In the first week of February, NLA hosted a Merseyside regional qualifying event for this years VEX IQ Robotics 'Rapid Relay' competition, as part of a provision to help build the footprint in the North West, and to provide opportunities to our local schools for STEM enrichment and extra-curricular provision to extend their Computing and Technology curriculum.
What is VEX IQ Robotics?
VEX Robotics offers comprehensive educational solutions designed to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into classroom settings, fostering essential skills such as creativity, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving. Their curriculum spans from early education to university levels, ensuring a continuum of learning that adapts to various educational stages.
Educational robotics empowers students by providing autonomy in learning, enhancing engagement, and motivation. This approach allows students to leverage their strengths and address individual learning needs, fostering a sense of ownership over their educational journey.
By integrating VEX Robotics into our enrichment, NLA can provide students with hands-on experiences that not only teach STEM concepts but also prepare them for future challenges by developing critical computational thinking skills.
10 teams from local schools attended, with a mixture of Secondary and Primary schools being represented. New schools had attended a staff CPD training event delivered jointly by VEX Robotics UK and NLA, with teams being offered free team registration and a free grant robotics kit to enable them to take part.
The day consisted of several matches played between different teams, with the aim to score as many points by their robots in each one minute match. These qualifying matches then informed the final matches, where teams by average score rank order played together. The highest scoring pair of teams was then awarded the 'Teamwork champion' accolade, winning the regional qualifier and being awarded places at the UK Championships, taking place over two days at the Telford International Centre.
The UK Championships consists of the best 80 Middle School teams from across the UK, with teams competing to win places at the VEX World Championships, taking place in Texas in May 2025.
Of the 10 teams competing, the winning pair consisted of NLA's 34395C team 'NLA Spirit' and Holy Family Catholic High school's team 'HF Robotics'. On the day as well as being jointly awarded 'Teamwork champions', NLA's 'NLA Spirit' team was also awarded the best individual 'Skills champions' award for their highest scoring individual skills match score.
We'd like to thank all students and teaching staff for attending and wish our team the best of luck in the UK Championships.
To find out more about VEX IQ Robotics, click here.
