980's, the British Government, lead by “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, introduced the National Curriculum for state-run schools. One of the original requirements was that children should learn basic mapping skills using aerial photographs, “preferably of regions with which they are familiar”.
That meant that every state-run school in Britain needed local aerial photographs, but with little or no budget provided to pay for them! Two of the teachers affected by this decision were Malcolm’s sister and brother-in-law.
Light Bulb Goes On
Malcolm, who owned a photographic business in London at the time, already had a passion for flying. He began to see how he could help and applied his ideas to the budgeting problem. His speciality was taking aerial photographs and one thing became apparent - it was the sheer interest created wherever a helicopter landed, particularly for children.
His sister and brother-in-law were very willing to help develop the educational materials required and so an idea was born.…. he would provide the pictures schools needed, but the school itself would not have to pay!
The Helicopter Comes to School
Early versions focused mostly on the excitement of the helicopter landing and the photographs. These included aerial shots of the school and surroundings (required for the classroom) and aerial photographs of the children on the ground - which were then sold to parents.
IT'S FREE!
TO YOUR SCHOOL
Evolving
Later versions included an educational talk on helicopters and flying. The pictures would then be incorporated into a flight-related children's workbook. This created even more interest among the children but had the added advantage of being tax exempt (in the UK) thus keeping costs down.
Malcolm initially partnered with a helicopter company to offer this service, but over the years, he became more and more involved with the educational side of the visit and in 2004, he formed Heli-Wise.
No Longer Just about Geography
Heli-Wise now strives to identify all those elements across the curriculum that might be associated with the children’s experience with the helicopter.
It's no longer just about Geography, but also Science (forces and air), Mathematics (scale and measurement, fuel consumption and costs), English (writing based on the exciting helicopter visit), Art and Design (sketching a helicopter), etc.
Now it’s all about education
We’ve all been to school and we all know that lessons can be boring!
Heli-Wise’s goal is to make learning more stimulating and the focus is now firmly on the educational side. Working closely with professional advisors, new Teacher's Resources have been developed and participating schools have free access. Here can be found many, many relevant primary level activities, most of which are interactive.
The Helicopter is coming to America!
We’re now delighted to be able to extend the Heli-Wise experience to U.S. elementary and primary schools. We’re currently working with U.S. teachers to modify the educational materials in the Teacher's Resources and the workbooks for use in American schools.
With a track record going back more than twenty years, Heli-Wise will soon be bringing the 'awe and wonder' that they have provided to countless thousands in the UK to schoolchildren in America.
