Kells and Connor PS in Rolls Royce final

The school is among nine finalists and is the only one from Northern Ireland.

As a finalist, the school has been awarded £6,000 to implement a science teaching project and could win a further £15,000 in this national competition.

Teachers from Kells and Connor Primary School have developed a project where children will explore the industrial innovation of the past which shaped the city of Belfast.

Pupils will develop an understanding of science in the past and how they as innovators of the future can contribute to improving design.

Roy McClelland, head teacher at the school, said it’s the first time Kells and Connor Primary had entered and pointed out that every member of staff and all 175 pupils will be involved.

Mr McClelland, who is leading the project, also revealed that even vice-principal, Miss Lorna Porter, who is currently on exchange to Magill Primary in Adelaide, Australia, will be following the project on its website (www.appsolutegenius.me) and involving pupils in her antipodean P7 class in experiments.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be part of the competition final,” he said.

“This is a great opportunity for the school to focus on practical science activities, directly related to famous technological innovations previously developed in Northern Ireland. Through our science project we hope to ‘Educate, Innovate and Inspire’ let’s hope we can develop scientists and inventors for the future.”

The £6,000 in prize money scooped by the school so far will be used to develop the project over the next school year.

The finalists’ projects will be judged in October 2012, with the winner receiving £15,000 to spend on science teaching. The winning school will also spend a day with the Red Arrows display team.

The Rolls-Royce Science Prize was set up in 2004, as part of the company’s ongoing drive to promote science and engineering in schools by encouraging and rewarding inspirational science teaching.

Each year, the company awards a total of £120,000 in cash prizes to schools who implement motivational science teaching. To date, over £800,000 in prize money has been distributed to 300 schools in the UK.

The national network of Science Learning Centres provides professional development for teachers of science at all levels. Any teachers that attend courses can enter their school into the Rolls-Royce Science Prize.

Helen Bishop, Head of Community Investment, Rolls-Royce, said: “The Rolls-Royce Science Prize was established to reward inspirational teaching within schools. Teachers are instrumental in helping to inspire and enthuse a new generation of young engineers. “The level of enthusiasm demonstrated by Kells and Connor School has been outstanding. I look forward to watching their school project progress during the coming year.”