Leading international oilfield services company, Expro, has partnered up with an Aberdeenshire primary school to donate £1,500 of interactive learning technology – bringing learning to life for nearly 450 school pupils.

Strathburn Primary School in Inverurie launched its ‘Coding Club’, for children in primaries four to seven, which focuses on building the knowledge and skills of coding in order to deliver the next generation of digital creators. 

Expro’s funding will supply Lego WeDo 2.0 sets that allow the children to design, build and control their devices to complete a range of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) challenges.  The Apple Parrot drones are used by the older children to programme flight paths, manoeuvres and even aerobatic tricks for the drones to perform in order to complete set challenges - or just to impress!

Commenting on the school partnership, Andy Gould, IT Solutions Architect for Expro, said:

“In an increasingly digital age, the knowledge and skills of coding are becoming more important for our next generation of school children.  We have seen the demand for apps and technology in the workplace increase exponentially, therefore future generations who can build/develop these will have a significant career advantage.

“The equipment we’ve donated to the new coding club harnesses the enthusiasm shown by the pupils, allowing them to build their skills and confidence in this area.  It’s been inspiring to see them embrace this technology so quickly, often outperforming the adults in the room!”

Cara Hay, Depute Head Teacher at Strathburn Primary School, added:

“We are extremely grateful to Expro for its generous donation towards the development of our Coding Club. We’re thrilled that the company sees the potential of pupils, alongside the broader benefit our project brings to the curriculum.

“With this support, I’ve no doubt that our students will develop their digital literacy skills and become the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.”