Lawn Manor Academy students will have the opportunity to focus on robotics skills.

The school has launched its first ever technology lab where pupils can develop and extend their classroom learning in clubs and workshops.

Pupils in years 7, 8 and 9 will be taking part in Project Enthuse, which the school hopes will encourage them to explore opportunities within engineering and technology.

As part of this, they will be learning to program mini robotic buggies, powered by BBC micro-bits.

Interested pupils will also have the option to compete in two national robotics competitions this academic year

Head of creative technologies Darren Beecher, said: “Robotics is an excellent addition to the school.

“Studying robotics demystifies our world and helps our students understand everything around them, especially as life becomes more and more automated.

“The subject involves so many disciplines - engineering, mathematics, problem solving and team work and as soon as they’re able to get their hands on something physical they get more involved with it and inspired to learn.

"We have found that there’s no gender divide with regard to skill in robotics, and often both boys and girls working together can bring new ways of looking at problems. We want our pupils to engage with the technology, to understand it and not be afraid of it.

“This is a great way of introducing the diverse opportunities that engineering offers, even just within the area of coding there are so many different paths and it’s growing every day.

“I hope that by offering these extra opportunities, students may find paths they may not have gone down if they were not introduced to this kind of technology. Especially as a large number of technology related jobs are not filled each year in Swindon, this may spark life-changing interests in our students.”

For more information on Lawn Manor Academy, visit www.lawnmanor.org