A team of Year 7 students from King James I Academy have won first place in the North East Regional Final of the VEX IQ Robotics Competition.
They will now compete in the National Finals at the NEC in Birmingham.
This prestigious final is being held as part of the Big Bang Science Fair, which runs from the 16-19th March.
Year 7 students, who discovered a passion and flair for robotics whilst taking part in organised activities at King James’ Transition Summer School, have been learning new skills in engineering, robotics and programming during STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) enrichment sessions. These sessions form part of the Academy’s commitment to driving forward STEM subjects.
Students producing the most effective robot designs and programs were selected to represent the Academy in three teams competing in three separate challenges.
The competition, called ‘VEX IQ Bankshot Challenge’ involved building robots that were capable of clearing balls from an arena, shooting them into scoring zones followed by the team successfully parking the robot on a ramp at the end.
The three rounds consisted of a team alliance, solo driving and autonomous programming challenge.
The winning team, consisting of students Shaye Kelly, Lucas Stuart and Aaron Showler, will travel to Birmingham for the final in March, sponsored by Derek Campbell of Thrift Energy, who will kindly be covering the cost of accommodation for the team.
Mr Lawton, who runs the sessions at the Academy, was extremely impressed by the way students performed at the regional competition.
He said: “Students show great enthusiasm and initiative in robotics sessions in school.
“Winning the regional final is just reward for their dedication to developing their knowledge and skills.
“Teamwork is a vital aspect of this competition and all of our students did a great job in that and every other respect.
We are excited and very much looking forward to the National Final at the NEC.”
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
