Johannesburg - An all-girl trio from Reddford House Blue Hills in Johannesburg is making moves in the technology space after their movable robot won an international accolade.
The invention, made by the Midrand private school’s pupils, set them apart from their peers across the world who were all competing in the STEM focused challenge at BUILD Robotics 2022. This category was for those aged 11 to 12-years-old and entries came from pupils from 22 countries and spanned five continents.
The inter-school technology challenge brings together inspired pupils, and this year’s competition, which was entitled, Enabling Movement, was led by St. Louis School of Milan, Italy.
The European school invited Inspired students from schools all over the world from ages seven to 13 to make machines that enable movement using innovative coding and creative design.
This challenge allowed the Reddford House pupils 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,” head of campus at Reddford House Blue Hills, Zain Strydom said.
“Our students’ winning entry demonstrated their ability to code and intelligently design the robot to move in different directions,” he said.
The Inspired Builds 2022 Global Robotics competition winners from Reddford House Blue Hills 2022 (in the category 11-12 years of age) was an all-girls team made up of Bontle Ngoasheng, Alishia Naidoo, and Shalom Halata.
The podium winners made robots that are superior in four categories:
Intelligent Design
Innovation
Programming Quality
General Appeal
Reddford House Blue Hills said that they were proud of their 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 programmes, 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 students have dominated in the Global Inspired Builds Robotics competition on a global platform. In 2021 when the competition was hosted by Fulham House School in London, UK, two Reddford House Grade 7 teams from South Africa were placed in the top 5 winning positions. Students came from all three of the Reddford House schools in South Africa and included Reddford House Northcliff, Reddford House Blue Hills in Midrand, and Reddford House The Hills, Pretoria East.
The global competition is in line with Inspired’s educational approach that is 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 (science, technology, engineering, maths) sectors, and thrive in a fast-changing information-driven and digital world.