Bradford School to get Stem grant

Bradford School pupils, from left, Autumn Randell (9), Corban McLauchlan (9), Lucas Bain (11),...
Bradford School pupils, from left, Autumn Randell (9), Corban McLauchlan (9), Lucas Bain (11), Jie Yan Yi (6), Chloe Hughes (10), Isabella Shaw (6), Lilyanna Eden (7), Lochy Briggs (5, front), Ruby Miller (7) and Jack Walters (7) look forward to new learning opportunities. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Primary schools do not usually teach 6-year-olds how to write software code, but thanks to a $5000 grant, that is exactly what the pupils at Dunedin's Bradford School will be learning.

The primary school will receive the grant as a package, made up of $5000 worth of the latest Stem (science, technology, engineering and math) equipment, in August.

It is the first of six schools nationwide to be awarded a Stem package from the Genesis School-Gen Trust.

The trust created the packages to give young Kiwis the ability to learn how Stem technologies can solve real-world problems.

They were awarded to schools, which applied for them, by a committee of trustees, including education, IT and energy-generation experts.

Pupils at successful schools will have the chance to learn how robots, iPads, and coding equipment work, and will develop skills that could help them to get a head start on understanding the future of technology.

Bradford School principal Melissa Mitchell-Bain said the school was pleased to have been selected to receive the grant.

The hands-on engagement and "interactiveness" of the resources was well suited to the range of abilities and needs of Bradford students, she said.

It was was exactly the kind of thinking the school wanted to encourage, allowing pupils to develop problem-solving and coding skills.

"With this equipment, it will make their learning even more relevant and enable students to solve actual problems," Mrs Mitchell-Bain said.

 - FISI-BELLE CARRASCO-REX

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