Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School Wins FIRST LEGO League Explore Hong Kong Will Represent Hong Kong at the World Championship

HONG KONG, May 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In line with "The Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address" to strengthen the promotion of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education in primary and secondary schools, including the introduction of Science subject in primary schools, World Class Tests (WCT) and Trumptech jointly held the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Explore Hong Kong. Among the 40 participating teams, Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School team won the championship and will represent Hong Kong at the World Championship next year!

FLL Hong Konghas recruited more than 220 local teams to compete in the 2023-24 season. The FLL competition has three divisions: FLL Discover (ages 4-6), FLL Explore (ages 6-10), and FLL Challenge (ages 9-16). Through various challenges, it stimulates the creativity, engineering design, programming, and problem-solving abilities of children and primary and secondary school students, providing them with continuous STEAM learning and exchange opportunities. FLL Explore takes "MASTERPIECE" as the annual theme, encouraging students to unleash their imagination and creativity to think about how to integrate art and tech elements into creating a solution that promote a passion of their choice. Teams share their results through thematic research, programming learning, and using the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential set to create unique solutions in the journey of "Explore, Create & Test, Share".

This year's FLL Explore competition was held on May 25. Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School won the overall championship for two consecutive seasons. The first runner-up was the HHCKLA Buddhist Ching Kok Lin Association School - HHCKLA STEAM Club - Skateboard Extreme Storm Team, and the second runner-up was the Tin Shui Wai Catholic Primary School - TinTin Team A. They performed exceptionally well in the five major categories of Challenge Solution, Coding, Core Values, Team Poster, and Team Model. In April this year, Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School traveled to Houston, USA, to compete in the World Championship, and exchanging with 250 teams from around the world.

Mr. So Ping-fai, the principal of Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School, said, "It is encouraging that our students have won the FLL Explore competition for two consecutive years and represented Hong Kong at the World Championship. The competition provides a lively STEAM learning opportunity, combining education with fun. Last year's winners went to the United States this year to compete and interact with top teams from around the world."

In addition to the Hong Kong Regional Competition, WCT will hold the FLL Asia Open Championship at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from August 2 to 4. At that time, more than 2,000 students and STEAM enthusiast from over 20 countries and regions worldwide will come to Hong Kong to compete. Together with the support staff, it will bring over 4,000 visitors to Hong Kong.

Mr. Ming Kwok, CEO of Trumptech, said, "We hope to cultivate more outstanding STEAM talents for Hong Kong through FIRST LEGO League. This year, the Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School team represented Hong Kong at the World Championship, allowing them to exchange with students from around the world, learn from each other, and enhance the competitiveness of talents." He further pointed out that this year's FIRST LEGO League Asia Open Championship being held in Hong Kong will enhance Hong Kong's visibility and influence in the field of STEAM education and serve as a model for promoting STEAM education locally and regionally.

FIRST® LEGO® League is an important platform for promoting STEAM education in Hong Kong, stimulating students' interest in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. At the same time, it also helps to attract more students and teachers to participate. FLL encourages students to apply scientific knowledge and technology to solve real-world problems. Through participating in the competition, it stimulates students' innovative thinking and experimental spirit, allowing them to bravely try new ideas and explore new technologies, thereby cultivating talents with innovation ability and entrepreneurial spirit. By holding international FLL competitions and regularly promoting Hong Kong's FLL education achievements, it attracts students and education professionals from around the world to come to Hong Kong, showcasing students' innovative projects and success stories, thereby promoting Hong Kong as an important international education hub and a base for innovation and technology education.

About FIRST® LEGO® League

FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) is a robotics competition alliance formed by the US-based FIRST and the Danish LEGO Group in 1998. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) is a non-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen. The purpose of the FLL alliance is to excite young people about careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) through LEGO bricks and educational products, in the form of various activities and competitions. The competition has held more than 3,700 competition events in over 110 countries and regions worldwide, attracting nearly 700,000 participants. Competition website: https://fllasiaopen.org/

About World Class Tests

World Class Tests is an international high-order thinking assessment that evaluates students' high-order thinking skills against internationally recognized benchmarks. Students who achieve excellent results (dual excellence) in both the Mathematics and Problem Solving Analysis subjects of the World Class Tests will have the opportunity to attend the World Class Tests Elite Invitational, where they can compete with students from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Students ranking in the top 10% of the Invitational will be invited to apply for the World Class Tests Scholarship. The World Class Tests Scholarship has funded students to participate in enrichment courses offered by renowned universities and colleges, including Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, Imperial College London, and St Anne's College, University of Oxford.

About Trumptech

Established in 1996, Trumptech has been continuously exploring and developing experiential education services. From e-learning resources, curriculum activities, to international exchange programs, students can experience a comprehensive learning experience, fully cultivating the high-order thinking and problem-solving skills students need for the future. To date, 650 schools and more than 300,000 students have participated.