Ben Howlett, the MP for Bath, recently attended and celebrated the success of the UK and Ireland Final of the First LEGO League Championship in the West of England.
First LEGO League is a competition which gives teams of young people a real-world problem, such as food safety, recycling or energy, and challenges them to develop a solution.
They set about designing, building and programming a robot then compete against each other.
The competition is not just fun for young people but also teaches them to apply science, technology, engineering and maths concepts to solving a real life problem.
This year the theme was ‘Animals Allies’ and Ben met with teams from across the UK, including the team from Widcombe Juniors from Bath.
The First LEGO League International Open Championship will be coming to Bath this summer and will see teams from across the world compete to be champion.
After attending the final, Ben said: “The First LEGO League UK and Ireland final was a fantastic event and it was clear that all of the participants were enjoying using STEM to solve problems.
“I have repeatedly championed the need to encourage more young people into STEM careers, especially young girls who are often put off by the gendered stereotype, so it was wonderful to see that nearly 50% of the young people involved were female.
“As we leave the EU, we need our STEM sector to thrive and competitions such as First LEGO League do an excellent job of showing how STEM can be fun and offer a prosperous future for anyone who goes into it.
“It was fantastic to see a team from Widcombe Junior School participating in the competition and I hope Bath has just as good representation in the International competition in the summer.”
