An all-girl trio of Midrand learners have shone brightly in the tech space after winning a global robotics competition.
The team from private school Reddford House Blue Hills in Midrand entered into the recent Inspired Builds Robotics 2022 competition, an international inter-school technology challenge that brings together learners from around the world.
The winning team from Reddford House Blue Hills 2022 in the category 11–12 years of age included Bontle Ngoasheng, Alishia Naidoo and Shalom Halata.
The challenge is designed to highlight the best of Inspired Schools’ student robotics talent across 22 countries spanning five continents.
This year’s competition was titled “Enabling Movement” and led by St Louis School of Milan, Italy. International learners from ages 7 to 13 were invited to make machines that enable movement using innovative coding and creative design.
Reddford House said its learners jumped at the opportunity to show their creativity and ingenuity through the use of machine technology.
“The standard of entries this year was incredibly high, with students demonstrating their knowledge and skills in this STEM competition. Our students’ winning entry demonstrated their ability to code and intelligently design the robot to move in different directions,” said Zain Strydom, head of campus at Reddford House Blue Hills.
The podium winners in the competition made robots that were superior in four categories, including intelligent design, innovation, programming quality and general appeal.
Strydom said that Reddford House Blue Hills was proud of its winning team of pupils competing in the senior preparatory category.
“We could not be prouder of the dedication and hard work of our robotics team members and teachers, which resulted in our second international win in the Inspired Builds competition. As we continue to invest in robotics and coding projects, our students learn how to build robots and programs, code, grasp a solid maths and science foundation, and build collaborative and leadership skills. These are all the necessary ingredients for a highly successful future career,” Strydom said.
This is not the first time Reddford House learners from all three of the Reddford House schools in South Africa (Reddford House Northcliff, Reddford House Blue Hills in Midrand, and Reddford House The Hills, Pretoria East) have dominated in the Global Inspired Builds Robotics competition.
In 2021, when the competition was hosted by Fulham House School in London, UK, two Reddford House Grade 7 teams were placed in the top 5 winning positions.
“The global competition is in line with an educational approach that’s based on lateral thinking, comprehension, and the innovative application of skills and concepts, all of which encompass empowering students to build successful careers in the fast-growing and crucially important STEM sectors, and thrive in a fast-changing information-driven and digital world,” the school said.
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