From Pelton to Dallas

Our VEX IQ Robotics journey began 18 months ago in September 2021 when we were introduced to VEX IQ by Michael Nelson and then granted a VEX IQ kit from the Nissan Skills Foundation and the Reece Foundation. That academic year a Pelton Robotics Team, of Year 5 and 6 children was created. The team met weekly during an after-school club to build ‘Clawbot’ ready for the 2021-22 regional competition at Nissan. The team attended the competition in March 2022 and came 2nd place, earning them a spot in the National Championships. Unfortunately, due to the short time frame between the two, the team couldn’t attend.

In September 2022 a new team was created…the Pelton Piranhas. During after-school club, the team of seven (boys and girls from Year 5 and 6) have worked tirelessly to modify our robot to play the new 2022-23 VEX IQ game, Slapshot. https://www.vexrobotics.com/iq/competition/viqc-current-game

Children practised driving the robot with the controller and used their coding skills to program the robot to play the game through coding alone. The club provides children with the opportunity to develop skills in STEM, teamwork, communication, determination, perseverance and resilience.

The team competed in the regional event at Nissan in January 2023 and came 2nd place in the Skills Challenge and 2nd place in the Teamwork Challenge. This strong performance ensured that the team qualified for the National Championships.

The National Championships took place in Telford on 5th and 6th of March and the team were able to attend due to generous sponsorship from Northumbrian Water (NWL support was a part of their Diversity & Inclusion strategy to work with their communities, especially in education and early careers. NWL's strategy is called TIDE – Together for Inclusion, Diversity & Equality and was launched in October 2022) and our local MP Kevan Jones.

Over the two days, the team performed excellently at the National Championships and finished the competition in 2nd place for the Teamwork Challenge.

Coming 2nd in the Teamwork Challenge at the Nationals has ensured that we are one of the few primary schools in the UK, and the first ever from County Durham, who have been invited to compete in the 3-day VEX IQ World Championships in Dallas in May. We aim to fly to Dallas on Sunday 30th April and back on Saturday 6th May 2023 (giving us a day either side of the competition to prepare and explore Dallas).

Thank you for supporting us with this life-changing opportunity - we have now secured all of our sponsorship! Our estimated costs are £33000 for flights, accommodation, visas, competition entry, travel insurance, internal travel, team clothing (with main sponsors labelled), food and supply cover. We are extremely proud of our team, thank you for helping us realise our dream and raise aspirations in the school community.

Please see further information about the Worlds here https://roboticseducation.org/vex-robotics-world-championship/

Our goal beyond the World Championships is to create a ‘Dallas Legacy’ by enthusing children with a ‘can do’ attitude and providing all children in school with a strong foundation in STEM learning. Not only to support their learning in all subjects but also to ensure that when they can become part of the Year 5 and 6 team, they have the prior knowledge to help them to succeed. Any additional funding not spent on the Dallas trip will be used across the Federation to buy VEX GO kits (£179 each) for KS2 and VEX 123 kits (£109 each) for KS1. Finally, we hope to purchase another VEX IQ kit (£499) so we can have two teams for the 2023-2024 VEX IQ Competition, giving more children the opportunity to participate in our oversubscribed robotics club.

We firmly believe in the importance of giving children the opportunity to develop STEM skills through robotics. Please help us by sharing our message far and wide!

Mrs Laws (Design & Technology Lead), Miss Smith (Computing Lead) and the Pelton Piranhas

Pelton Community Primary School

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Website - https://www.peltonprimary.durham.sch.uk