Pupils from a Huntingdon primary school were crowned Lego champions at an event on Saturday.

Whirlpool Corporation hosted its first ever FIRST® LEGO® league tournament, bringing together nine teams from local primary schools to take part in the STEM competition.

Following months of preparation, almost 100 local primary school children from the Huntingdon community gathered to take part in the tournament and develop their STEM skills through a series of project-based, robotics and teamwork-led challenges.

The Planters team from Huntingdon Primary School was presented with the champions' award and will now progress to the IET FIRST® LEGO® League England and Wales Final, taking place in Bristol on February 22.

FIRST® LEGO® League is a global science and technology challenge, for students aged nine -16, which sees more than 310,000 young people (in 38,800 teams), from across 100 countries, come together to develop their STEM skills. Through its new regional tournament and sponsorship, Whirlpool Corporation, has been able to fund 10 teams from local schools to participate.

Over the past five months, teams have been working together to build and programme autonomous robots, using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kit. During the Robot Game strand of the competition, the pressure was on as teams were tasked with using their robots to complete as many missions as possible on the themed LEGO® playing field, in a time-limit of just 2.5 minutes. The team that scored the most points was awarded the Robot Game prize and this was Rowan's Robots from Kimbolton Primary Academy.

As well as being judged on their robot's performance, teams were also assessed on the thought process behind their robot's design and their programming skills. The Robot Design prize was awarded to team NHA SuBob from Newark Hill Academy.

This year's FIRST® LEGO® League theme, CITY SHAPER, is based around architecture and the spaces that we live in. Part of the challenge for teams is to complete an Innovation Project where teams explore issues such as transportation, accessibility and natural disasters, questioning 'How can we shape a better future for everyone?' and presenting a solution to the problem. Nene Valley took home the Innovation Project Award. Throughout the entire FIRST® LEGO® League challenge, teams operate under, and are asked to demonstrate, the FIRST® signature set of Core Values, which celebrate discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork and fun. This year's Core Values winner was Longthorpe Primary School, who were praised by the judges for their passion for the tournament.

Ian Moverley, public affairs director, Whirlpool, said: "We have always followed the FIRST® LEGO® League tournament and are thrilled that we have been able to get involved this year. Through the competition, we've been able to offer local schools the opportunity to develop their STEM skills."

Registration for the FIRST® LEGO® League 2019-20 season is now closed and will re-open for the 2020-21 season to teams of up to 10 individuals, aged nine to 16 years. Teams can be school groups, scout groups, or simply a team of friends, but will need at least two adult coaches. For more information, visit: education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes.