Canberra primary school's 55 robot-builders win national competition award
Three students won the Resilience Award. Their code-holding iPad crashed the day before nationals.
St Michael's Primary School in Kaleen runs a robotics program with 55 students, nearly a third of the entire school. Three students won the 2026 Resilience Award at RoboCup Junior nationals in October.
Their names are Indie Lawn, Zara Cameron and Hailey Denford. Their iPad held all their competition code.
It crashed the day before the event. The three students recovered and performed their onstage routine anyway.
Teacher Jessica Hallahan has run the program for eight years. She said robotics teaches problem-solving and perseverance.
Three teams from St Michael's competed at nationals. Students built robots and coded their movements.
They also designed obstacle courses. The program started with only four students eight years ago.
It has grown to include mostly girls and created a supportive community.
- 55
- School robotics students
- 8 years
- Program age
- Indie Lawn, Zara Cameron, Hailey Denford
- Award winners
- First place in Novice Onstage category
- Earlier regionals placement
Why it mattersA third of a Canberra primary school now learns coding and engineering through hands-on robotics.
AustraliaStudents at an ACT primary school are gaining engineering and coding skills through competitive robotics programs.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
Open this story in InSnip →
