Seven primary schools have signed up for this year’s Ports of Jersey SeaPerch competition.
The SeaPerch programme guides students on building an underwater robot, while supplying educators with the tools and training to help them through the process. The groups of Year 6 students have spent the last six weeks building remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), in association with international organisations SeaPerch and RoboNation.
The schools which have entered teams are:
- Rouge Bouillon
- St Martin
- St Peter
- Beaulieu
- Victoria Prep
- D’Auvergne
- La Passerelle
Six of the teams taking part will be competing this Friday (29 November) in the pool at Langford, after building their ROVs with support from technical experts at Ports of Jersey.
This week’s swimming pool-based competition will see the students tackling a range of challenges, including an obstacle course, poster presentation and speed trial.
Head of Engineering, Julie Acey, said: “We’re looking forward to seeing how the younger cohort of students competing this year cope with the challenges we’ve set them. We hope that this competition supports future talent by sparking an interest in STEM subjects. And of course it’s always lots of fun on competition day.”
Senior Advisor at Skills Jersey, Dave Roworth, was particularly pleased to see the positive uptake from Primary Schools: “We are delighted to have our younger learners involved in this annual competition for the first time. Raising aspirations at an early age leads to ambitious students who are informed about career opportunities and motivated to follow in the footsteps of the wonderful professionals they have been meeting from Ports of Jersey.”