SIX year 12 science students from Droitwich Spa High School are taking part in a ‘robot Olympics with scientists from a Cheltenham aviation company, as part of the GirlsGetSET scheme.

The scheme is aimed at encouraging girls to look more closely at the science, engineering and technology (SET) subjects, and to try and combat the fact that currently only nine per cent of all professional engineers in the UK are female.

Carmen Ruiz, Sarah Sprenkel, Rebecca Hunter, Leah Webster, Melissa Mortimer and Sophie Eliott were given a box of Lego-style components earlier in the year, and they were challenged with using their skill and knowledge to design and build a fully functioning robot capable of completing a number of different tasks including playing football, throwing the hammer and jumping hurdles.

They’ve been visited throughout their time working on the project, by apprentice scientists from GE Aviation, who have been providing them with technical expertise and assistance, as they learned how best to design and programme the robot to take on each of the different tasks.

Science teacher, Zoe Chesher, has been leading the students in their work.

She said: “It is so important that our sixth form girls see that science and technology is not a closed world to them. These are bright and able students who should have the whole range of careers available to them. Projects like these are really important to show girls how they can put their skills and ideas to practical use.”

The project will come to and end in June with schools from across the region due to descend on GE’s premises to pit their robots against one another in a day of take part in a robot Olympics.