The pride of Silverstream Primary School in Manenberg who is representing the Western Cape at the interprovincial Unicef Coding and Robotics Olympiad in Ottery on Friday when they were crowned the winners last month. They are from left: Zarah Fortuin, teacher, Zahida Fortuin, coding and robotics coach, Ashleen Ambrose, Diego Kotze and Lusikhona MbelePHOTO: supplied
- Silverstream Primary School in Manenberg will compete in the Unicef Interprovincial Youth Coding and Robotics Competition at Christel House in Ottery on 26 July.
- The school won the provincial round despite being a no-fee school with limited resources.
- The competition aims to teach students critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication through coding and robotics.
All eyes will be on the Unicef Interprovincial Youth Coding and Robotics Competition at Christel House in Ottery on Friday 26 July, especially to witness how the Western Cape winners, Silverstream Primary School in Manenberg, will do.
During the winter school holidays, from Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 June, Zahida Fortuin, coding and robotics coach at Silverstream, her daughter Zarah, a Grade 7 teacher at the school and three learners had the opportunity to participate in the competition at Spine Road High. They walked away as provincial winners.
“The three learners, Lisikhona Mbele (Grade 6), Ashleen Ambrose (Grade 7) and Diego Kotze (Grade 5) had an excellent chance to learn and enhance their skills in coding and robotics through an engaging and educational experience.
“We had the opportunity to participate in the above competition, where learners had an excellent chance to learn and enhance their skills in coding and robotics through an engaging and educational experience.”
ThinkShift introduced a pilot programme nationally, a training programme and practice on Coding and Robotics and then schools had to compete against each other, says Fortuin.
“Silverstream Primary walked away with first position in the novice category with no school resources and first time at competition level. The school is a no-fee school and the principal Mzwandile Tonisi and a team of dedicated teachers supported me and the team by providing transport and minimum resources.”
“The competition entailed having to build a robot and code (programme) it to complete five missions. Being a novice school at Coding and Robotics, the challenge was not having resources to practise, but also no trained teachers and we relied on just the training that was presented and the resources that were available at the competition. We were the underdogs really, but I am proud of our team in becoming Provincial Champs at the UNICEF#ThinkShift#Pilotprogramme #CodingandRobotics.
“For those who don’t know what coding and robotics are, here is the explanation. Coding is creating a set of instructions that robots can follow to do a mission by communicating with the robot. Robotics is the building of machines or robots with many parts, the design process to do a particular job. Coding and Robotics is central to function in this digital and information driven world where learners can apply and transfer the skills acquired to solve everyday problems,”
Fortuin says.
The aim of coding and robotics is to guide learners to think critically and creatively, work collaboratively and communicate effectively (four C’s) and equip them to contribute to society in a meaningful way. Some industries are using robots already, ordering at Fast Food places, welding, our traffic lights etc.
“Robots are widely used alongside workers to improve productivity, precision and manufacturing etc. I was disappointed that the team only received medals and a trophy for their effort instead of a Robotic Kit that can be used at school .
“My question is does it just end there? Silverstream is a no-fee school and cannot rely on a community that has their own challenges as one kit costs thousands of rands,” she says.
The school is looking forward to the competition on Friday and the learners are excited to show what they can do.
Avril Fillies
www.news24.com
