Sciennes Science Festival Celebrates Fundraising Success

Sciennes science fest celebrates fundraising success

Article Posted on 16 June 2015 by Children & Families 
City of Edinburgh Bright Futures website 

At the beginning of the month, parents, pupils and staff of Sciennes Primary School got together for a special science fair to celebrate the school’s successful fundraising drives. The event featured workshops provided by members of the University of Edinburgh faculty and activities offered by local businesses, as well as a programme of talks.

The fair saw the school reach their fundraising target of £55,000 for playground improvements, which means the figure will now be matched by SportScotland, to allow the work to begin.

A member of Sciennes Parent Council brings us the full story.


A science fair, organised and led by Sciennes Parent Council and supported by staff and pupils, was held on Saturday 6 June to celebrate a year of remarkable fundraising.

Free science, technology, engineering and mathematics workshops provided by Edinburgh University parents, their friends and colleagues – with PhD students including a former pupil – were highly engaging and enriching for our children. Local businesses and charities supported the event and

• The Scottish Wildlife Trust
• RSPB
• Scottish Badgers
• the Forestry Commission
• the John Muir Trust

provided free activities for the pupils.

Victoria Nelson from Mercy Corps, one of the City of Edinburgh Council’s partner charities, gave a talk on how science can help in dealing with natural disasters. Dr Andrew Murray provided an inspirational keynote presentation, which was so well attended and well received that he very kindly offered to deliver it twice.

Although the event was designed as a thank you and as an educational experience rather than a fundraising event, a remarkable £7,400 was raised on the day. This has enabled the school to reach our ambitious target of raising £55,000 which will now be matched by SportScotland for playground improvements.

Our entire school community has vigorously pursued a common goal throughout the year and we are incredibly proud of reaching that goal together by putting into practice our school motto ‘Believe – Achieve.’

See photos from Science science fair on the Sciennes Primary blog and watch a video created by Sciennes Parent Council below.