Scientific thrills and spills have been drafted into one Bradford school as teachers hit back at MPs' claims that the subject is too boring.

Youngsters fired rockets hundreds of feet into the air as one of many hands-on science experiences which go on throughout the school year across the district.

The Science and Technology Select Committee, made up of MPs, yesterday called for the curriculum to be overhauled to make it more relevant to the lives of youngsters.

But as pupils gathered at Hanson School yesterday to test rockets they had made in class, the message from those involved in education across the district was: "Science here is fun".

And there was a feeling that science in Bradford was thriving.

Teresa Whitfield, Education Bradford's director of achievement, said: "Far from being boring, science teaching at many of our schools is good. This has been borne out by improved key stage results in science."

Janet Keefe, science co-ordinator at Cottingley Village Primary School, said younger age groups were able to take part in more fun activities as part of their studies at Key Stage 2.

This week, the school discovered it was the winner of a regional science competition set by Leeds University, which asked youngsters to design a structure that could support four fun-sized Mars bars. Cottingley pupils created their structure using drinking straws, fruit sweets and cocktail sticks.

Pupils at the school had also carried out experiments to discover the best design for a paper aeroplane and researched whether electric toothbrushes were better than normal ones.

"They've also done an X-Files-type investigation on the computer, where they had to solve the mystery of what is eating the flesh of tunnel workers," she said.

But Joan Law, head at Laisterdyke High School and a chemistry teacher, agrees the science curriculum for teenagers is boring.

She said the curriculum for primary pupils was well-designed with a strong emphasis on practical experiments. But for the 11-14 age group, the curriculum was too dry and relied on rote learning and pupils being able to regurgitate a large amount of knowledge in tests.

"We have people who are bored to tears with it," she said. "We try to add variety, but at the end of the day we have a sausage machine we have to stuff the children through."

Air traffic control at Leeds-Bradford Airport had to be warned yesterday as 14 rockets made by pupils soared to heights of around 1,000ft.

Hanson School, on Sutton Avenue, Bradford, had invited renowned rocket engineer John Bonson to the school to demonstrate the practical aspects of rocket science.

Teachers at the school say a more innovative approach to teaching science has seen the numbers of pupils electing to take the discipline at A-level rise to 75 per cent of their sixth form.

Assistant head Mukesh Nar said: "If you want to increase the numbers of children at the higher level you need to capture their imagination and from my experience working in schools across Bradford, our schools are very good at this."

But Dr Ian Gibson, chairman of the Government committee, said pupils had to cram so many facts in they had no time to explore interesting ideas.

"This is a disaster. We need to encourage a new generation of young scientists and to ensure that the rest of the population has a sound understanding of scientific principles.