Four hundred and fifty primary school pupils participated in an exciting challenge that combined creativity, engineering, and teamwork at the Lego League Regional Final. The ceremony was held at the Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose base in Helston. It highlighted their incredible talent in creating and coding these Lego robots to accomplish different missions all on this game board. This year’s competition theme was inspired by archaeology, asking students to discover ancient ideas while getting their hands dirty with STEAM learning.
Elowyn, a student from one of the participating schools, shared her excitement about the experience. She noted, “It’s a great experience for kids our age because you’re learning and still having fun.” The excitement of the event was palpable as students were honing their future engineering talents. They enjoyed it just as much in an encouraging, friendly environment.
Felicity Blight, school secretary at Porthleven School, said the creative learning opportunities made possible through the competition were invaluable. She stated, “It really builds on their STEM learning, they get to do a lot of coding and a lot of teamwork.” The competition created a spirit of camaraderie, as students joined together to find solutions to problems their robots designs faced.
The competition was not without its difficulties. George Slater, one of the mentors at the event, recognized the challenges that the emerging engineers were up against. He remarked, “The robots are not perfect, they will go wrong and they do go wrong, but the children get through that and persevere.” This resilience demonstrated by the students underlined the educational value of the competition, as they learned to troubleshoot and adapt their designs.
Tamsin Melville from Helston and George Thorpe from the South West were among many participants who showcased their innovative designs and programming skills. The creative mix of coding and collaboration helped students hone important skills, all while having a good time.