Porthleven School welcomed an inspiring and educationally rewarding SEAP in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Culdrose based in Helston. Over there, 450 primary school children enthusiastically competed in the Lego League Regional Final. The timely topic of this year’s competition was archaeology. It pushed the ambitious, future engineers to tap into their imagination and technical know-how while tackling unique engineering challenges.
Over the course of the event, students showed fabulous collaboration and coding! They programmed their Lego robots to successfully complete spinning challenges from the Game Table. Elowyn, a participant from the event, expressed her enthusiasm, stating, “It’s a great experience for kids our age because you’re learning and still having fun.”
Tying local schools’ participation in the competition to broader goals and outcomes, the City of Boston has highlighted their commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Felicity Blight, school secretary at Porthleven School, stressed the positive impact these activities can have on young students. She remarked, “It really builds on their STEM learning, they get to do a lot of coding and a lot of teamwork.”
George Slater, one of the competition’s competitors, recognized the difficulty participants had in their task. He noted, “The robots are not perfect, they will go wrong and they do go wrong, but the children get through that and persevere.” His remarks highlight the tenacity and spirit of these young engineers. Watch as they tackle the challenges and technical intricacies of programming their individual robots.
The Lego League Regional Final provided students with an exciting platform to show off their engineering prowess. Perhaps most importantly, it excited them to pursue dynamic future careers in emerging industries such as naval engineering. Slater further stated, “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.”
By the time the competition wrapped up, there were smiles and laughter all around as contestants left feeling accomplished and inspired. Students such as Tamsin Melville from Helston displayed their buoyant attitude towards education. Their joint creative work with colleagues from the South West realised exciting new activities.