Young Coders Build Lego Robots to Crack Engineering Challenges

Hundreds of schoolchildren from Cornwall took part in an exciting event where they used Lego robots to solve engineering challenges. The Lego League Regional Final was held at the Royal Naval Air Service base in Helston, and this year’s theme was archaeology. Many of the students dressed up as archaeologists, wearing light brown shirts, trousers, and hats. They worked in teams to build and program Lego robots, which then had to complete a series of missions on a special game table. A judge from the Royal Navy watched as the robots tried to finish their tasks, while many other students and adults cheered them on.

Around 450 primary school pupils participated in the competition. Each team had to use their coding and building skills to make their robots complete the missions. They only had three minutes to finish all the challenges, so they had to work quickly and think carefully. The top three teams were from Bishop Bronescombe School in St Austell, Porthleven School, and Trevithick Learning Academy in Camborne. These teams will go to Harrogate in April for the next stage of the contest. The organizers said the event was designed to help children develop their science, technology, engineering, and maths skills, which are often called STEM subjects.

Felicity Blight, the school secretary at Porthleven School, said the competition helped the children learn more about coding and teamwork. She explained that the team members were not all from the same class, so they had to learn to work together and build confidence. Darite School, near Liskeard, also sent a team of six pupils. One of the students, Elowyn, said it was a great experience because they were learning and having fun at the same time. George Slater, who manages education projects for Cornwall Council, said the event taught students many important skills, including how to support each other and keep trying even when things go wrong. Commander Matt Turfrey from the Royal Navy said he was pleased to see the children having fun and learning impressive coding skills. He said that maybe some of them would become engineers in the future. The Lego League competition was a great way for students to learn, work together, and enjoy themselves.