Category: Digital Learning in Action

Careers in STEM – Connecting Learners with STEM Professionals

Beyond Coding: Inspiring Future STEM Careers

Following the success of our recent Digital Xtra-funded coding clubs, we wanted to build on learners’ enthusiasm for technology by helping our young learners explore the wide range of careers available within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

To support this, we organised an online session where learners across West Lothian were invited to hear directly from Doug Kinloch (Software Security at Applied) and Rab Campbell (Growth Director at Social Value), two industry professionals working in STEM-related fields. Our speakers shared their career journeys, discussed what their jobs involve, and answered questions from curious young learners.

 

There Is No Single Route into STEM

One of the strongest messages throughout the session was that there is no single pathway into a STEM career.

Both speakers highlighted that where you start is not necessarily where you end up. They encouraged learners not to worry if they don’t yet know exactly what they want to do in the future. In fact, many professionals change direction several times throughout their careers, developing new skills and interests along the way.

 

STEM and Creativity Go Hand in Hand

Another interesting discussion centred around the common misconception that pursuing a STEM career means leaving creativity behind.

Our speakers challenged this myth, explaining that some of the most creative people they work with are employed in STEM-related industries. Examples included game designers, graphic designers and audio engineers.

 

What Makes STEM Careers Rewarding?

 

Potential Matters More Than Knowledge

Perhaps the most reassuring message of the session was that employers are often more interested in a person’s potential than what they already know.

Our speakers explained that many organisations recruit individuals who demonstrate curiosity, enthusiasm, resilience and a willingness to learn. Technical knowledge can be taught, but qualities such as determination, problem-solving and a positive attitude are highly valued by employers.

This helped reinforce the importance of learners continuing to develop their skills, ask questions and embrace new challenges.

 

Looking Forward

The session was a fantastic opportunity for learners to gain first-hand insight into STEM careers and hear from professionals who have taken different routes into industry.

We would like to thank our guest speakers for giving up their time to inspire the next generation and for sharing such honest and encouraging advice. We hope the session has helped learners to see that STEM careers are diverse, creative, collaborative and accessible to anyone willing to learn and explore their interests.

 

Celebrating Creativity & Coding at Howden St Andrew’s!

Pupils at Howden St Andrew’s recently explored the LEGO SPIKE Essential kits, using sensors, motors and block coding to design and create a range of carnival-themed games.

P4–6 pupils were excited to get started and quickly began exploring how the kits worked. Over the course of six weeks, they used the LEGO kits to design creations that could solve a problem, then used block coding to bring them to life.

They showed creativity and curiosity as they developed their ideas further, adapting and improving their projects to make them more interesting, unique and, in some cases, more complex.

As they became more confident, pupils started to experiment more with their code.

Instead of just following instructions, they have been taking ownership of their projects by:

  • adding their own triggers and movements
  • experimenting with sound effects
  • trying out more complex “if/then” style programming

🎡 Designing Their Own Carnival Games

This block’s big challenge has been building carnival‑themed games, and learners have risen to it with enthusiasm. Using what they’ve learned about:

  • motor rotations
  • sensors
  • speed control
  • angles
  • cause & effect in coding

…they’ve turned their LEGO kits into exciting, playable creations.

🏀 A Highlight: The LEGO Basketball Game

One standout project came from a pupil who designed a basketball‑throwing game entirely from scratch.

  • He coded the LEGO motor to throw the ball toward a hoop.
  • He used a sensor to detect when a goal was scored.
  • He added sound effects to celebrate successful shots.
  • He built his own reset mechanism so the motor rotated back into position.

He deepened his understanding of angles, discovering what a 90‑degree turn truly looks like in practice – how far the motor rotates, whether that angle generates enough force to throw the ball, and how to adjust it when it didn’t. This was maths‑in‑action at its best: experimenting, testing, refining, and making connections.

🔍 More Brilliant Thinking from the Groups

Other groups showed fantastic STEM thinking too:

  • One team explored motor rotations, discussing how far their mechanism needed to turn to make their game work smoothly.
  • Another group experimented with speed settings, predicting and testing how increasing speed affects the distance a ball would travel.

These moments captured the essence of the club: pupils thinking critically, applying real‑world STEM concepts, and discovering answers through hands‑on testing.

🌟 A Celebration of Skills, Curiosity & Teamwork

Across the block, learners have shown:

  • Resilience by trying again when things didn’t work
  • Collaboration by helping each other debug and improve
  • Leadership by taking ownership of their designs
  • Creativity by turning technical components into imaginative games

Well done to all! You’ve been superstars.

Pupil Voice & Leadership in Action: Letham & Riverside Learners Shape the Future of Digital Learning

Over the last few weeks, a group of enthusiastic pupils from Letham and Riverside Primary Schools have taken on an exciting leadership project exploring how digital technology is currently used in their schools and how it could be improved as they prepare for their move to the new Craigshill building.

Pupils then delivered a hybrid presentation, sharing their findings both in person to staff from the WL Equity Team and the WL Digital Learning Team, whilst simultaneously sharing via video link with Digital Leaders at Bankton Primary.

What They Wanted to Find Out

They developed a series of questions to explore the real experiences of learners and staff:

  • What does “digital” mean to you?
  • What’s going well digitally in our school?
  • What would you like to change or improve, digitally in our school?
  • How does your learning connect to real life, and how does technology support the curriculum?
  • Do we currently have the right materials to help us learn effectively?
  • Do teachers meet the needs of individual pupils and help you learn in different ways?
  • Are there good opportunities to use digital technology to support learning and the curriculum?

These questions opened up honest conversations about access, confidence, creativity, and the role technology plays in everyday learning.

What They Discovered

Across both schools, pupils found a strong appreciation for technology as a tool for research, learning, creativity, communication, and independence. They highlighted examples of digital tools being used well, such as for supporting writing with MS Accessibility tools, coding with Beebots and Scratch, boosting engagement with Kahoot, Blooket and Sumdog, and presenting ideas and learning with Adobe Express.

At the same time, pupils shared thoughtful ideas about how things could be even better. They talked about:

  • exploring more creativity tools to share learning
  • improving Wi-Fi access (which they will be pleased to hear, is in the process of being developed in all WL schools, and should be improved by the end of the year)
  • increased opportunities to explore new digital tools and apps to support learning

Their feedback showed how deeply young people understand the role technology plays in preparing them for life, further learning, and future careers.

This incredible opportunity has helped learners develop skills in communication, leadership, and teamwork, while also helping to help shape digital learning across the wider school community.

Well done everyone! What a fantastic achievement!

Mini Music Producers at Hawkhill Primary School

P5, 6 & 7 at Hawkhill Primary had a fantastically creative morning thanks to YMI (Youth Music Initiative) and Tinderbox Creative.

Pupils were introduced to a range of music genres and instruments through the Garageband app on iPads. They explored layering loops to create a song, which included drums, bass and a melody for musical interest. They learned how to duplicate, edit and add loops together to make their own songs, building their understanding of rhythm, pitch and dynamics.

Pupils were excited to share their creations with each other and could confidently explain their choices for their music, with their peers giving each other detailed and supportive feedback. Staff were impressed at the collaboration and communication skills being developed during this process too.

More feedback from staff included that they’d never heard the pupils so quiet and engaged. Classes are currently working on a STEM IDL focus so are excited to continue exploring how technology can support a range of industries.

Pupils used words such as ‘Amazing’, ‘Fantastic’ and ‘Inspiring’ to describe the session – they are excited to use their new skills again soon.

Thank you to Andra & Chris from Tinderbox for delivering such an engaging and fascinating session. We can’t wait to see how the pupils continue to develop these skills and hear their creations.

Sharing the Learning

Pupils from Hawkhill are also keen to develop their Young Leader skills and would love to support this learning at other primary schools. If anyone is interested in being involved in this, please reach out to the Digital Learning Team.

Exploring what the future might look like with SpheroBOLT

Primary 3 at Howden St. Andrew’s PS are the latest class to borrow the SpheroBOLT robots from the Digital Learning Team. Used as part of their Project Based Learning time, they explored the question, ‘What will the future look like?‘ and considered how technology might shape their future world.

From these discussions came lots of questions about robots and how they work. Learners developed early coding skills by giving the SpheroBOLT simple instructions and watching what happened next. They enjoyed trying out different commands, spotting mistakes and fixing them when things didn’t go to plan. By working together and having fun experimenting, pupils learned that coding is all about problem‑solving, teamwork and trying again.

Spotlight on: Profiling with My World of Work

At Williamston Primary, we’ve been working with pupils in Primary 4–7 to develop their skills in profiling and self-reflection using My World of Work.

Why Profiling Matters

Profiling encourages pupils to take ownership of their learning journey. By recording achievements and setting achievable goals, they can begin to see the connection between effort, progress, and success. It’s a powerful tool for developing skills for learning, life, and work.

What is My World of Work?

My World of Work has been designed by Skills Development Scotland, to help learners understand their strengths, set meaningful goals, and celebrate achievements in a way that builds confidence and prepares them for future learning. On the platform, learners can:

  • Explore their interests and skills
  • Understand different careers and pathways
  • Build a personal profile that grows with them through school and beyond

It supports pupils to develop self-awareness and ownership of learning.

My World of Work in action

Pupils are becoming more confident in talking about their learning and proud of their progress. Teachers have noticed richer conversations during learning reviews, and parents appreciate seeing detailed profiles that showcase effort and growth.

If you’d like more information about using My World of Work with your learners, or if you’ve used it and would like to share your successes, please get in touch with the Digital Learning Team.

Spotlight on MS Reading Progress: Success Stories from St Mary’s Bathgate

We are delighted to share some recent success stories from St Mary’s Primary School, Bathgate, following their implementation of the Microsoft Reading Progress Learning Accelerator tool.

Reading Progress became a key focus for literacy and reading interventions following staff CLPL sessions in 2024 and reflection on attainment data. Focus was on supporting targeted pupils and breaking down barriers to learning around comprehension, as well as developing confidence, fluency and expression in their reading. Pupil Support Workers were also targeted in the training and staff sessions, in order to support pupils and build sustainability across the school. Pupils really enjoyed using Reading Progress and were excited when they began to see their improvements.

“Pupils feel secure using Reading Progress with a device. They can go off and record in a quiet space without an audience. The camera really draws them in and they can get instant feedback.”

Class Teacher

The insights generated provide clear data which can be used to support and plan next steps and SMART targets, as well as being used to verify teacher judgement. Line graphs are generated automatically for individual pupils and the class, based on accuracy and reading speed, as well as additional data provided for challenge words and expression in reading.

Unintended Results and Additional Success

Staff were thrilled to see not just an improvement in confidence, fluency and expression when using Reading Coach, but also within the wider class setting. Pupils began to volunteer to read out loud in front of the class, and participate more in class / group tasks with their peers.

“Pupils even began bringing in books from home to share and read – that didn’t happen before!”

Class Teacher

Microsoft Reading Progress and Reading Coach

Microsoft Reading Progress is a Teams based programme, in which the class teacher assigns a text for pupils to read out-loud and record. The platform analyses the recording and generates feedback based on pronunciation, fluency, expression and has the option to add in comprehension.


Microsoft Reading Coach is another Learning Accelerator which can be used within the Reading Progress assignment, or as a stand-alone feature either through immersive reader or through the new web-based app:
• Reading Progress tracks the progress of the learner.
• Reading coach offers support and opportunities to practice parts they find challenging.

The web-based app offers the chance for pupils to generate their own stories based on their interests, practice in their own time, and earn rewards for continued reading.

Well done again to St Mary’s, Bathgate. We are looking forward to see your continued progress next session!

Adobe Achievement: Riverside PS win a Pizza Party!

We are delighted to announce Riverside Primary as the first winners of the Adobe Express Pizza Party, in recognition of their dedication to developing and enhancing digital skills and confidence through the use of Adobe Express for learning and teaching.

Staff and P5-7 pupils participated in a range of curriculum-based live lessons, focusing on topics including World Book Day, Road Safety, Anti-Bullying and Anti-Piracy. Pupils are now independently exploring and utilising the features of Adobe Express in their own time. Staff have also highlight improvements in other digital skills such as confidence and success of logging on, driven by their enthusiasm for the platform.

“In Literacy, pupils wrote a setting description, put it into the Adobe AI feature and worked out how they could edit or improve their writing. It really made it come alive.”

P5 Teacher

“Adobe Express has increased their confidence logging in, as they are excited to use it as a fast finisher”

Digital Lead

The Pizza Party was award after successful completion of 3 different Adobe Challenges across a number of classes. Huge well done to Riverside pupils – what an achievement! We can’t wait to see how you continue to use Adobe Express in the future.

Adobe Express is a fantastic creativity tool, available for staff and pupils in P4 and above, through GLOW. As well as a huge range of Live Lessons to get pupils started, Adobe Express offer additional lesson ideas and Teacher and Educator courses too.

If you have an achievement or success you’d like us to share on our Digital Learning Team blog, please get in touch by emailing us at digitallearningteam@westlothian.org.uk

Robotics and STEM Education at Kirkhill Primary School

P5 pupils at Kirkhill Primary school have been working with First Step Robotics, to explore and develop their skills in STEM education, through the use of Lego Spike Robotics kits.

Pupils have been using problem solving and coding skills to build, test, code and trouble-shoot a range of robotic systems to solve real-world problems.

One example of this was building and coding a taxi to travel to different locations to collect passengers. This particular project involved including mathematical calculations to work out the distance the taxi had to travel.

“I like that we get to build creations and use our art skills.”

“I like robotics because I like programming. Programming is important in case you work in robotics in the future. Programming tells the robot what to do. It’s useful for later on in life for jobs.”

 

Pupils from Kirkhill PS and other local schools are showcasing some of their work at the First Step Robotics family open day on Saturday 21st June. Pupils and families across West Lothian are invited to come along, see some of the amazing projects and even have a go at some hands-on robotic challenges.

Incredible Inventors: Celebrating Digital Innovation

We are thrilled to announce that two talented students from Kirkhill Primary School have been recognised as Runners-Up in the recent #DigitalInventorsCompetition! Their innovative project earned them an invitation to the award ceremony in Glasgow this week, where they celebrated their achievements.

The Competition

Pupils were challenged to research common health and care challenges and come up with ideas that could be transformed into a digital health and care solution.

They designed a heated blanket to soothe the symptoms of Arthritis, and includes space for a medicated gel pad for topical treatment, and a digital chip to connect to an app for wireless control. It is designed to be made using recycled materials, and specifically targets the area of pain, using heat to improve symptoms and reduce the environmental impact of heating the whole house.

Kirkhill Primary School submitted designs from pupils across P6, and also had a second group receive a Special Recognition award for their invention too. This is an incredible achievement to all. Well done to everyone who entered, you are all superstars!