AN ALLOA nursery has received an award for its work in driving forward early learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

ABC Nursery has been participating in the first phase in Education Scotland's STEM Nation Award programme where officers were looking for interesting and innovative practice from across the country.

The local nursery has impressed them in three out of five areas with its STEM family and community learning, partnership working and with its curriculum and learner pathways.

Headteacher Lorna Willows said: "We are delighted to announce that ABC Nursery have been successful in gaining three out of the five elements of the Education Scotland STEM Nation Award.

"Our ABC Nursery STEM improvement team are already planning how we can develop the remaining two areas and gain enough evidence to meet the criteria in these elements for 2020-2021 awards.

"We would like to thank all the staff, children and families for their contributions and hard work, this wouldn't have been possible without you."

Some of the STEM-related activities at the Alloa nursery saw the children learn about the differences between bees and wasps, creating a board with picture cut-outs and drawings to help visualise it all.

Hands-on experiences saw the children learn about the marine environment by collecting samples in local wetlands.