On 8th February The Island Free School took a team to the Lego League Portsmouth and Gosport Regional Tournament, to compete with other schools from the area. The pupils put up a brave fight and scored better than their practice sessions suggested they might. This was mainly due to focus and determination from the team, who worked very well together to solve the set problems for this year’s focus, which was transportation. Some technical issues and lack of pre-match prep after the long day in the third round, lowered the team’s average somewhat.

Will H, team captain, said:

“Despite having limited time, the Lego League enrichment was progressing well. Some frustrations with IT compatibility (which Lego changed since pre covid) meant our preparation could have gone more smoothly. These changes meant that despite some great design and planning, regular failures in connecting IT to the robots meant practice time was short. While preparing for Lego League, the team assembled the map and tasks really well, and made good attempts at modifying the initial robot designs. On the day of the competition, we realised we were facing some very stiff opposition. Eventually we were defeated and walked away without a trophy, but with plenty of lessons learned. We hope to return again in the future”.

Mr Harding was very pleased with the whole team’s attitude and behaviour. They were a credit to themselves and the school.