Gavin Summerfield presses some buttons and steps back. The acting headteacher at Birkbeck Primary School in Sidcup, Kent, then watches his latest teaching recruit perform a very credible version of Psy’s Gangnam Style dance.

The children, though, look non-plussed: they have seen Nao do this before.

Nao is a robot. His role at Birkbeck is to teach reading, writing and coding. And, apparently, he does all three very well. 

He was paid for by a grant from the Let Teachers Shine competition, which is run by the Shine Trust and which Gavin entered early last year.

According to Gavin, Nao is an excellent teacher. He is currently used in an after-school club only, to teach coding as well as to get reluctant students writing and reading.

The robot has had a big impact, he says, and to find out exactly how it works we got him and some of his students to give us a demo at the TES offices. 

Watch video of robot teacher Nao at TES HQ

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