Children participating in Whirlpool UKs 2020 FIRST LEGO League tournament in Peterborough

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited Expands Global STEM Tournament to Bristol Primary Schools

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, the home of Hotpoint, Indesit, Whirlpool and KitchenAid brands, is launching a brand new fully-funded Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge tournament for primary school students in Bristol. The Challenge will see 10 teams of up to 10 children coming together to work on a series of tasks designed to enhance their STEM skills, and will culminate in a one-day virtual tournament on Wednesday 23rd June 2021.

FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is a global initiative, with over 67,000 teams participating across 110 countries every year. For its Bristol tournament, Whirlpool UK is offering 10 fully-funded places to 10 teams from primary schools local to its factory in Yate, including the provision of a LEGO robot.

The theme of this year’s FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is RePLAY, which focuses on the importance of play and being more active. Students are challenged to develop a number of key technology and life-based skills through the four competition components: the Robot Game, Robot Design, Core Values and the Innovation Project.

For the Robot Game, teams are required to put their teamwork and creativity to the test as they design and programme a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® or SPIKE Prime robot to complete a series of missions on a unique LEGO® challenge mat. Teams have 2.5 minutes to complete as many missions as possible. As this year’s tournament will be held virtually, teams will be asked to submit two pre-recorded matches, and will put their robot to work in one live match that will be streamed to the judges on the tournament day.

The Robot Design aspect of the challenge involves teams presenting their robots to the judges and explaining their design process for building the robot, as well as the code they have written to programme it.

The FIRST® signature set of Core Values lie at the heart of the competition: Inclusion, Discovery, Teamwork, Innovation, Fun and Impact. Teams are required to demonstrate these values throughout all aspects of the competition and will be given a special Core Values challenge during their allocated judging session.

For the Innovation Project, teams must identify a problem connected to the annual theme, RePLAY, come up with a solution and then present their ideas to the judges at the tournament. This year, for example, teams could provide a solution to the challenge of ensuring more people in the community are keeping fit and active.

Whirlpool UK has also announced a new date for its IET FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Peterborough tournament. The STEM tournament, which will see 15 teams from primary schools in Peterborough compete in a range of challenges, will now take place virtually on Tuesday 22nd June.

The IET FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Whirlpool Peterborough tournament is now in its second year and will be hosted virtually for the first time in June. Over the next three months, teams from across primary schools in Peterborough will come together to work on a series of tasks designed to enhance their technology skills, all culminating in a one-day virtual tournament jam-packed with robot matches, project presentations and STEM-based fun.

Ian Moverley, Public Affairs Director, Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, comments: “Whirlpool UK employs hundreds of local people at our UK factory in Yate and it’s fantastic to have this opportunity to engage further with our community through the funding and launch of our IET FIRST® LEGO® League tournament! FIRST® LEGO® League plays a crucial role in supporting young people to develop the breadth of skills they will use throughout their lifetimes and we hope our tournament will help inspire the next generation of engineers and STEM professionals in Bristol. It’s been a really difficult year for many young people and teachers, but with children now back learning in person, we hope this challenge will give students and teachers some much needed fun and excitement over the coming months!”

So far, teams from schools including St Paul’s Catholic Primary and Hambrook Primary are registered to take part in the Whirlpool UK Bristol tournament, while teams from schools including Newark Hill Academy, Longthorpe Primary and Woodston Primary are registered to take part in the Whirlpool Peterborough tournament. Sponsored places are still available, so if you would like the opportunity to take part, please get in touch with jmm PR who can pass this onto Whirlpool UK. Alternatively, please contact Ellie Tudor at ellie.tudor@consciouscomms.com.

ENDS

Image caption:

  1. Children participating in Whirlpool UK’s 2020 FIRST LEGO League tournament in Peterborough

About FIRST® LEGO® League:

FIRST® LEGO® League is a global science and technology challenge for teams of students, designed to encourage an interest in real world issues and develop key skills that are crucial for their future careers. The students work together to explore a given topic and to design, build and programme an autonomous LEGO® robot to solve a series of missions.

FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is for young people aged nine to 16 years, working in teams of up to ten students with at least two supporting adult coaches. Each year FIRST® LEGO® League releases a new challenge for the teams. The challenge involves a robot game and a research project, and students will need to demonstrate the FIRST® LEGO® League core values throughout all their work.

All COVID-19 guidance and support can be accessed here: https://education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes/covid/.

About Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited:

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited is managed by Whirlpool EMEA, part of Whirlpool Corporation, the world’s leading kitchen and laundry appliance company.

Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited fully supports the AMDEA safety initiative, Register My Appliance, and is committed to encouraging householders to register their appliances: www.registermyappliance.org.uk

About Whirlpool Corporation:
Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the world’s leading kitchen and laundry appliance company, with approximately $19 billion in annual sales, 78,000 employees and 57 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2020. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, JennAir, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. Additional information about the company can be found at whirlpoolcorp.com.

For further press information and images please contact:

Steph at jmm PR

Tel: 01536 414555

Email: steph@jmmpr.co.uk

14th April 2021

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