Our students have been taking part in the First LEGO League Challenge, a global robotics event, which is run in the UK by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and tasks young people to design, build, and programme an autonomous LEGO robot to solve a series of missions.

“In the club, there have been 20 students working hard, across Years 7 to 11,” said Jamie Day, Science Teacher and First LEGO League Lead at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“They continue to work on their robot, building it to make it appropriate to complete various ‘missions’ across the First LEGO League game mat. The teams have been coding the LEGO spike blocks to complete missions, for example driving in various directions, and using motors to move arms in order to complete the mission.

“The teams have also had to research a current setback of archaeology and articulate a response to how this can be alleviated.”

Mr Day organises the sessions with the assistance of Computing Teacher Tom Owen, whose role is to teach coding to the students.

“Tom is responsible for making sure the robot is able to complete missions on the First LEGO League game mat by helping students analyse what they have done in their coding, and what would make the robot more efficient at carrying out its job,” Mr Day explained.

“Thanks to myself and Tom, students attend an after-school club that fosters teamwork, inclusiveness, and learning. It is for this reason that we are extremely proud of this group of students, and we are excited to continue on this journey, encouraging more students to join the First LEGO League Club at Springwood High School.”

It will be Springwood’s second time competing in the event, with the regional stage of the contest due to take place early next year.

“Looking forward to next year’s competition, we are aiming to compete to win the competition, to move onto the national competition, which will take place at the Harrogate Convention Centre,” continued Mr Day. “Wining that will allow us to compete in the European competition, and the final world championships are held in the USA.”

“The competition is important to students at Springwood High School, as it presents the opportunity to develop crucial, transferable skills such as leadership, problem solving, and communication,” he added.

“The Club also presents an opportunity that no other club currently does at Springwood, and that is coding and applying code to real-life situations – this is why it is a crucial club, as any students who may have aspirations around robotics or coding in the future, this club gives them an insight into those careers.”