Wardley Primary School robotics team will be representing the UK next May as they head to the USA to compete in the Vex Robotics World Championships.
The team was given this opportunity after winning the Excellence Award in Telford last April. This award was the highest accolade presented at the competition. Each team is judged on the performance of their robot during the competition, their interviews with judges and their robot design process and competition strategy.
At the event, they were also crowned National Teamwork Champions and came a narrow second place in the Robot Skills challenge.
Daniel Burfield, Year 3 Teacher, and Vex Robotics enthusiast has expressed his delight at their success.
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"We are hugely proud of the achievements of our team – not only was it fantastic to get to the national contest, but to come home with multiple awards to share with the whole school was a really wonderful feeling", he said.
Although this was the first time they have been crowned National Champions, robotics has been celebrated in the school for several years and the places on robotics teams are highly sort after.
The teams promote a strong work ethic, a resilience to overcome problems and a drive to be the best that they can be. The children are so passionate about this that they often spend their playtimes and lunchtimes perfecting their robots design and programming.
The team has recently launched a YouTube channel, WardleyRobotics so others can share in their journey. The channel is a celebration of Robotics in all its forms at Wardley primary school.
The fact Wardley Primary School has a robotics programme and can compete on a national level is the result of funding from the Reece Foundation and the work of the Nissan Skills School in Sunderland. They have provided a contribution that will cover many of the costs of travelling to the USA.
The school has also launched a GoFund and is looking to attract sponsorship from businesses and donations from the public to help grow and ensure that the team has the funds and equipment needed to compete at the World Championships in Dallas.
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