Eva makes it a triple success for primary school’s STEM accolades
Brediland pupils celebrate winning three national awards
Youngsters at a Paisley primary school are excelling in all things STEM having scooped three national awards for their hard work.
Pupils at Brediland Primary in Foxbar were awarded the STEM Nation Award by Education Scotland last year and were recently named as the winners of the Digital Schools Award, recognising the use of digital technology across all stages within the school.
And P6 pupil Eva Bradley made it a hat- trick for the Achray Drive school by winning Doosan Babcock’s Future of Engineering essay competition.
The competition encouraged budding engineers to showcase their innovative thinking.
For this year’s competition, entrants were asked to write an essay about the ways in which engineers play a crucial role in making the world a better place to live in, particularly when faced with a constantly changing global environment and sustainability challenges.
Talented Eva managed to fight off competition from other youngsters from all over the UK and was delighted to be named as the winner.
She said: “I was so surprised when I heard I won the STEM Future of Engineering competition!
“I love doing STEM activities in class and at home and I want to be a nuclear engineer when I am older.
“The CEO of Doosan Babcock has really inspired me – he grew up in Foxbar too.”
Teachers at Brediland Primary use STEM throughout a large number of projects in the school to inspire children to be passionate about the world of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Each year pupils across all age groups take part in projects with Glasgow Caledonian University and Doosan Babcock which are funded by the Royal Society, and are now introducing these projects to other schools across Renfrewshire.
The projects are becoming so successful that Brediland Primary is helping to introduce them to other schools across Renfrewshire.
Eva’s teacher, Mrs Callaghan said: “We incorporate STEM into our lessons wherever we can.
“Some of our activities this year have included creating a 3D Coronacoaster to show how our emotions fluctuated throughout lockdown, applying our maths skills by designing and building bridges to span a given distance and considering our knowledge of characterisation and setting from our class novel, to create a house for the main character who lived in a woodland setting.
“Our involvement in projects with Glasgow University, question and answer sessions with engineers and involvement with local businesses, has inspired many of the children in my class to consider engineering as a future career.”
Brediland headteacher, MarieClaire Temple added: “STEM education is at the forefront of equipping our young people to reach positive destinations, and developing innovations of the future.
“STEM is integral to Scotland’s economic and social development.
“I am extremely proud of the success and achievement of all pupils and staff and look forward to our young people realising their STEM ambitions.”