SHORTLIST: Science and Technology Award

OAKBANK SCHOOL

Keighley's Oakbank School made the shortlist after its science club made it through to the final stages of a national Lego robot competition.

The Oakbank team reached the last eight of the contest, at Loughborough University.

It eventually lost to the overall winners, who go forward to the world championships in America.

Oakbank students qualified for the final after beating 15 other teams from across the region in a heat at Bradford University.

The national contest saw them up against more than 30 other regional victors.

"All the staff who attended commented on how well our students competed against some very experienced teams," said science club mentor Cheryl Moore, a senior technician.

"They worked so hard to prepare for the championships and performed brilliantly. They are a credit to their parents, school and Keighley."

The Oakbank team built and programmed a robot to complete various tasks, such as lifting objects.

The device could even differentiate between colours and had a sensor to prevent collisions.

And the club designed a phone app to help students learn and revise different subjects, through the use of quizzes and videos.

Points were awarded for those and for teamwork.

BOWLING PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL

Bowling Park Primary School was nominated for its amazing initiative to bring items from outer space into the school.

Amid tight security, Bowling Park Primary School received the special delivery of a meteorite, moon dust and even a rock from Mars, and for a week pupils got the rare privilege of getting up close with items dating back as far as 4.3 billion years.

The materials are so precious that staff had to keep their presence secret. The samples had been provided by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and included a 1.2 billion-year-old piece of Mars and a 4.3 billion-year-old nickel meteorite.

With the solar system only being 4.6 billion years old, it is regarded as one of the oldest materials on the planet.

The samples were collected in the late 1960s and early ‘70s during some of NASA’s first manned missions to the moon.

Head teacher Stuart Herrington said: “Even the younger pupils knew they were looking at something amazing that has come from a long way away. They were really surprised and excited as they were brought round the classrooms.”

JUDITH CARNELLY - SHIRLEY MANOR PRIMARY SCHOOL

Judith Carnelly is the Reception Class Teacher/Science Co-ordinator at Shirley Manor School. Her nomination reads: "Judith has worked tirelessly over the passed few years to secure the school with a well deserved Science Mark. Judith's abundant enthusiasm for science is contagious and both our children and their parents have enjoyed several events in school which have been organised and co-ordinated by Judith such as, Science Carousels held in the school hall.

"Children and their parents were able to move around the hall and experience lots of hands on science experiments. This event was so successful she was asked to repeat the event on an annual basis.

"Keeping us in touch nature Spiderman visited school with lots of his bugs and reptile friends, this caused much excitement in school and was another event when our children had hands on experience of their own senses, sight, hearing, smell and touch. We have also been very lucky and loans of class packs of scientific equipment such as microscopes and slides have been loaned to to school and our KS2 children have been able to investigate various interesting slides under strong magnification.

"Judith also encourages us to take our children outdoors to experience science outside the classroom. Our children are able to learn in our School Garden, Forrest School Area and on the playgrounds. Our children love everything about science and all thanks to Judith Carnelly and Judith's reputation comes before her and several schools have asked to meet and observe the science work that has been done by Judith."

Telecoms specialist NGC Networks works across the education sector in Yorkshire, improving the communications of primary and secondary schools, academies and colleges.

The firm has considerable expertise in supporting schools and the growing number of academies to get the most from their telecommunications – importantly, helping them to communicate much more effectively with their pupils and families.

In the Bradford district, clients include Bingley Grammar School, Ilkley Grammar School and Oastler’s School. They also work with Outwood Grange Academies Trust, Selby High School and Ripon Grammar School and many others throughout Yorkshire and the North of England.

Their education work involves installing the latest telecoms solutions for each individual school, tailoring the solution to meet their specific needs.

At Bingley Grammar School, NGC Networks manages all of its telephony needs, including landlines and mobiles. “NGC Networks provides an excellent level of service, both in sales and service support," said Richard Durrans of Bingley Grammar School, IT Technical.

At Oastler’s School, Bradford, the firm installed a secure telecoms system suitable to the needs of a school for children with emotional, social and behavioural difficulties.

“From the outset, the NGC team responded to each of our requirements with solutions which are working very well,” said Robert Bashforth, Oastler’s assistant headteacher.