Last Wednesday, the 28th of January, our school proudly participated in the Laois VEX Robotics competition, bringing two enthusiastic teams to showcase their hard work and creativity. Thanks to the generous donation of a second robot kit in September, we were able to involve the entire senior room in building, coding, and driving practice this year.
We formed two teams: one comprising our talented 5th and 6th class students, and the other made up of our eager 3rd and 4th class students. Initially, the younger students were set to gradually learn the intricacies of building and operating the robot, but they truly excelled, resulting in two outstanding teams!
Under the expert guidance of Ms. Conroy and Mr. Monaghan, both teams performed exceptionally well at the competition. Our 5th/6th class team, the “Rizzy Rushall Raptors,” finished at the top of the leaderboard, while the “Rocking Rushall” team from 3rd/4th class secured an impressive 3rd place.
In the Skills Challenge, both robots scored 28 points in the coding segment, achieving the joint best score for the Laois championship, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Charlie and Grace. In the Driving Skills Challenge, the Rizzy Rushall Raptors achieved a fantastic 81 points, while the Rocking Rushall team earned 76 points, making our teams first and second overall in the Skills Challenge!
We are thrilled to announce that the Rizzy Rushall Raptors not only achieved the best scores seen at any competition in Laois, including those from secondary schools, but also won the prestigious ‘Excellence Award’—a first for Rushall NS!
With the Rizzy Rushall Raptors securing their invitation to the All Ireland VEX Robotics competition in Cork on the 26th of February, the excitement in our school is palpable. Our Rocky Rushall team are offically top of the waiting list for the competition, and we still hope they might get their very own invite! They really deserve it!
Let’s keep this momentum going and who knows where the journey will end!
