In mid-2025, Newington entered the competitive robotics circuit for the first time following the establishment of the Robotics Club, founded by student Sunny Zhang to introduce dedicated pathways in mechatronics and autonomous engineering to the College.
Working with limited initial equipment on the legacy Lego EV3 Mindstorms platform, an inaugural cohort of 13 Year 7 and 8 students undertook an intensive five-week sprint to design, build, and program autonomous robots from scratch. Competing in the UNSW-sponsored RoboCup Junior NSW State Competition, teams tackled the Rescue Line discipline, utilising Python and sensor navigation to program machines capable of traversing complex courses and overcoming obstacles under strict competition timers.
Despite competing against schools with decade-long programs, Newington delivered immediate results. Every secondary division team ranked within the NSW top 30. In the Open division, Sunny led the College team to fourth place in the state, qualifying for the National Championships in Canberra where Newington secured third place in Australia.
The inaugural campaign established a strong baseline for the program, paving the way for rapid expansion in 2026 to nearly 60 members, upgraded SPIKE Prime systems, and entries into advanced divisions including VEX Robotics.