A team of Beccles students have scooped second prize in the RoboCup World Championships in Heifei, China, after travelling to represent England.

The six Beccles Free School pupils aged 12 to 14 flew to Hong Kong on July 11 and experienced the Chinese culture before putting their robotics talent and skills to the test at the championships taking place this week.

The CoSpace Robotics competition (RoboCup) is a computer coding competition where students programme robots to pick up objects, avoid traps and drop off loads in a designated area.

The competition aims to develop the students’ ability to write computer code, programme robots, analyse the effectiveness of different search strategies and develop mathematical and problem-solving skills.

The Beccles Free School pupils won the honour of representing their country after beating 200 competitors in the national finals of the RoboCupJuniorCoSpace tournament earlier this year. They have now been crowned second in the world after competing agaisnt 50 other countries, losing out on first place to a team from China,

During their visit the students have spent time at the Xplore activity camp at Jiao Tong University campus in Shanghai where they have studied Mandarin, and have also taken a trip on a bullet train which reaches speeds of more than 300 kilometres per hour.

Johann Don-Daniel, the robotics team leader at Beccles Free School, has accompanied the students on the trip of a lifetime.

He said: “It has truly been an amazing opportunity for the students.

“For many of them this trip has been the furthest they have travelled and the longest they have been away from home. For some it has even been their first time travelling abroad or by plane.

“I am immensely proud of the students’ achievements and we are all very grateful for the fundraising and support we have received to help make this trip possible.”

Has your school succeeded in a national competition? Email lynn.crombie@archant.co.uk