St Mary's girls program online ‘virtual robot’ as part of an earthquake rescue simulation

Instead of our usual National and International Robotics Competitions, which have unfortunately all been cancelled due to COVID-19, Year 6 have been competing in a ‘St. Mary’s Junior School CoSpace Rescue Simulation Competition’ organised by Mr. Severy.

During their weekly Computer Science lessons, the girls have learnt how to program a virtual (on-screen) robot as part of an earthquake rescue simulation.  They worked in teams to program their robot to compete head-to-head against another team's robot and collect as many coloured objects as possible.  All of the objects had to be deposited in the orange 'drop zones' before the end of the competition time and bonus points were also awarded for specific actions.

The Competition Heats took place within the individual classes on a league basis, to find the team with the highest cumulative score in each class.  The winning teams in each class then competed in a Grand Final on Thursday 10 June to find the Year 6 Champions for 2021.  After a very exciting match, the ‘BobbyKoalas’ from 6F triumphed over the ‘BumpySnails’ from 6C by a remarkable 1500 points to 740 points.  Certificates were presented to the 6C and 6F Class Winners and to the team with the ‘Highest Individual Match Score’ during the Heats.  The Year 6 Champions, Niamh G. and Juliette I-C, also received their winners’ certificates and a small prize each (a technical LEGO set) in recognition of their outstanding achievement.

Many congratulations to all of the Year 6 girls for a closely fought competition, throughout which they demonstrated real determination and perseverance as well as a sporting attitude and unwavering enthusiasm.

We are now very much looking forward to being able to resume our face-to-face competitions and other Computer Science and STEM related visits, as soon as restrictions allow.  

Find out more about STEM at our Junior School.