Free robotics lessons for Western Bay students in low socio-economic areas are guaranteed to continue this year thanks to a $25,000 grant from BayTrust.

STEAM-ED Charitable Trust runs the eight week classroom-based programme which has benefited almost 600 children at 11 different schools in the past year alone.

In future, the trust hopes to expand into mid-decile areas so more students can be inspired to learn about science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) by programming and playing with robots.

Every school asks us to go back again,” explained STEAM-ED General Manager Toni de Rijk.

“When our educators walk into a school, kids come running over asking ‘is it robotics today?!” They get so excited. Teachers tell us that attendance is higher on the days that we go in and that’s really cool. If we’re making a difference to a child’s education because they want to go to school, then that’s another win.”

STEAM-ED was formed in mid-2021 to deliver integrated and quality STEAM lessons for Bay students aged 5 to 13 years. In addition to their in-school robotics programme, they provide lessons for homeschool children, after school classes and holiday sessions at their own venue just opposite Tauranga Boys' College.

Students at the inter-school robotics competition.

“The main aim is to try and let young children enjoy technology and robotics and engineering so that when they go into high school or later schooling, they’re not afraid to take those subjects, because they’ve had a taster of it and they’ve enjoyed it. Hopefully that will lead to higher paying careers and better outcomes later on down the track.”

It costs around $90,000 a year to run the in-school robotics programme – all of which needs to be fundraised because STEAM-ED does not receive any Ministry of Education funding.

“We are totally reliant on grants such as this so we are rapt to have BayTrust’s support. This money will keep us going and will pay for our staff wages, transport costs and allow us to keep up-to-date with equipment because it does get a hammering. We’ll be able to buy a few more iPads and another set or two of VEX Go robots because they do get a pretty hard life.”

Toni says New Zealand has a huge skills shortage in technology and engineering-based jobs across all industries. STEAM-ED also hopes to boost gender and ethnic diversity among future tertiary students by fostering success and enjoyment at a young age.

“Another thing we find is a lot of schools have a little bit of robotics equipment, but the teachers don’t know how to use it. So we include the teachers in our classroom lessons so they get professional development by learning a bit about coding. Then they can use their own equipment once we’ve moved on so that’s actually really valuable too.”

BayTrust CEO Alastair Rhodes says robotics isn’t just about learning to design, build and programme. “It also teaches critical thinking, collaboration, clear communication, problem solving, teamwork and perseverance.

“STEAM-ED is doing a wonderful job of exposing children from all walks of life to the opportunities and careers that technology can offer. They’re helping to equip students with the skills and mindset they need to thrive in our rapidly evolving world, and we’re very pleased to provide this funding so they can continue to offer free robotics lessons in Western Bay schools.”