Whitby's Eskdale School pupils keen to build on success after Lego Robotics competition

The First Lego League is run by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and seeks to raise pupils’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through the building and programming of Lego robots to take on other schools across the country.

Eskdale School teacher, Dave Brewin, said: “The students certainly enjoyed the competition.

“This has been great fun, it’s been good to see the kids grow in confidence and we’ve since bought a second robot and launched the Eskdale Robot Olympics on the back of the competition.

“We are grateful for the support of Anglo American, who provided the robot and funded the entry fee for the challenge, and we look forward to taking part in this competition again.”

The competition involved the programming of a robot to push, pull, lift, and move packages and items, and then building a model of what transport may look like in the future.

The students were also assessed on the core values, teamwork, problem solving and fun.

The Eskdale pupils impressed the judges with their design of a carbon neutral ship to move live shellfish and animals, using solar power to split sea water and harvest the hydrogen contained in water to power the engines.

Gareth Edmunds, Corporate Relations Director at Anglo American, said: “We were delighted to support Eskdale School’s students to take part in this Lego robotics competition, as part of our commitment to providing greater opportunity for people in the region.

“We’re going to be operating one of the most high-tech mines in the world for several decades right here on the North Yorkshire coast, and want to do so with a local workforce.

"Ensuring that local young people have the skills and interests we need is critical to helping us achieve that, so working with local schools on STEM projects like this is hugely important.”