VEX Robotics: The Road to State Championships

According to Ian Fairhurst (Deputy Head of Prep – Innovative Futures), the competition season gives students opportunities to learn far more than technical skills.

"Students learn about the strategies they need, the teamwork skills it takes, and how to most effectively complete the various challenges the game designers have created in each season’s game," he said.

Throughout the season, teams have attended a series of competitions, testing their designs against schools from across New South Wales. Each event has provided valuable insights, helping students refine their robots and adapt their strategies.

"The real highlights are seeing the boys working collaboratively with their peers, overcoming challenges and obstacles, and looking at how they can improve and adjust their strategy each time they compete," Mr Fairhurst said.

A key part of the program is its creative design-led approach. Students are responsible for designing, building and improving their robots, learning to balance speed, manoeuvrability and reliability while making critical design decisions as a team.

"They can't just copy something off the internet," Mr Fairhurst explained. "It has to be something they've understood and designed themselves. A well-functioning team with a less complex robot will always be more effective than a team who have an over-engineered robot and don’t know how to operate it effectively".

The robotics program also fosters strong connections across the school. Older students regularly mentor younger teams through volunteering opportunities, creating a pathway that extends from Prep through to the Senior School.

"We have a lot of our Year 9 students coming back to volunteer with the Prep teams, so it's a real K-12 pathway for the students," Mr Fairhurst said.

The NSW State Championships, hosted at Knox on 8 November, will bring together some of the state's strongest teams, all competing for qualification to the Australian National Championships in Adelaide this December. From there, the highest-performing teams will have the opportunity to progress to the VEX World Championships in the United States in 2027.

As we look forward to the State Championships, Knox students are focused on fine-tuning their robots and building on everything they have learned throughout the season.