Robotics is a club where students get to learn to code and build robots with a range of sensors. This seems simple enough, but, this club is much more than what you see on the surface. Through programming and the fun of creating a moving robot, the girls develop resilience, problem solving and patience. Socially they enjoy each other’s company and are able to mix across their year groups. We are fortunate at St Margaret’s College to have a tutor who is contracted to tutor our girls after school on Tuesdays as well as some passionate students who are keen to increase the number of girls involved in robotics.

Congratulations to all the students who competed in the Regional Competition on Sunday 15 August at Tūranga. The central library was a wonderful venue to host this event and gave all teams the space to modify and prepare for their respective competitions.

No matter how well we test and prepare our robots, they always seem to have a mind of their own. This year was no exception as St Margaret’s College had three teams entered in the Regional competition. This year we had two senior teams competing in the Rescue section and one team in the Theatre competition.

Congratulations to Millie Edwards who was awarded first place in Premier Theatre, and Tessa Sitjes, Mel Leatherland and Lucy Eyre-Walker who finished first in Premier Rescue. A valiant effort was made by Katherine Babington and Hellen Wang in the Senior Rescue.

A huge congratulations to the student leaders who have supported our Friday robotics lunch club. Sharing your wisdom and helping others to learn to be resilient when robots misbehave is a treasure. Thank you to Anna from Imagination Station, the staff, and parents who are always at hand to share in your highs and lows. The next challenge will be the National Competition for Robocup being held in Wellington at Scots College on 18 September. We wish our teams well.