Robots heal gender divisions

Pupils at St Mary’s Primary School built and programmed their own robots using kits equipped with special sensors.

As well as building the models, the children learned computer programming to make their robots respond to sounds and even obey commands.

Teacher Lisa Talbot believes pupils learned much more than they would have done in a normal lesson or demonstration.

She said: “Rather than watching something happening or having something ready made they are doing it themselves and area fully in charge of what their robot can do.

“The children have learned a lot more than they realise and will have a much deeper understanding of how things work.”

The activity was run by Stretching Minds, a company set up by Southam woman Caroline Piper, a former IT projects manager and Coventry woman Geraldine Spelman, a former teacher and computer programmer.

The robots can be programmed to carry out different tasks and sessions teach skills in IT, maths, design and technology and science.

Because children are as susceptible to programming as many robots, teachers also decided to short circuit gender stereotypes by deliberately pairing girls with boys.

Miss Talbot said the gamble paid off. She said: “They have been working brilliantly together and the girls got just as much out of it as the boys.”