Robot wars break out among teachers in the classroom

Teachers went back to school to get wired '“ in a bid to build robots.
One of the Lego robots made at St John's CollegeOne of the Lego robots made at St John's College
One of the Lego robots made at St John's College

With a little help from Lego, the brainstorming event was designed to teach them the skills they can pass on to pupils.

Teachers from across Portsmouth spent an evening at St John’s College, Southsea, picking up the knowledge.

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By the end they were able to design and programme a robot using motors, sensors and attachments to make them perform specific tasks.

Tim Harris and Matt Bailey from St Johns College have fun building a Lego EV3 Mindstorm robot.Tim Harris and Matt Bailey from St Johns College have fun building a Lego EV3 Mindstorm robot.
Tim Harris and Matt Bailey from St Johns College have fun building a Lego EV3 Mindstorm robot.

They also learned programming skills to support teaching computing and science and gain the confidence to run sessions back in their own schools.

The teachers worked with Lego education academy trainer Stuart Swann.

Nick Jenkins, a maths and science teacher at St John’s, who organised the event, said: ‘With advances in technology and computing it is important teachers as well as pupils are given the chance to develop skills in this area, while still having fun. Stuart achieved this on all counts, with this successful training event.’

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St John’s will also host a Celebrating the Science of Star Wars Day on December 1 at which pupils from city schools will take part in a robotics competition.

Special guest Jon Chase, the BBC Bitesize presenter, will be head judge.