After winning the First Lego League Australian National Robotics competition in December, their seats in the international competition were assured but the school community then had to madly fundraise to cover the travel costs.
Principal Noel Dixon said to be representing Australia was an incredible achievement for any school.
“We used to lose all of our good students, and now we’re keeping them,” he said.
“We have massive numbers coming in next year, after a record Year 7 this year, with 165 boys coming in.“
The school got a dedicated robotics lab three years ago, a regular classroom converted into a workshop, complete with spare parts and a robot obstacle course.
Their teacher and mentor, Fiona Donnelly, says the new programs have given students a reason to love their school, and to stay at Granville Boys.
“I remember when these boys were in Year 7, we used to do the robotics program out of a plastic container, and we had to pack it up after every lesson. Now we have a dedicated lab,” she said.
“We work very hard here to provide our students here in our community with the same opportunities that students from private schools get. I’m very proud of that and the programs they can get here which are definitely paying off.”
