Students from Bradford Grammar School (BGS) are preparing to compete against teams from across the globe after earning a place at one of the world’s largest LEGO robotics competitions.
The school’s award-winning team will travel to Toronto, Canada, this week to represent the UK at an international FIRST® LEGO® League event featuring 100 teams from countries including Brazil, Germany, France, Israel, Argentina and Kazakhstan.
The invitation follows another outstanding year for the school’s robotics programme, with students finishing as runners-up in the UK finals and winning the coveted Robot Performance Award after recording the highest score of any team in the country.
Head of Computer Science, Nadeem Asghar, who leads the club, said: “We’re incredibly proud of what the students have achieved. Some people might have thought reaching the international finals in Florida last year was the peak, but this team has shown that there is always another level.
“The standard at the national finals was exceptionally high and to come away as second in the UK and with the Robot Performance Award was a phenomenal achievement.”
The Robot Performance Award is considered one of the most coveted prizes in the competition because it is decided entirely by points scored on the competition table. This year, the BGS team recorded 500 points out of a possible 545 – comfortably the highest score achieved by any team in the UK.
Mr Asghar said: “The robot performance category is completely objective. Everybody can see the scores and there is nowhere to hide. To score 500 points was remarkable and the students thoroughly deserved the recognition.”
The success builds on an extraordinary 12 months for the club.
Last year, BGS was crowned UK champion after beating more than 900 teams nationwide to secure the only British place at the international finals in Florida. The club, which includes students from Years 7 to 12, has now reached the national finals for three consecutive years.
This year’s challenge, themed “Unearthed“, focused on archaeology. Alongside designing and programming a robot capable of completing complex tasks, students developed an innovative educational game aimed at raising awareness of careers linked to archaeology.
Working with experts in the field and academics from the University of Bradford, the team discovered that a lack of awareness about career opportunities remains one of the biggest challenges facing the profession.
The students created a gamified learning platform introducing young people to the many disciplines connected with archaeology.
Mr Asghar said: “The students contacted more than 30 professionals and really immersed themselves in the challenge. They identified a genuine problem and came up with a creative solution.
“One of the strengths of FIRST LEGO League is that it encourages young people to think like engineers and researchers. They are solving real-world problems and learning how to work as a team.”
The Toronto competition will bring together 100 teams from around the world, making it larger than last year’s event in Florida.
Mr Asghar added: “To represent Bradford and the UK on a world stage is something very special.
“The students have worked incredibly hard since September, and I hope they take a moment to appreciate what they have achieved. Whatever happens in Toronto, they have already done something extraordinary.”
“The students have worked incredibly hard since September, and I hope they take a moment to appreciate what they have achieved. Whatever happens in Toronto, they have already done something extraordinary.”