For Gateshead based school, Wardley Primary, May brought an exciting trip to the USA as the schools robotics team qualified to represent the United Kingdom at the VEX Robotics World Championships.

RTC played a small part in getting Wardley to the event in Dallas, and this month we celebrated their achievements, attending a celebration event where they told their story of team 38154A's VEX Robotics adventure.

RTC North runs the North East STEM Hub, a team of education and STEM specialists who are passionate about inspiring the next generation into the world of STEM. Supporting Wardley, a school in the North East to get to Dallas and watching them represent the UK was a proud moment for RTC. It is a huge achievement and they have put the North East and Wardley on the map in the VEX Robotics world!

The celebration evening was a chance to congratulate the team on all their efforts and an opportunity for them to show off their amazing achievements. During the evening there were photos from their adventure, showcasing the children’s most memorable bits of the trip. We also saw the team in action, demonstrating their robot, Bruno!

The Wardley robotics team had a strong work ethic and a drive to be successful, for the last 2 years in the runup to the championships, robot drivers, Calvin and Lucy spent their lunchtimes perfecting their driving skills. At the celebration event we saw the sheer talent, passion, and determination these schoolchildren have which got them into VEX Worlds. They overcame so many obstacles and built resilience, admitting sometimes the going got tough, but they never gave up.

Mr Burfield, Year 3 Teacher and Vex Robotics enthusiast at Wardley Primary School, said: "It was fantastic being able to celebrate the team's achievements with so many of our sponsors and supporters.

We have been constantly blown away by the lengths to which people have gone to support Team 38154A and the Wardley Robotics program. We are extremely proud of the fact that they have been one of the best VEX IQ teams in the country for the past two seasons and that that their robot was competitive at the World Championships in Dallas.

It has been amazing to watch the team grow in confidence and develop as they have overcome hurdles, dealt with setbacks, and solved problems.  We are extremely grateful to everyone who has made this possible.”

This whole experience for the schoolchildren was a chance for them grow as individuals, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

Well done, Wardley Primary team 38154A, we can’t wait to see what’s in store over the coming years for Wardley’s Robotics teams!

Check out our TikTok from the celebration event, where you can see the team and Bruno in action: STEMHUBNORTHEAST (@stemhubnortheast) | TikTok