It’s all about the three I’s when it comes to the Bright Spark Awards.

Open to primary and secondary schools across the south-east, the school-science competition categories are innovation, investigation and invention.

The awards encourage teams of pupils to use cross-curricular skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects in practical projects.

And with the May 31 deadline little more than one month away, schools are being urged to put the finishing touches to entries now.

Shortlisted teams will get to present their projects to judges including long-term supporter Golding Vision, which said it was keen to see entries from as broad a background as possible.

Golding community development adviser Sarah Leipnik said: “We’ve been sponsoring Bright Sparks for a long time, and we really see the importance of getting young people of all ages to get involved in Stem.

“We want to raise the aspirations of the young people in all of our communities, and this competition is a great way of doing that.

“So, all of the schools in our communities, we would really love for them to get involved.”

Last year’s entries included projects from Aylesford School and Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre.

The team from Aylesford School use mechanics and hydraulic power to build a prototype crane, while the Homewood team investigated how spending time with animals could relieve stress among pupils.

Apart from Golding Vision, the other judging organisations are Pfizer, Atkins Global, Megger, The ITL Group, EduKit, Highways England, BAE Systems, Global Associates, Kent Renewable Energy and Discovery Park, where the awards will be presented following a Dragons Den-style event in July.

Find out more about the awards by visiting Kmcharityteam.co.uk/brightspark or contacting event coordinator Hannah Hawksworth at hhawksworth@thekmgroup.co.uk or on 0844 264 0291.

And watch a video in which Ms Leipnik talks about the competition here: