6 minute read
Computing and Robotics
COMPUTING and
AT SHEFFIELD GIRLS’
Our Computing and Robotics curriculum extends across our entire School, enabling pupils to develop key life skills, computational thinking and programming skills in both Computing lessons and extra curricular activities.
We caught up with our Robotics leads Dawn Pooley and Lucy Williams, from the Infant and Junior School, and Jackie Morton, from the Senior School, to hear about the highlights from this year. Infant and Junior School
In 2018, we were fortunate to be awarded funding from HSBC UK which allowed us to purchase World Educational Robots (WER) and develop a curriculum using the robots for our pupils. Within a year Sheffield Girls’ was seen as the leading World Educational Robotics (WER) primary school in the UK. This year pupils in Years 4 to 6 continued to use WER alongside their curriculum to develop their problem solving, reasoning, resilience and programming skills. Year 5 developed their ability to programme robots to line follow around a mat, which can be used to send messages to alert people about natural disasters.
We expanded our use of BBC Micro:bits in school and pupils as young as Year 2 have enjoyed learning about programming. The BBC Micro:bit is a small but powerful piece of technology that allows pupils to use block programming to develop their computing skills. From programming a simple rock, paper, scissors game to using it as a tool in Science lessons, the BBC Micro:bit has further enriched our curriculum. We are looking forward to developing the use of the BBC Micro:bit in the curriculum, including using it to introduce Year 6 pupils to Python, using the accelerometer and exploring data logging tools in Science.
In addition to the robotics provision for our own pupils, we run the UK Primary WER hub for our wider community, with collaboration and support for WER teachers, primary schools and external organisations being at the heart of this project. When schools join our hub, they gain free access to teacher training, a class set of WER robots for a term, curriculum planning, teaching resources and ongoing help and advice to enable robotics and programming to be accessible for as many pupils as possible. We ended the year on a high, hosting our regional WER competition. The event provided an opportunity for our pupils and pupils from schools across the city to showcase their robotics and programming skills in front of their peers, parents and judges from the STEM community. We were delighted to host so many passionate participants and look forward to future events and collaborations next year.
Senior School
Tomorrow’s Engineers UK Robotics Challenge For the last six years we have taken part in the Tomorrow’s Engineers UK Robotics Challenge. This requires students to work together as a team to solve real-world engineering, technology and computing challenges. In preparing for the challenge, our students use robotics, design and discovery to design, build, programme and control LEGO robots to complete a series of short missions set each year by the challenge organisers. This year’s competition was based upon an environmental theme, giving students the opportunity to discover what engineers can do to create a cleaner, more sustainable world.
This year our robotics team was made up of Karen Shendy from Year 7, Aliza Ghafoor from Year 8, Amara Ramlakhan and Emily Phillips from Year 9. They were supported by Rania Delaimi from Year 10 who helped to run the Robotics Club as the leadership element of her Silver Duke of Edinburgh award. The team enjoyed designing and programming their Lego robot to solve a range of challenges around the theme of improving the environment. In addition to the programming and design skills that taking part in the competition requires, our students developed a wide range of related skills such as team work, problem solving, resilience, and gained an understanding more about the careers available in engineering. They learnt into how engineers can use technology to improve quality of life and specifically how robotics and programming can be used to provide solutions to a range of real world problems. At the regional competition day, our team presented on how genetically modified organisms and bioengineering can be used as a way to create stable food supplies in the future, linking to other areas of their STEM learning. The team worked hard on refining their robot design and programming to meet both aspects of this challenge, and were delighted to be awarded the Bronze place in the regional competition. Bebras Computing Challenge In our Senior School Computing lessons, students have continued to develop their programming and computational thinking skills through a range of problem solving and logical thinking activities. All our Senior School students take part in the annual Bebras Computing Challenge, sponsored by Oxford University, which tests computational thinking. This year we were delighted that 27 students from Year 7 through to Year 13 achieved in the top 10% nationally. They were awarded the Gold Award and were invited to take part in the Oxford University Computing Challenge. Jorja Plummer in Year 13, Jessica Harrity in Year 9 and Myra Soni in Year 8, went on to achieve a highly commendable Merit level in their age group of this prestigious competition. GDST Space Technology Programme This year our Year 12 students took part in the first GDST Space Technology Programme. This is a joint project between Sheffield, Sutton and Oxford High Schools. The purpose of the project was to enable students to develop their programming skills through working on projects linked to real-life problems in the space industry. It covered a range of computer science related disciplines including communications, electronics, data analysis, and of, course programming and also linked more widely to other STEM areas such as Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy. Rina Yokoyama-Nichols and Zahra Ahmad are both studying A Level Computer Science and were keen to take part in this extra-curricular project to broaden and deepen their understanding of the subject. They took part in weekly seminars which involved understanding an aspect of space technology and then looking at how data capture, data analysis, and programming skills can be used to store and process data in order to produce useful information for space scientists and engineers. They also took part in a visit to the University of Hertfordshire where they gained insights into undergraduate level programming projects, as well as trying out landing a plane in the flight simulator. The project culminated in a conference at GDST Head Office which was attended by various space industry professionals, including staff from NASA. The students carried out an investigation set for them by the NASA experts and presented their findings back to the panel of professionals. We were delighted our students were able to participate in such an exciting and innovative project, alongside pupils from other GDST schools, to expand and consolidate their Computer Science learning.
Zahra, Year 12
The Computing and Robotics curriculum at Sheffield Girls’, starts right from our Year 2 pupils programming BBC Micro:bits, through to Year 13 students programming solutions to solve problems in the space tech industry, it provides our students with a broad understanding of the importance of this subject area, as well as an extensive range of skills that will prepare them for future careers and Post-18 life in an everchanging world.
