Full-STEAM ahead: The Scots College team wins NSW robotics competition

A team of budding engineers at The Scots College have claimed the state’s junior robot soccer crown for 2016.

Playing with machines that they built and programmed themselves, the boys led Scots to a 10-point victory in the NSW RoboCup Junior Championship soccer division held last month at the University of NSW.

Founded in 1997, RoboCup, short for Robot Soccer World Cup, is an international competition in which teams of university students field handmade robots in a soccer tournament. Australia has great form in this competition with the UNSW team winning the Standard Platform League division last year. Continue reading “Full-STEAM ahead: The Scots College team wins NSW robotics competition”

Get connected: School Expos offer personal touch

Education is a first-order priority for most families but finding the right school isn’t always a straightforward exercise.

Academic results and statistical profiles only tell one part of a school’s story. Its values, atmosphere and learning culture are often just as important to a student’s happiness and success but these intangible qualities can be difficult to appraise from a distance.

While websites and social media reveal a great deal about a school and its achievements, even in this digital age the personal touch goes a long way. There’s nothing like a face-to-face meeting to get a true “feel” for a school.

At the North Shore Schools Expo earlier this month, almost 2000 parents took the opportunity to meet with staff and students from Sydney’s top independent schools. Continue reading “Get connected: School Expos offer personal touch”

Going for gold

While Australia racks up the medals in Rio, another set of Olympians is doing the country proud this year: our competitors in the International Science Olympiads.

The Olympiads are a series of international science-based competitions for high school students held annually in various locations throughout the world.

Entry is restricted to the winners of each participating country’s national Olympiad, with a maximum of six students per science subject making it onto a national team.

With over 100 countries competing in 13 science-related fields, the championships are an elite event for the world’s smartest teenagers.

To qualify for an Olympiad is an incredible achievement in itself and to win a medal is a genius-level accomplishment. To win a medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad four years in a row would seem almost impossible; yet, that is exactly what Knox Grammar School Year 12 student Seyoon Ragavan managed this year. Continue reading “Going for gold”