A competition to design a new logo for West Lothian STEM attracted more than 650 submissions from primary school children across the region.
The logo will be used on materials by West Lothian’s new Primary Science Development Officer (PSDO) for the Raising Aspirations in Science Education (RAiSE) programme.
Kathryn, a P7 pupil at Livingston’s Peel Primary School, designed a logo which featured a cog visually representing the different elements of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths). She said:
“I feel very accomplished and proud of myself to win this competition for the whole of West Lothian.”
Emma Ballantyne, the school’s Head Teacher, added:
“We are delighted that Kathryn was selected as the winner of the West Lothian STEM logo competition. She has shown great determination and ambition in developing such a clear and attractive logo to raise the profile of STEM in our school and beyond. We are very proud of this achievement.”
Kathryn won a Sphero Bolt robot which was donated by RS Components. Mia from Linlithgow’s Springfield Primary School secured the second prize which was a STEM book signed and donated by the author Caroline Alliston. The third prize of an Air Zooka, donated by the SSERC Primary team, was secured by Bartosz from St Thomas Primary School in Addiewell.
A network of more than 50 primary teachers, STEM mentors in their schools, voted for the three winners from a shortlist.
Nicola Connor, RAiSE PSDO in West Lothian, said:
“The response to the competition was incredible. It was wonderful to see the creativity and efforts of West Lothian’s pupils. It was certainly no easy task to choose a shortlist and winner.
“At the heart of successful STEM learning is exciting and motivating people, engaging them in a journey of exploration. I have recently taken up post so it’s been wonderful to engage schools and pupils at the beginning of our journey together and I look forward to developing our work together further.”
RAiSE is a programme of The Wood Foundation, Education Scotland, Scottish Government, and participating local authorities. It empowers primary teachers with the skills and networks to deliver engaging and motivating STEM experiences.