LOCAL school pupils put their skills in engineering and science to the test in front of industry experts as part of an annual event at Dumfries House estate, near Cumnock.

The estate’s Morphy Richards Engineering Education Centre hosted a hive of activity as around 90 budding engineers and scientists, including teams from Stanley Primary School and St Matthew’s Academy, participated in 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.

Youngsters from Stanley Primary School prevailed in the ‘three minute challenge’ and received a special award for their efforts. Gillian Crangle, depute head teacher of the school, believes the event proved motivating for her pupils.

She said: “The children’s self-esteem and confidence grew due to the team successfully completing and winning the STEM challenge trophy. They became aware of how they could use science and technology in their future careers. The children were excited, and chatted about their experiences and successes of the many challenges with their parents, staff and pupils when they returned. The other staff were enthused by their stories and now P4-6 are booked to visit Dumfries House for their summer trip.”

The educational aspect of Dumfries House estate forms a key element of the vision of His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, who used £20million of his charitable foundation’s money in 2007 to secure the future of Dumfries House and use it to help people engage in learning experiences that promote confidence and personal development as well as offer training in real-life skills to open up future employment opportunities.

Karen Alexander, head of STEM education at Dumfries House, said: “It was a pleasure to host schools from all over Ayrshire and to welcome our valued industry partners to the YESC event. 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 to Dumfries House for similar future activities and school residential trips.”