DARITE Primary Academy headteacher Tom Whipps could not contain his pride as he watched the incredible journey of his Darite Marine Marvels unfold at the First LEGO League National Finals in Harrogate.

Competing against 67 of the top teams from across the UK, the pupils wowed audiences, judges and even themselves with their teamwork, technical skill and unshakable enthusiasm.

“They were absolutely phenomenal,” said Mr Whipps. “To see their dedication, creativity and confidence on a national stage was incredibly moving. Every single one of them rose to the challenge and made our whole school community proud.”

The seven brilliant young minds, made up of Year 5 and 6 pupils, qualified for the national final – a prestigious engineering and technology competition – having excelled in the qualifiers held at RNAS Culdrose back in March.

This year’s theme, ‘Submerged’, challenged students to dive deep – literally and figuratively – into the complexities of our ocean ecosystems. The Darite team rose to the occasion by developing hydro-electric powered devices that enhance shark-tagging methods. Their vision: to make underwater wildlife monitoring more efficient, eco-friendly, and high-tech.

With support from marine scientists at Plymouth’s Marine Biological Association, the team combined creativity with real-world science. They sketched designs for shark tags, then 3D-printed their prototypes – an impressive feat for such young innovators. Their robots, built entirely from LEGO and powered by intricate coding sequences, performed tasks that simulated underwater exploration.

Excitement was high as they watched the opening ceremony and prepared for their first round of the Robot Game. This scored 305 points – just 10 off their winning regional score. After some more practise and re-coding, they followed it up with an amazing score of 320 points!

The children then had to present their innovation to expert judges. Teachers were not allowed in this session, but they did fantastically, presenting their complex ideas clearly and concisely and confidence was high when they emerged.

The third round of the Robot Game did not go to plan with a score of 150 points. Despite this, the team were proud of the fact that not only had they made it to the national finals, but had beaten their score too.

“It was at this point that the team went to support those teams who had made it to the final 12 teams for the knockout stages of the Robot Game,” explained Mr Whipps. “It was only when we stopped to look at the live feed that we noticed that our little team had qualified!”

Immediately, they ran back to their pit area, collected their robot and attachments and setup on their table under the gaze of other teams, judges and spectators to run one more game.

“They did fantastically and, despite scoring 280 points under the spotlight, they were sadly knocked out by a team who scored 325,” said Mr Whipps

As the scores from the first round came in, Darite had scored more points than four of the teams who were knocked out, placing them 8th overall!