Laois students with autism shine bright at STEM showcase

Six primary schools took part in STEM Stars

Published 22nd Jun 2026, 18:55 BST Seanie Morris and Ava Keogh launching their rockets. Six primary schools took part in STEM Stars Sign up to our Laois Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Laois Live within your account.

A STEM showcase was held for Laois primary school students with autism on Thursday, June 18.

Six schools in Laois took part in the ‘STEM Stars’ project which was aimed at empowering neurodiverse and autistic pupils to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The showcase at Laois Education Support Centre in Portlaoise was the culmination of the project, with students and their families invited along for the celebration.

Participating schools included Clonenagh NS in Mountrath, Tobar an Leinn NS in Raheen, Gaelscoil Phortlaoise, Our Lady’s Meadow National School in Durrow, Rath NS and Holy Family Senior School in Portlaoise.

The team behind the STEM Stars Showcase in Laois Education Centre: Dean Hodge, Antoinette Brennan, Catherine Doolan, Seanie Morris, Ava Keogh, and Kelley Keogh. | Laois County Council. The project was a collaboration between Laois County Council’s STEM Engagement Team and Laois Education Support Centre.

The STEM activities were created and led by Laois County Council’s STEM Engagement Officer, Seanie Morris.

“We felt that we could add a little extra value to a typical school day in these excellent ASD classes, celebrating STEM with autistic children and accommodate their neurodiverse abilities by experiencing space rocket science, robot programming and game controller coding,” Mr Morris said.

Student Elijah at the Pop Rocket Workshop. | Laois County Council. “It is important that STEM is as inclusive as possible, and while we have been doing some great work with neurodiversity in Laois communities in Laois County Council, to team up with Laois Education Support Centre and their supported schools gave us a chance to widen the catchment of STEM among children with special educational needs.”

READ NEXT: Green light given for new childcare facility in Laois

Seanie worked with teachers and SNAs to deliver hands-on and engaging activities to students.

Some of these activities included pop rocket launching which allowed students to build their own paper space rocket and use chemistry to create a reaction that would launch the rocket.

VEX 123 Programming was another activity where students took a VEX 123 ‘puck’ robot and programmed it to travel, play sounds and change colours.

Seanie with pupils from Gaelscoil Phortlaoise. | Laois County Council. An engraved silver medal and a named certificate was presented to each pupil that took part in the programme at the showcase. A commemorative plaque was also presented to each school in recognition of their own STEM activities.

Commenting on STEM Stars, Catherine Doolan, Director of Laois Education Support Centre said: “We had various STEM offerings in the centre to the schools in our catchment area, but we were particularly excited about introducing a provision to schools that have autism classes and provide an opportunity for the students in those classes to experience a range of STEM activities linked to the curriculum.”

"Laois County Council brought a wealth of experience, excitement and fun to the programme. We saw how the activities were adapted to meet the needs of the pupils. The Council and Seanie were wonderful partners in this project."

Related topics: Laois Laois County Council Portlaoise Sign up to our Laois Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Laois Live within your account.