Praise for inventive Olnafirth pupils

Pupils from Olnafirth Primary School in Voe are celebrating after being highly commended in Scotland’s Junior Saltire Prize for their wave powered generator.

The team received a £250 prize for their school in the P5-7 category of the competition managed by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), in partnership with Scottish Council for Development and Industry and backed by the Scottish government.

The Junior Saltire Award finalists were asked to create, design, build and test a wave powered generator suitable for Scottish waters. The Olnafirth team built their model and tested it out at Strathclyde University’s test tank on Thursday.

Presenting their award at Big Bang Scotland, energy manager of SDS Rob Orr said: “This group of pupils should be very proud of their achievements in creating a design to harness renewable energy. They showed tremendous insight, inventiveness and imagination. They could see the huge potential that Scotland has in this area and in a practical way, at a very detailed level, created a workable design.”

Minister for energy, enterprise and tourism Fergus Ewing said: “I am consistently impressed by the creative and innovative ideas that come from our young people. Taking part in these awards helps them develop the entrepreneurial skills and confidence they need to take these ideas and to develop them in the future.”

More in this week’s paper.