A New Adventure for Laygate Pupils with First Lego League!

By Catherine Dodds8th May 2023

In Autumn term, an amazing opportunity opened up for schools in South Tyneside. FIRST®
LEGO® League, The IET, Sage and ICT in Schools partnered up to enable
schools to deliver a full STEM educational programme for all pupils. Laygate School were excited to hear we had been chosen to be part of the project and participate in FIRST® LEGO® League.  We received all of the hardware, robot kits and Lego kits and we began our new, exciting journey at the beginning of summer term.

Our new journey has got off to a fantastic start and the children are already fully engaged in the project. They are looking forward to next academic year where teams will have the opportunity to participate in the South Tyneside regional competition and compete to win a place at the FIRST® LEGO® League England  and Wales National Final!

Year 3 beginning their exciting journey.

Watch the videos below of the year 3 children’s achievements.

Wind Turbine Model.

Sharing our successes.

What is FIRST® LEGO® League?

FIRST® LEGO® League is a worldwide competition that introduces pupils to hands-on robotics and programming. It is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop their STEM and computer science skills while also developing creative thinking, problem solving and team work skills.

Every year, FIRST® LEGO® League releases a new challenge based on a real-world, scientific theme. This year the theme is SUPERPOWERED where the children will learn about different types of energy sources, storage, distribution methods, and ways
in which energy is consumed.

FIRST® LEGO® League is split into three divisions; Discover, Explore and Challenge.

EYFS and Year 1 children use the Discover Kit, where they are introduced to STEM  (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) through building models using LEGO® DUPLO® bricks, and working together to solve fun challenges.

Year 2 and LKS2 children use the Explore Kit where they can put STEM into practice as they work in teams to design, build and program robots using the LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential and block coding.

UKS2 use the Challenge Kit and apply their STEM skills combined with critical thinking to work with a team, build a robot, and compete in an exciting, mission-based robotics game using block or text code.

We will keep you updated about our journey with FIRST® LEGO® League and are very excited to see where it takes us.

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STEM Week 6th-10th March 2023

By Catherine Dodds19th March 2023

STEM Week theme: To explore the connection between human actions and climate change.

What does STEM mean?

STEM stands for Science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

This week, the whole school were involved in STEM Week. The children from Reception to Year 6 took part in a variety of exciting and informative STEM activities throughout the week linked to the theme of climate change and human connections. The activities included:

 

  • STEM challenge (science / design technology).
  • A litter pick- doing our part to help the local area and community.
  • Coding using Lego WeDo 2.0- using modern technology to help combat climate change.
  • Professor Bubbleworks Workshop – science and connections.

 

Why is STEM important?

STEM-based education focused on hands-on learning with real-world applications and helps develop a variety of skill sets, including creativity and 21st-century skills. STEM Teaches Critical Thinking and Innovation and gives children the skills to tackle problems confidently.

 

Watch the video below to see a showcase of all the STEM activities the children have been involved in this week:

 

Robotics- Year 6

19th October 2022Catherine Dodds

17.10.22

As part of Year 6’s computer science learning, the children visited Openzone @ The Word to experience some hands on STEM & Robotics learning. They completed a robotics workshop using Spike software and lego pieces. The children worked very well together to build robots attached to motors and wrote their own code to program the robot to move.

Click here to see our robot in action

 

Safer Internet day 2022

By Catherine Dodds27th February 2022

Safer Internet Day 2022 took place on 8th February with the theme ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’.

The teachers across ks1 and ks2 introduced the children to Google’s Be Internet Legends programme which teaches young children how to become smart and confident explorers of the online world. The children were very excited to receive their own  3D-printed Internet Legend trophy in pieces which they could take home to finish with their families. To unlock assembly instructions, the children were required to correctly answer twenty quiz questions on topics like strong passwords, standing up to cyberbullies and keeping personal information secure.

The children were very excited to show off their finished trophy. Some of the children shared photos of their finished project via Google Classroom whilst others brought them back to school the next day. A very fun, challenging but informative day. The teachers were extremely impressed with the children’s knowledge of internet safety. Well done Laygate School.

https://parentzone.org.uk/article/safer-internet-day-2022-free-resources-educators

Here is the link to the game that can be played at home:
https://beinternetlegends.withgoogle.com/en_ie/interland

Lovely feedback from one of the ks1 pupils

Year 3 hard at work

Two year 3 boys working together to answer the internet safety quiz questions