South Shields primary school picks up innovation award at a national Lego competition

A team of young inventors from Harton Primary School, on East Avenue, in South Shields have become the first South Tyneside team in 18 years to win a core award at the Lego League competition.

The Harton Primary Puzzlers impressed judges with their pioneering idea, the ‘Tyne Cleanstream Bubble Curtain’ - an innovative solution that is designed to reduce plastic pollution in the River Tyne.

Their work on the project earned them the prestigious Innovation Project Award on Saturday, May 3, at the First Lego League National final, in Harrogate.

The team is made up of four Year 5 pupils, Oscar, Fae, Liam and Amelia, and three Year 6 pupils, Archie, Ava and Heath.

The pupils, who are aged from nine to 11-years-old, competed against more than 60 teams in four areas, which included an innovation project, a robot run, robot design, and core values.

The theme of this year’s Lego League was ‘submerged’, which required children to consider how and why people explore the seas and oceans.

In order to develop their innovation project, The Harton Puzzlers spoke to a range of experts, including Soil Machine Dynamics, Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Dove Marine Laboratory (Newcastle University), Stronger Shores, Marine and Offshore Training Centre (MOST), and Inspire at South Tyneside Council.

Using feedback from all of these organisations, the pupils were able to create a project around bubble curtains.

These curtains would use compressed air released from a perforated pipe to redirect plastic waste into a container unit - with the children also identifying possible sites for bubble curtains around the Quayside and South Shields pier.

The children worked alongside Danny Arthur, an engineer for Cadeler, to create a working prototype, which was showcased to a panel of judges at the national Lego League competition.

Judges praised their project throughout the day and the pupils were keen to share their innovation project idea with other teams from around the UK and Ireland, who were also competing in Harrogate.

Phillippa Chippendale, E-Learning Advisor at the ICT in Schools team based at The Word, has praised the pupils for their hard work and dedication to their innovation project.

She said: “The Harton Primary Puzzlers demonstrated exceptional qualities that impressed everyone they encountered.

“They were specifically commended for their brilliant communication skills, ensuring their ideas were shared effectively and their teamwork was seamless.

“Furthermore, their phenomenal innovation project clearly stood out, capturing the attention and praise of both the judges and fellow competing teams.

“It’s wonderful to hear that other teams recognized their hard work and ingenuity.”

Read South Tyneside’s latest news and sport with the Gazette’s email newsletters - sign up online today

All the necessary equipment was provided to Harton Primary by SAGE, which enabled them to take part in the Lego League competition.

Sera Lowe, First Lego League Project Coordinator, commented: “This shows how important support from SAGE is to give children opportunities like this.

“It’s been amazing seeing what the Harton Primary Puzzlers have achieved and we couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Using funding from the SAGE project, Harton Primary will also run STEM weeks for pupils from nursery to year 6, where they will develop their teamwork skills as well as developing a knowledge of coding and solving real-world problems related to the Submerged theme.

South Tyneside will be playing host to a Lego League regional competition for the Explore competition, for pupils aged six to nine-years-old on July 8.

Have you got a story you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at https://www.yourworld.net/submit/.

It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.