New Brighton primary school opens doors to inspiring innovation showcase

Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Primary School in New Brighton has opened its annual innovation exhibition this week — and it’s already drawing praise from visitors for putting young minds centre stage.

Running until Friday 11 July, the ‘Inspiring Futures Through Innovation’ exhibition in Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Primary School is free and open to everyone from 9am to 5pm daily. It’s a chance for the community to see how pupils from nursery right through to Year 6 are using technology to think big and imagine a better future.

Inside the school hall — transformed with tunnels, tents and immersive displays — visitors can explore 10 themed zones covering everything from coding and gaming to AI and social media. The exhibition is designed to spark conversations about how we use technology and how today’s children could help shape tomorrow’s world.

Mark Bellamy, assistant education director, visited earlier in the week and said: “This shows just what inspirational teaching can do — bringing together staff, families and the wider community to help children aim higher than they ever thought possible.”

Among the highlights is ‘Fairgrounds of the Future’, created by Year 1 pupils who have used LEGO robotics and coding to design new fairground rides for New Brighton, inspired by chats with parents and grandparents.

One Year 1 pupil said: “I loved coding on the iPads to make the fairground of the future. It was fun listening to our parents about New Brighton in the past too.”

Year 4 have been looking at how we live and how we might live in years to come. Working with local architect Colin Usher, they explored how homes have changed through time before coming up with their own designs for sustainable houses of the future. They even got hands-on at the University of Liverpool, experimenting with paper aeroplanes and AI to test their ideas.

The exhibition has made a big impression on visitors so far, with one leaving a note in the school’s Innovation Café: “A super showcase based on something that touches all our lives. The children’s passion really shines through — I found the social media zone particularly powerful.”

That zone, ‘The Social Media Mirror’, is the work of Year 6 pupils who dug into how apps can trigger addictive behaviours in the brain. Headteacher Tom Wallace says seeing pupils tackle big topics like this has been one of the highlights of the week.

“I’m so proud of what our pupils and staff have achieved,” he said. “Every year group has brought their ideas to life and visitors have been amazed by what they’ve seen — even our youngest children have been looking at how tech can help care for the planet. The best part has been hearing local residents share memories and join the conversation about where we go next.”

The full line-up includes:

• Fairgrounds of the Future – Year 1
• Eco-Tourism Website Design – Year 2
• AI Rainforest Heroes – Reception
• E-Waste and E-Sports Hub – Year 3
• Technology Through Time – Year 4
• The Rainforest Saved – Reception
• Tech for the Earth – Nursery
• WALL-E Robots and the Future – Nursery
• Future Business Innovation: AI Dragon’s Den – Year 5
• The Social Media Mirror – Year 6

The exhibition is part of the work of the Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which brings together nine schools across Wirral and Cheshire. CEO Andy Moor said: “It’s fantastic to see the creativity and courage of Ss. Peter & Paul’s pupils in action. This showcase really sums up what we’re about as a trust — inspiring innovation and big ideas.”

The exhibition runs until Friday 11 July at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Primary School in New Brighton.

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