A PRIMARY school is celebrating after winning a prestigious national award and £10,000 in prize money for their innovative science bus.

Mile Oak Primary School in Portslade won the 2015 Randstad Education Award on Thursday night ahead of hundreds of applicant schools.

The school won the highly sought after prize for their adapted double decker bus donated by Brighton and Hove Bus Company which is designed to make teaching science and subjects more fun.

Headteacher Martin Cooper said the money will be now used to further enhance the bus to become a resource for all schools in the city to use.

Members of the school’s staff and Brighton and Hove Buses were in attendance at the award ceremony in Birmingham to pick up the giant cheque.

As well as Brighton and Hove Bus Company, the school has been working closely with their near neighbours Portslade Aldridge Community Academy to develop the project with the secondary school helping to source a weather station for the bus.

The bus is currently based in PACA car park but Mr Cooper is hopeful of bringing the bus on to the Mile Oak Primary School field so that their pupils can get even more use out of it.

As well as science lessons, the bus has been used for creative writing workshops and this Friday was used to host visiting poets.

Mr Cooper said: “It’s really great that we have won considering there were about 250 schools that had entered. The whole idea of the awards is to reward innovation in education and it came down between us and a school which had a barge and I think we were a bit further along with our project.

“The money will all be going towards the development of the bus project, we’ve got to weatherproof it and fit it out.

“Now that we can say that we have won £10,000 for this project then other people might come forward and contribute.”

Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, hailed the project as “a great demonstration of creativity, resourcefulness and inspiration for pupils”.

She said: “The school’s innovative double decker bus classroom won the hearts of our judges and we’re now awaiting progress updates as they transform their bus into two science zones.”

Martin Harris, managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus Company, said: “We are all absolutely thrilled that the Mile Oak science bus project has won this vital funding and the national recognition it deserves for this innovative approach to education.”