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4 STEM
Robotics Club
Nathaniel Strover, L4E
This year a very new and interesting
club has been set up by our new Head
of Computer Science and ICT, Mr
Shaw, in which he not only teaches us
about how to build our own robots
from scratch using only the most basic
of pieces, but also to program our
masterpieces and make them perform
our requested tasks. Of course, they
are not too complicated, only moving
in certain directions, but this has set
the foundations for possible work in
the future using not too dissimilar
technology but with far greater
capabilities and sense of achievement
at the end. Seeing all your work come
together fills you with the sense of
great accomplishment in what you
have built.
Not only did it teach us basic robot
programming and building, but it also
helped in problem solving and team work, if
I couldn’t work something out, for example
or needed a different screw, one of my
groupmates would definitely have the
answer for me or, if not, Mr Shaw would help
me or anyone else who had a problem.
The things I learnt in robotics club also
translated over to different subjects, for
example subjects requiring construction
(Electronics and DT) or programming
(Computer Science) which have helped
as I am currently taking Electronics and
Computer Science and I am going to take
Computer Science for GCSE.
The thing I enjoyed most about this new and
fascinating club is the sense of pride after
spending weeks building and assembling
my robot. Programming it and seeing it
work filled me with a huge amount of self-
satisfaction: I could eventually see my project
work and function. I am very glad that I
decided to partake in this new club.
Primary Science Fair
The Bancroft’s Primary Science
Fair saw 175 excited year 5 and
6 visitors from seventeen local
primary and prep schools join us to
mark British Science Week.
This year the theme was “Journeys” and
our Lower Sixth were particularly inventive
in their interpretation of this theme for
their stands in the Great Hall exhibition
zone. There were literal journeys looking
at transportation, journeys into space,
journeys through our body and the journey
of pregnancy. The novel approaches of many
stands made the job of our visiting judge, Dr
Swinbank, formerly of the University of York
Science Education Group and BRAGG Medal
winner, much harder. Dr Swinbank said,
“As in previous years, the Science Fair was
excellent and I really enjoyed the day. All
involved in organising and taking part are to
be congratulated.” She named Sonya Kalsi,
Jude Panter, Swasthi Surendran and Alex
Yan winners of the exhibition with their “Be
There or be Square” stand which investigated
the ideas of square wheels on vehicles. The
pupils nominated “Asteroid Adventures”
(Arjun Agarwala, Lottie Grant, Reece Khan
and Eesha Raheel Choudhary) as their
favourite stand.
In her report Dr Swinbank wrote, “I was
delighted to be asked to visit the 2019
Bancroft’s Science Fair and judge the displays.
This year no fewer than seventeen L6 teams
took part and put on an impressive event that
clearly appealed to the young visitors.
The display teams responded well to the
theme and interpreted it in a variety of
different - and some quite imaginative -
ways. There were some creative and original
displays, and it was good to see - and hear -
the enthusiasm of visitors and exhibitors alike.
Deciding on the winning display was not
easy! There were several judging criteria,
and every display did well according to at
least some of them.
When choosing a topic for a display at an
event such as this, it can be tempting to
‘play safe’, so it was good to see several
displays that were ambitious and tackled
difficult ideas. The challenge here is to
choose a topic that both stretches the
exhibitors and can be made interesting and
accessible to a young audience.”
Dr Swinbank picked up on the enthusiasm
of Sixth Formers and visitors alike. The
Sixth Formers were “keen to engage with
the visitors, actively encouraging them to
visit the displays and drawing them in to the
demonstrations. I was also pleased to see
visitors sharing their enthusiasm with one
another (grabbing a friend by the hand: ‘you
must come and see this!’).”
The visitors also visited the chemistry, physics
and biology zones in turn to collect stamps
for their “passports”. They were treated to
a chemistry display which took them on a
whistle-stop journey through the periodic
table (which is 150 years old this year). In
physics they created their own rockets and
launched them on the sports field, seeing
which one could journey the furthest. The
children followed the journey of Charles
Darwin to the Galapagos in the biology zone.
There he observed giant tortoises and lots of
different finches; the children made tortoise
bookmarks and took part in an activity
investigating which shape of beak allows
finches to feed more successfully.
Visiting children and teachers enthused
about the Science Fair. Jodie Enright’s
(who teaches at Leverton Primary School)
response was typical, “Our children really
enjoyed their time at your school. They
were very enthusiastic on their return
and keen to share their experiences from
the morning. It was a very enjoyable and
educational visit. Please share our thanks
with your pupils, who all did a fantastic job.”