The Observatory School wins First Tech Challenge

STUDENTS at a Wirral special school put their engineering skills to the test and won a regional robotics competition.

The Observatory School’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been working alongside Faiverley Wabtec, a Wirral-based engineering company to design and build a robot to take part in the First Tech Challenge run by First UK.

Unfortunately, Covid restrictions prevented the STEM team from progressing to the national tournament in London.

This year, a new challenge was set by First to design a robot to organise and deliver freight within a competitive arena setting.

They have been working during lunch breaks, lessons and after school to complete the project.

On Saturday, the North West regional competition took place at Wade Deacon High School.

Jordan Dickson told the Globe today: “We’d just like to say how proud we are of all the pupils who have been involved in the project throughout the year and especially during the tournament.

“We’d also like to thank Faiverley Wabtec for their contributions to the success of the robotics team. STEM plays an integral role in learning within our school and we hope to inspire pupils to follow ambitious STEM career pathways.

“The team; Ty, Kyle, Tommy, Leon, Finley, Seb and Alex, were excellent during this competition and won a majority of their qualification matches, progressing to the knockout phase in the afternoon.

“Allianced with another team, The Observatory School took home the winning trophy, along with the Innovate Award for having an excellent design concept and an excellent attitude to STEM.”