Lego League regional finals return to Kent

Over 250 pupils from schools across Kent took part in the First Lego League regional finals at the University's Canterbury campus on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 December 2013.

First Lego League is an international programme designed to bring science to life for school-children aged nine to sixteen through themed activities, including a hands-on robot challenge and scientific research.

The event showcased specially designed robots made by teams of pupils from each school, with each robot being put through their paces in a sports-like atmosphere.

This year's theme asked teams to design a way for people to prepare for, stay safe during, or rebuild communities after natural disaster.

The event was covered by ITV Merdian news (video here).

The winners of the regional final on Tuesday was independent team, Invicta. Kemsing Primary School topped the table at Wednesday’s final.

These teams will go on to compete in the national finals at Loughborough University, with a chance of becoming the overall UK winner and representing the UK in the world finals in America next year.

First Lego League is hosted by the University's Partnership Development Office alongside the School of Computing. It aims to get young people thinking about the application of technology in real life situations and involves individually designed robots, made using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS equipment.

Jane Anderson, of the University's Partnership Development Office, said: 'First Lego League is an excellent way of getting school-children excited and involved in science and technology and, every year, over 400 teams from over 50 countries take part. This year's challenge inspired some fantastic ideas from children throughout our region – many of them started the day a little nervous about what to expect but, by the end of the event, their imaginations were in full flow.'

To find out more about the First Lego League Challenge, visit: http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/about/outreach.html