THE appliance of science in one Greenock school has been given a boost after they received funding to buy new equipment.

Pupils at Inverclyde Academy are set to benefit from a £2,000 donation made by Amazon in Gourock which will be used to expand its science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) lunchtime clubs.

The school plans to introduce LEGO sets to allow pupils to build and program a robot using coding.

The school hopes to encourage more pupils to consider STEM careers in the future.

Scott McHendry from Inverclyde Academy says the donation will make a big difference.

Mr McHendry said: "It’s brilliant to receive this support from Amazon.

"A strong STEM skillset is essential in many careers and to know that Amazon is supportive of our efforts to help pupils embrace these subjects is fantastic.

"On behalf of our school, I’d like to say thank-you to the local Amazon team for this donation.”

Inverclyde Academy welcomed the donation during the the Science Association’s British Science Week.

It was made under Amazon's community programme, whereby the company supports groups in the local area.

To mark the donation, team members from the Amazon centre in Gourock visited the school to learn about its STEM programmes and meet some teachers and pupils.

Amazon’s Gourock general manager Gavin Morrison said: "Our team had a fantastic time visiting Inverclyde Academy and it’s great to learn more about the great work being done by the British Science Association and local schools to engage pupils in STEM subjects.”

Katherine Mathieson, the chief executive of the British Science Association, said: “The British Science Association is delighted to be partnering with Amazon UK.

"It’s great to see them supporting STEM education."