For many years now, we have competed in the First Lego League tournament which is supported by local engineers who work for CAT engines at Perkins. The children meet every week from as little as once a week to 5 days a week at points from September to February. 

The First Lego League is aimed at encouraging children to work in teams to research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc.  They are then challenged to develop a solution, design, build and program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology, then finally compete on a table-top playing field. 

On the day of the competition, the children take part in tasks where they present to a panel of judges in the following areas:

• research project
• robot design
• core values
• team work
• and of course, the tabletop challenges, which is similar to robot wars! 

Throughout this journey they learn to apply science, technology, engineering, and maths concepts (STEM), plus a big dose of imagination, to solve a problem. Along their discovery journey, they develop critical thinking and team-building skills, basic STEM applications, and even presentation skills, as they must present their solutions with a dash of creativity to judges. They also practice the Program’s signature Core Values.

This year (February 2025) the challenge is called 'Submerged@.  The children have been researching the ocean and the impact this has on our lives.  They have also researched problems faced by experts whose job it is to explore and uncover life deep in the ocean and design a solution which might help them or enhance the work they already do.