Salford schoolgirl, 10, stars in animation to encourage young girls into STEM
Ava Roberts is cast as herself in a five-minute lesson for a Tech We Can animation.
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A 10-year-old schoolgirl with cerebral palsy is set to star in the newest episode of an animated series designed to encourage more girls to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and maths.
Ava Roberts, from Salford, is cast as herself in a five-minute lesson explaining what The Cloud in a Tech We Can animation, which is watched by thousands of primary school children across the UK.
Her character was created by the team at the production company Bold Content Video for Tech She Can, a charity committed to changing the ratio of women in technology.
“It was a new experience for me… I like that she looks like me and I liked that I could choose her name and give her my name,” Ava said.
“I helped choose Ava’s outfit and got to pick my favourite one the animators sent over.
“We had a showing in my class with popcorn and drinks! I loved it.”
The series of animations explore different aspects of STEM with an aim to inspire young children to think and talk about technology such as drones, robotics, and AI.
Hannah Collins, the animation and post-production producer who created Ava’s character, said she worked very closely with Ava and her mother, Lyndsey Bennett, to make a character “that represents Ava as accurately as possible”.
“Physically – her mannerisms and how she moves and speaks,” Ms Collins explained.
“We were given some video footage and photos of Ava in her wheelchair and we asked questions about how she wanted to be shown.
“For example, Ava has a tube coming from her nose so we wanted to ensure Ava would be happy for us to feature this.
It's really important for children to see someone they can connect with and feel represented by
“It was very important for us to make sure she was comfortable with how she was portrayed.”
It is the first time a character with cerebral palsy has been featured in the animations.
The script was written by the teams at Tech She Can and Bold Content, who gave Ava dialogue as a lab assistant to series regulars Katie and Tex the dog.
For the voice-over, the University of Salford in Manchester were asked if they had an available recording studio but upon learning about the project and Ava’s involvement, they offered the facility free of charge.
“Our Tech We Can animations are designed to encourage young children to be inquisitive about the technology they encounter – giving them a simplified understanding of how it works,” head of early education for Tech She Can Becky Patel said.
“We want children from as young as five to understand that people design and create the technology they use on a daily basis.”
Ms Collins added: “It’s really special for Ava to be involved in a project like this.”
“We all want this series to be as inclusive as possible by creating characters from different cultures and with different abilities.
“It’s really important for children to see someone they can connect with and feel represented by.
“Imagine what this will do for other young children who have cerebral palsy to see someone who looks and speaks just like they do.”
When she leaves school, Ava said she wants to be a teacher and “use tech to support pupils like me”.