Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56A robot vehicle constructed of Lego sits at the table edge. We watch as a girl fractionally adjusts the robot’s position and then presses a button on its upper side. There is a gentle whirring noise and it starts nosing its way along a black painted stripe towards a plastic bucket, where it halts. An arm on the side of the robot dips to hook the bucket and then rotates back to lift it up. The girl’s shout of triumph morphs into a groan as the arm continues to turn, flipping the bucket across the table. ‘The sensor is fine but the arm is over-rotating, by about 50 per cent I think.’ Behind her, the boy at the computer nods and, turning to the screen, begins to tap away, amending the programming. ‘We’ve got much better at understanding how the sensors work,’ he explains to me. ‘It’s where we could have done better in last year’s First Lego League competition. I know what we’d do differently now.’ There is more programming and more whirring at the 3d printer. Plastic cord spools out, is melted and reforms into what I am told is going to be a city skyline. I am shown how the original sketched design has been recreated in a computer programme. Now, excited Year 2 children watch the slowly emerging cityscape on the metal plate. ‘It’s fun, but there is a lot of maths involved in this,’ says the teacher who is looking on. ‘Problem solving too.’ You wouldn’t perhaps expect a school so steeped in history to have such a clear steer to the future. But the cutting-edge equipment, the STEM initiative that pulls together science, technology, engineering and maths; the innovation and vision – these are as much part of the fabric of the school as its stone mullioned windows. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths