Hurlford Primary and ECC celebrates national STEM award with special event
Hurlford Primary and Early Childhood Centre held a special event recently to celebrate receiving a full Sciences, Technologies, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Nation Award from Education Scotland.
They were the first primary school and early childhood centre in East Ayrshire to achieve the prestigious award, which celebrates, promotes and builds on effective practice in STEM education.
To achieve the award, the school had to gather and submit evidence for the five elements of the award - leadership in STEM, STEM family and community learning, employability and STEM partnership working, STEM curriculum and learner pathways, and equity and equality in STEM. Once submitted this work was reviewed by Education Scotland and then discussions were held to explore their evidence in more depth. They were presented with their award in June.
The school held a special STEM showcase event that allowed the children to demonstrate some of the exciting STEM learning experiences and projects to invited guests, including local members Councillors Neal Ingram, Barry Douglas and Graham Boyd.
Councillor Elaine Cowan, Spokesperson for Education, and Children and Young People said: “It is a credit to the whole school that Hurlford Primary and Early Childhood Centre has been recognised with this national award. They were recognised for their ‘motivating and ambitious STEM curriculum’. The staff have worked really hard to engage with STEM industry partners including SP Energy Networks, Aerospace Kinross, and the Royal Navy, which has had a real impact on the children.
“Preparing our children for the future is a key priority for the Council. The workplace has changed significantly in the last ten years and will change significantly again by the time the children from Hurlford Primary are joining the workforce. STEM is the future and it is essential that our children are prepared so that they can reach their full potential and East Ayrshire can flourish.”
Head Teacher Gillian Campbell said: “We are absolutely delighted that both our Primary School and Early Childhood Centre were awarded the STEM Nation Award in June 2026. This achievement reflects the hard work, enthusiasm, and commitment of our pupils and staff in promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics across our learning community.
“To celebrate this success, we held a STEM Showcase Event, where our pupils shared some of the exciting STEM learning experiences and projects that contributed to this award. All of our invited guests were really impressed with the wide range of STEM learning and particularly the enthusiasm of the children.”
Education Scotland’s STEM Nation Award is the cornerstone of the Scottish Government’s STEM Education and Training Strategy for Scotland. The Government strategy sets out a vision of Scotland as a world-leading STEM nation with a highly-educated and skilled population equipped with the STEM skills, knowledge and capability required to adapt and thrive in a rapidly-changing world.
STEM skills are crucial as Scotland seeks to transition to net-zero and as the demand for STEM skills grows to support our key economic sectors including: green economy, energy, space, advanced manufacturing, engineering, life and chemical sciences, food and drink and creative and digital media.