LEGO Experience Day at Chelmer Valley
Following on from the opening of our LEGO® Innovation Studio in December, Chelmer Valley hosted a Lego experience day on Wednesday 21st March. Rob Widger, Education Manager at Lego Education, came to the school with some enterprising activities themed around an Olympic style sporting event.
Years 3 & 4 pupils from Broomfield Primary School spent the morning building different sporting events from a race track with runners to a Veladrome cycle track with bikes! They also designed an athlete’s village with gardens and spectator seating areas for each event. Some of the students used the WeDo™ software to create the sounds of the crowds. The pupils worked in teams using their communication, problem solving and creative thinking skills to design a fantastic event.
The parents of our students didn’t miss out on the action. We invited them to a hands-on experience. They built and programmed robots using the Mindstorms® software. These robots added to the sporting event acting as transport from the town to the sporting village. Using LEGO® bricks they also made some local amenities for the spectators.
“What a brilliant session, I really enjoyed it!” Gill Thomas (parent)
In the afternoon our Year 7 & 8 Gifted and Talented students had the opportunity to build and programme robots to transport athletes to their event and also to throw at an individual event using the Mindstorms® software.
“The experience was an enjoyable, fun and unique learning experience for all ages and abilities. I was surprised to find out that world known organisations, such as NASA and Microsoft, use LEGO® in their testing. The learning of the programming was largely independent; working out how to make a tram stop at a bus stop and follow the line. I feel privileged to be part of an Engineering school.” Joseph Clark, Year 8 student.
“It has been fantastic to see the LEGO® Studio being used by such a wide range of ages and abilities. In particular, we were delighted to be able to welcome some of our student’s parents to join in the activities and gain first hand experience of how the LEGO® technology is being used at Chelmer to enhance their children’s learning.” Suzanne Mycock, Director of Engineering.