TEAMS from Cumnock Academy and Greenmill and Netherthird primary schools put their skills in engineering and science to the test in front of industry experts.

They were in the Morphy Richards Engineering Education Centre at Dumfries House Estate for the Young Engineers and Science Clubs’ (YESC) Ayrshire regional celebration.

Pupils presented their classwork to judges from local companies Barr Environmental and Merck.

They then took on challenges set by a range of companies who have partnered with Dumfries House, including BAE Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, William Grant and Sons Distillers, Booth Welsh, Scottish Power, Royal Navy, and NXP Semiconductors.

A host of fun, messy science tasks were offered by The Institute of Physics.

Lynn Richmond, class teacher at Netherthird Primary School, believes the event proved motivating for her pupils.

She said: “Once again, the STEM celebration at Dumfries House was a great success. The team enjoyed participating in the challenges set by employers, which gave them an insight how STEM is used in the workplace.

“The YESC challenges were fabulous and, although we didn’t win, the judges took a great interest in everything our science club has done.

“Thank you to Dumfries House for organising it all. We can’t wait until next year’s event.”

Karen Alexander, head of STEM education at Dumfries House, added: “We are really encouraged by the way school staff and pupils are embracing science, technology, engineering, and maths, and we hope everyone left the event inspired to go further in these subject areas and to return for similar future activities.