FIRST LEGO League & Sage, our winning partnership
This year will see our biggest ever year of FIRST® LEGO® League events as we deliver five tournaments in March and two more events in July. We will welcoming teams from North Tyneside, Northumberland, Gateshead, Teesside, Newcastle, County Durham, and even a visiting guest team from Ghana!
In this first in a series of three articles, we share our successes in delivering FIRST® LEGO® League for over a decade and the incredible partnerships we have developed with industry during that time. Here we shine a light on the brilliant companies that support our events in different ways. We really couldn’t do it without them and our army of passionate volunteers, who all support the next generation of engineers, scientists, coders and technicians.
We are proud to be longstanding regional delivery partners for this incredible global Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) programme for teams of young people aged 4 - 16 years old. FIRST® LEGO® League encourages an interest in real-world STEM themes and develops key skills that are crucial for their future careers.
Ready to find out more?
If you’re interested in joining our FIRST® LEGO® League family in the future, please get in touch... you won’t regret it!
So what is FIRST® LEGO® League?
If you’re new to FIRST® LEGO® League, then let’s start by introducing this incredible programme which is delivered by FIRST® and LEGO Education® to over 100 countries around the world, and here in the UK by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
FIRST® LEGO® League is an umbrella term that covers three age divisions:
FIRST® LEGO® League Discover
A fun introduction to STEM concepts and teamwork skills for 4-6 year olds. Children learn by play and work together in teams of up to 4 children on building challenges using LEGO Duplo® bricks and sharing their work with their class and families during, and at the end of the season.
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore
An introduction to research and coding for 6-9 year olds. Teams of up to 6 children work together to explore the annual theme and produce a posterboard and a motorised LEGO® model which they can programme to move, light up and react to sensors. They show off their projects at an end-of-season celebration event with other teams from their school or local area.
FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge
Teams of up to 10 children aged 9-16 years old, work together to explore the annual theme. They design, build and program an autonomous LEGO® robot to solve a series of missions. They are scored on the success of their missions and judged on their robot design, engineering and coding. They also complete and present an Innovation Project where they must come up with an innovative solution to a real-world problem, linked to the annual theme. They must also demonstrate the FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values at all times.
We’ve been running FIRST® LEGO® League events since 2014, where we ran our first Challenge tournament with just six teams. Since then, we’ve delivered FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge and Explore events to almost 4000 young people across the North East, partnering with Northumberland County Council in recent years, to help grow the events. We also support FIRST® LEGO® League Discover delivery in schools.
This March 11th –13th we will be delivering three end of season regional tournaments for North Tyneside and Northumberland schools. These tournaments are supported by our outstanding partners Sage and The Sage Foundation. They are the blueprint for how industry can support educational programs.
A long-lasting partnership
We first connected with Sage back in 2017 when they came on board as sponsors for our FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge event and they must have enjoyed it, because they’ve been with us ever since! They provide generous funding which covers entry costs and equipment for teams to be able to enter the competition, venues for us to host our events and even travel for some teams to reach tournaments. They also provide a troop of amazing volunteers each year through their Sage Foundation volunteering days.
In the last four years, Sage have taken their support for the programme to another level with a project which is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The Sage Class pack project has enabled 28,000 young people in schools across the North East to participate in FIRST® LEGO® League as part of their school curriculum.
Every child in every participating school gets the chance to experience this amazing programme at the appropriate age level. All the equipment and training for teachers is funded and included. This amazing project has made STEM learning a highlight for thousands of children in our schools.
Why do Sage support FIRST® LEGO® League?
Building social mobility in the Northeast
The UK is experiencing a STEM skills crisis to the tune of around £1.5bn a year. With fewer young people pursuing STEM careers, businesses like Sage are struggling to recruit the talent they need. It’s a complex challenge encompassing social mobility, perceptions of vocational career pathways, gender stereotypes, and educational inequality.
At last year’s FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge event, Cadence Willis, VP Sage Foundation, said:
“This event is focussed on removing stereotypes and supporting inclusivity in STEM learning. We have a critical role to inspire and empower the brilliant young people within our region to make sure there are open doors, not glass ceilings, when it comes to regional STEM learning.
“This is where our programme with FIRST® LEGO ® League and the IET comes into its own as it helps to nurture creativity and problem solving in young minds in an exciting real-world way. The children also work as part of a team, which helps to foster a sense of belonging and support. Schools come back year-on-year to take part and it really is infectious.”
The impact
This video showcases our regional tournament for North Tyneside and Northumberland from a couple of years ago. It demonstrates what Sage bring to the events and the impact it has on the students and their teachers.
We are so grateful for the support that Sage have given to us and the programme as a whole. We hope that there are many more years, and many more young people involved in FIRST® LEGO ® League because of this wonderful partnership.
If the video doesn't tell the whole picture, have a read of these wonderful stories from teachers, who have been delivering FIRST LEGO League in their schools, through the Sage Class pack project:
"A girl in Year 4 was typically quiet, didn't put her hand up in class and rarely participated in group discussion. When she took part in Lego League she seemed to find her voice. She supported other children, became a leader (sorting out squabbles!) and contributed to team discussions with enthusiasm which was lovely to see.
Another team worked terribly together at the start of the programme. They couldn't decide on a first build, argued about how it should be done, initially built something totally different to what they were asked (really struggled with listening) and ended up with about 2 minutes to build. They required adult support for a few sessions. By the time the final build day arrived, they'd had a complete turnaround. They worked without supervision, they had a plan, everyone took part, everyone's ideas were incorporated and their idea was brilliant. Such a huge improvement in team working and listening."
"Lego Robotics is so popular in our School as every single students gets it part of their Computing Lessons. We have over 120 students attend club and have to hold our own in school competition to pick the teams to represent us at the regional comp. I have a child in year 8 taking part this year and she struggled speaking in lessons last year and is now presenting an innovation project. Incredible!"
"Lego is now a huge part of our school life. The children are always asking 'Is it Lego this term?' From the lower school up it has helped them work with others, take turns and their oracy skills. One pupil in particular this has effected in a positive way is a boy with social and emotional needs. He struggles talking in groups and taking part in activities but has happily taken charge and helped people around the class. What a difference! He has been part of the Challenge Lego teams for the last two years and says he wants to be an engineer!"
"For me, I think it is just the pure joy FLL gives the children. The fact that they have to develop new skills like trouble shooting and resilience. Just this week, at FLL club on Monday. One boy, was almost crying in frustration because his attachment wouldn't work but kept going for the full session. He couldn't get the mission to work but he kept going. He will be back on Friday for the next session of problem solving. It grows resilience like nothing I have ever seen. They are only prepared to keep going cos the buzz from solving a mission is so great. Love it to bits."
This year’s events
This year Sage are once again supporting our FIRST® LEGO ® League Challenge events with three tournament days on the 11th, 12th and 13th March at the Village Hotel in Newcastle. 72 teams will be joining us to battling it out to become North Tyneside and Northumberland regional champions. A champion team from each day will be invited to the FIRST® LEGO ® League UK and Ireland finals in May.
We can’t wait to see what our teams have in store and who our winners will be!
Next time
In part two of this series of three articles, we’ll be finding out more about this year’s FIRST® LEGO® League Submerged theme and meeting the organisations that have supported us to take FIRST® LEGO® League to a new area and launch a brand-new event for schools all across Teesside.
