Mayo school celebrates win at World Robotics Championship

PUPILS from St. Joseph's Primary School in Ballinrobe have won a top award at the World Robotics Championship in Dallas.

Their VEX robotics team were presented with the Innovate Award at the world games.

Their global success is being celebrated at home in what is only the school's second year taking part in the competition.

The fifth class pupils represented Ireland at the prestigious championships after being awarded the Teamwork Champions Award and the Design Award at the national finals.

The VEX IQ Robotics competition provides primary school pupils with an exciting engineering challenge presented in the form of a game, where students build innovative robots and compete year round.

In addition to learning valuable engineering skills, students gain life skills such as teamwork, perseverance, communication, collaboration, project management and critical thinking.

The competition prepares students to become future innovators, with 95% of participants reporting an increased interest in STEM subject areas and pursuing STEM related careers.