South Shields primary school set to represent the North East in a Lego competition

The Harton Primary Puzzlers will be representing the North East in a First Lego League national competition after they were successful in at regional level.

First Lego League teams compete in four areas, which include an innovation project, a robot run, robot design and core values.

For the innovation project, those taking part are tasked to choose a problem and develop a solution surrounding a real-world problem - with this year’s theme being “submerged”, meaning children had to explore issues with the seas and oceans.

The Harton Puzzlers, which is made up of Year 5 pupils Oscar, Fae, Liam, and Amelia and Year 6 pupils Archie, Ava, and Heath, explored and developed bubble curtains, which are used to redirect plastic waste into a container unit to be collected and then recycled.

The team spoke to a number of different organisations, including Soil Machine Dynamics, Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Dove Marine Laboratory, Stronger Shores, Marine and Offshore Training Centre (MOST), and Inspire at South Tyneside Council, to help with their invention.

Pupils designed and made a working prototype, which was demonstrated at the regional competition at The Word, in South Shields, on Tuesday, March 4.

Their creation was presented to a panel of judges, along with a robot, named Clownfish, which was coded using Lego Spike Prime technology and competed in three rounds on a table-top playing field before being crowned the champion.

Rob Donnelly, headteacher of Harton Primary School, has praised the pupils for their success in the regional round of the First Lego League.

He said, “We’re so proud of the Puzzlers and we know they’ll do a brilliant job representing the school and the region at the national competition in Harrogate.”

Cllr Margaret Meling, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Transport at South Tyneside Council, has thanked local businesses for helping the Harton Primary pupils with their efforts in the First Lego League.

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She commented: “Congratulations to the children and staff at Harton Primary on this incredible achievement, and we wish them the best of luck in the National Final.

“This really is a fantastic project that really helps to inspire young minds, and we are very thankful to our local business community who supported the project with their valuable insights and advice.”

This year marks the sixth time that the Harton Primary Puzzlers have won the First Lego League South Tyneside regional competition.

The team will now travel to the Harrogate Convention Centre to represent the North East in the national competition, which will take place on Saturday, May 3.