At Tawhai School, our hands-on digital technologies and engineering programs give students authentic opportunities to innovate, collaborate, and solve real-world problems.
Classroom Robotics Program (Years 4–6)
In Terms 1 and 2, every Year 4–6 classroom had 45 minutes of dedicated hands-on time each week working directly with our new VEX IQ Robotics kits. Students started by assembling snap-together components to understand core mechanical engineering concepts like gear ratios, before taking the controls to master joystick maneuverability. From there, they transitioned from manual driving to autonomous block coding—learning the logic integration needed to program their robots to navigate challenges completely on their own. A huge part of the learning came from working collaboratively in teams to analyse unexpected tumbles or design flaws, brainstorming fresh ideas, and testing new solutions through trial and error. Throughout the program, student teams focused on developing strategic thinking, resilience, and technical skills. Here are some photos of our robots, where we discovered an issue that our robots tipped forward so we had to design something to stop this – A range of designs were created.
