b'Over39,000children and young people took part in FIRST LEGO League 65%of participating teams/classes received funding from donors and sponsors, which supported over23,000disadvantaged children 60%of participants in FIRST LEGO League Explore and Challenge were involved as part of a whole class activity8% more than the previous year 45%of participants were girls We heard from Pauline, a teacher inIt took a while to convince Manchester whose class benefitedstudents to take partthey were from support from Network Rail.really afraid of programmingsomething we cant offer in school. We are a small special school whereOur poor laptops didnt helpover 80% of the students havebut when I showed the students free school meals. We deal withwhat I had programmed at home social, emotional and mental health they got over their fears and issues. Some have been taken intowithin seconds were adapting my care. Most have ADHD or are onprogramme. That astounded me. the autistic spectrum. Most comeIt was a steep learning curve.from families with low academic attainment. Our budgets would notOur students need a lot of cover access to the equipment forencouragement to try new FIRST LEGO League, so the supportthings. They felt good when they from Network Rail meant that weprogrammed the LEGO SPIKE could sign up to the programme. Prime better than the teacher.'