Over 450 primary school students showed their energy, imagination and teamwork at the First Lego League Regional Final. The incredible competition was held at Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Culdrose military base in Helston. The four-day event emphasized the importance of archaeology and ignited students’ imaginations. Teams constructed and coded Lego robots to complete specific tasks on a customized game board.
Among the participants was Elowyn, who expressed enthusiasm for the experience, stating, “It’s a great experience for kids our age because you’re learning and still having fun.” This feeling was reflected by most of the students, who participated in experimental and tactile learning experiences that combined academia with recreation.
Felicity Blight, the school secretary at Porthleven School, shared her enthusiasm for events like this to help externalize students’ learning. It totally extends their STEM education,” she added. Plus, they get to do a ton of coding and a ton of teamwork. Even though participants were working towards specific missions, their motivation extended to wanting to work together, creating a culture of collaboration and collaborative problem-solving.
George Thorpe from the South West, and Tamsin Melville from Helston further entertained, inspired and informed us with their contributions on active travel. Their teams parsed their way through challenges that pushed their coding talents and out-of-the-box problem-solving skills.
George Slater, an independent observer at the event, noted the “intelligence and resilience” shown by the students. “The robots are not perfect. They will go wrong and they do go wrong, but the children get through that and persevere,” he noted. He went on to stress the value of competitions like this one to the engineers of tomorrow. “It’s really great to see the potential naval engineers of the future having loads of fun, getting engaged in this sort of activity and doing some really impressive coding,” he added.
Students’ recent successes at the recent regional final of the Lego League were a testament to their technical skills. It was a huge honor to see their huge, hardworking hearts get acknowledged in such a massive way! The pupils left with a sense of accomplishment and a deeper understanding of engineering principles, highlighting the value of such educational initiatives.