North Tyneside & Northumberland - Tournament Information for VOLUNTEERS
Tournament Information Pack
Thank you so much for agreeing to help at our FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Regional Tournaments. If it's your first year volunteering, we can’t wait for you to meet this year’s teams and see the excitement of a FIRST LEGO League tournament. If you have volunteered before then thank you so much for coming back!
Our North Tyneside and Northumberland regional tournaments will take place at The Village Hotel on Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th March 20206.
This page should contain everything you need to know about your assigned volunteering role. It explains the competition, as well as the logistics for the day and venue, so please read everything very carefully.
Page Contents
- Attending teams
- The competition challenges
- Volunteer role descriptions
- Volunteer allocated roles for each day
- Training for judges and referees
- The Event Hub system
- Awards
- Event logistics
- Dates
- Location
- Parking
- The schedule
- When you arrive
- Dress code
- Health, safety and accessibility
- Toilet facilities
- Food and drink
- Photography and video
- Socials
- Beyond the regional finals
- Contact details
Attending teams
Tuesday 10th March
- Ahtoo Montessori School 1, Ghana
- Ahtoo Montessori School 2, Ghana
- Backworth Park Primary
- Cullercoats Primary School
- Darras Hall Primary School
- George Stephenson High School
- Hareside Primary School
- Hexham Priory School
- Hipsburn Primary School
- Meadowdale Academy
- Newcastle High School for Girls
- Newminster Middle School
- Richardson Dees Primary School
- St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary 1
- St Stephen's Catholic Primary 2
- Welbeck Academy
- Whitehouse Primary School
- Wingrove Primary School
Wednesday 11th March
- Battle Hill Primary School 1
- Battle Hill Primary School 2
- Carville Primary School
- Fordley Primary School
- Forest Hall Primary School
- Hexham Middle School 1
- Hexham Middle School 2
- King Edwin Primary School
- New York Primary School 1
- New York Primary School 2
- St Aidan's Catholic Primary School
- Stakeford Primary School
- Star of the Sea Primary School
- Waterville Primary School
- Westmoor Primary School
- Whitley Bay High School
- The Brick Bandits (Independent team)
- Cheviot Primary School
Thursday 12th March
- Benton Dene Primary School
- Carmel College
- Kings Priory School 1
- Kings Priory School 2
- Longbenton High School
- New Delaval Primary School
- Norham High School
- Northburn Primary School 1
- Northburn Primary School 2
- Percy Main Primary School
- Riverside Primary School
- Sedgefield Community College
- Shiremoor Primary School
- St John's Primary School
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School 1
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School 2
- St. Columba's Catholic Primary School
- Tweedmouth Community Middle School 1
- Tweedmouth Community Middle School 2
- Walkergate Community School
The competition challenges
FIRST LEGO League Challenge is a robotics and life skills STEM competition for 9 to 16-year-olds. Here's what the schools have been working on and how they will be judged at the tournament.
The Challenge Overview Document.
This explains the four categories that make up the FIRST LEGO League Challenge competition. Teams will be scored on all four elements. They are equally weighted so successful teams will need to be strong in all areas.
This year's theme
If you've been part of FIRST LEGO League Challenge before, you'll know that each year the basics of the competition remain the same, but a new theme is applied to the competition. This forms the basis of the learning for the students and runs through all elements of the challenges they take on.
This year's theme is called Unearthed, and places a focus on archaeology. The Robot Game missions all revolve around dig and discovery sites, artifacts and equipment that archaeologist might use. The Innovation Projects that the teams have been working on should aim to solve a real-world problem faced by an archaeologist in any part of their work.
You can find out a bit more about the Unearthed theme in this season intro video from the IET FIRST LEGO League team.
Volunteer role descriptions
The different volunteer roles are explained below:
Referees
- Volunteers looking after The Robot Game are referred to as REFEREES.
- Referees observe and score the teams’ attempts at completing the Robot Game missions while making sure they stick to the rules.
- Teams will get three 2.5-minute Robot Game attempts spread throughout the day. Only their best score counts, unless there’s a tie-break.
- The Head Referee will be there to oversee all the games and support and assist with any queries or questions from referees and teams.
- There are many rules to the Robot Game, all of which can be found in the Robot Game Rulebook
Judges
- Volunteers scoring Core Values, The Innovation Project and Robot Design are referred to as JUDGES.
- Judges assess the teams in the categories of the Innovation Project, Robot Design and Core Values. All the judges in each judging team help with assessing all three categories.
- Judges usually work as a team of three.
- Each judging session is scheduled for 45 minutes. The team will be with you for around 30 minutes of that time, which will then give you around 15 minutes to
discuss the team’s performance with your fellow judges, complete the online scoring rubrics and provide short written feedback for the teams.
- In the judging session, your job is to give all teams a fair and positive experience and support them to make sure they tell you everything they can about what they’ve been working on. It will be natural for them to be nervous. Many won’t have had to present to a panel of adults before, so please give them a big smile and put them at ease as they enter. We are trying to support them to give their best performance.
Team hosts
A team host is assigned to each visiting team. They are there to get involved and support the team as their own personal cheerleader through the day. You can give them loads of encouragement, guidance, moral support and lots of cheering, but please remember that FIRST LEGO League is about the students doing the work. So don't provide any actual answers or do anything for them. It's all about asking the right questions and giving them ideas they can develop themselves.
Side activity helpers
Volunteers will also support the side activities we have running on the day. These vary year on year but usually involve lots of LEGO in various forms! Volunteers helping with this area are there to support or run the activities, so that teams know what they can do with each one. Volunteers should also help keep the activities tidy and in good order as teams come and go throughout the day. Feel free to rotate with colleagues so you are not on the same activity all day.
Volunteer allocated roles for each tournament day
Volunteer positions are still available for team host roles. If you have friends, family or colleagues over 18 that might be interested, please ask them to complete our Volunteer sign up form (link to share: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/Wpr1RkyLAC).
Tuesday 10th March
Referees
Head referee - Hannah Rees, The IET
Table 1A - Andrew Casey, Sage
Table 1B - Joanna Hobbs, Sage
Table 2A - David Fraser, Sage
Table 2B - Claire Graham, Education North Tyneside
Judges
Room 1
- Jen Harris, Northumberland County Council
- Steve Mayes, Brick This
- Paul Nicks, Amazon Web Services
Room 2
- Ersath Hussain, Sage
- Paul Reigan, Sage
- Gareth McQuillan, Education North Tyneside
Room 3
- Neil Dawson, Sage
- Stacy Akers, The IET
- Thomas Turner, Equans
Room 4
- Kyle Bennett, Sage
- Stephanie Applewhite, Sage
- Jill Baxter, Sage
Room 5
- Jamie Iles, Equans
- Roop Seewoonauth, Sage
- Stephen Lloyd-Hirst, Sage
Team hosts
- Anth Richardson, Sage
- Antonius William Rusli, Sage
- Ashley Yarnton, Sage
- Ben Holmes, Sage
- Chise Tuna, North Tyneside Council
- Darcey Kelly, Sage
- Daniel Taylor, Sage
- David Amos, Sage
- Eric Ivanov, Sage
- Jonathan Ramshaw, Sage
- Joe Wright, Sage
- Komal Munakhya, Sage
- Lavanya Chandupatla, Sage
- Lucy Spencelayh, Sage
- Margaux Wild, The Kids-Hub
- Marita Eddon, Sage
- Mihir Arya, Sage
- Olivia Tismond, Sage
- Samantha Morrison, Sage
- Samuel Yeats, North Tyneside Council
Side activity helpers
- Amerteer Singh, Sage
- Damilola Ogundipe, Sage
- Gareth Bradley, Sage
- Khara Falcon, Sage
- Samuel Walker, Sage
- Venkateshwar Rao Sunkara, Sage
Wednesday 11th March
Referees
Head referee - Hannah Rees, The IET
Table 1A - Joanna Hobbs, Sage
Table 1B - David Fraser, Sage
Table 2A - Andrew Casey, Sage
Table 2B - Julie Carlin‑Sasaki,IET/FLL volunteer
Judges
Room 1
- Roop Seewoonauth, Sage
- Paul Nicks, Amazon Web Services
- Janice Gibson, Education North Tyneside
Room 2
- Stephen Lloyd-Hirst, Sage
- Evanna Gale, The IET
- Nicola Milburn, Sage
Room 3
- Ersath Hussain, Sage
- Jamie Iles, EQUANS
- Aram Hare, IET/FLL volunteer
Room 4
- Jonathan Wright, Sage
- Eve Morton, Education North Tyneside
- Stacy Akers, The IET
Room 5
- Dane Hamilton, BBC
- Steven Dewar, Sage
- Thomas Turner, Equans
Team hosts
- Ashley Yarnton, Sage
- Damilola Ogundipe, Sage
- Darcey Kelly, Sage
- Gareth Bradley, Sage
- Hannah Walton, Sage
- Jak Nicholson, Sage
- Jason Collum, Sage
- Jill Baxter, Sage
- Joe Wright, Sage
- Julien Segers, North Tyneside Council
- Kyle Bennett, Sage
- Komal Munakhya, Sage
- Lucy Spencelayh, Sage
- Mihir Arya, Sage
- Olivia Tismond, Sage
- Radhika Ghanekar, Sage
- Tivi Nithiyananthasivam, Sage
Side activity helpers
- Daniel Taylor, Sage
- Samantha Morrison, Sage
- Theo Logan, Sage
- Venkateshwar Rao Sunkara, Sage
Thursday 12th March
Referees
Head referee - Hannah Rees, The IET
Table 1A - Joanna Hobbs, Sage
Table 1B - Andrew Casey, Sage
Table 2A - David Fraser, Sage
Table 2B - Aram Hare, IET/FLL volunteer
Judges
Room 1
- Roop Seewoonauth, Sage
- Jill Baxter, Sage
- Gareth McQuillan, Education North Tyneside
Room 2
- Jamie Iles, EQUANS
- Paul Reigan, Sage
- Ersath Hussain, Sage
Room 3
- Dane Hamilton, BBC
- Thomas Turner, Equans
- Stacy Akers, The IET
Room 4
- Radhika Ghanekar, Sage
- Eve Morton, Education North Tyneside
- Claire Graham, Education North Tyneside
Room 5
- Julie Carlin-Sasaki, IET/FLL volunteer
- Mark Shotton, Education North Tyneside
- Stephen Lloyd-Hirst, Sage
Team hosts
- Ashley Yarnton, Sage
- Ben Holmes, Sage
- Chitra Chandrababu, Sage
- Damilola Ogundipe, Sage
- Daniel Taylor, Sage
- Darcey Kelly, Sage
- David Young, Sage
- Hannah Walton, Sage
- Holly Harris, Sage
- James Knight, Sage
- Jill Kirkley, Sage
- Joanne Richardson, Sage
- Joe Wright, Sage
- Komal Munakhya, Sage
- Kyle Bennett, Sage
- Louise Buckingham, Sage
- Lucy Spencelayh, Sage
- Marita Eddon, Sage
- Mihir Arya, Sage
- Olivia Tismond, Sage
Side activity helpers
- Erika Nergaard, Sage
- Gareth Bradley, Sage
- Kai Duker, Sage
- Robert Aneurin, Sage
- Sri Bharathan, Sage
- Theo Logan, Sage
- Venkateshwar Rao Sunkara, Sage
Training for judges and referees
To assist you with your volunteering role, and to make sure our school teams are assessed consistently and accurately, training is required for those people taking on the role of judges and referees.
Referee training
Only those listed as referees above need to access this training. The training covers the key rules of the Robot Game, getting hands on with the missions, the process of preparing and resetting the Robot Game table and how to score the games.
1. Watch the training video linked below.
This video also includes references to our In-depth Unearthed Robot Game Missions video.
2. Review the Referee training session slides from the video.
3. Review the Robot Game Rulebook.
Other referee resources
- Robot Game field setup reference guide
- The Event Hub (you will receive an invitation to create an account for this before the event. Please bring your username and password with you on the day).
Judges training
Only those listed as judges above need to access this training. The session is provided as a video recording for you to watch in your own time. Please watch the video linked below. Links to the slides and other key resources are provided below for your reference.
1. Watch the training video below.
2. Review the training video slides.
3. Get familiar with the judging rubrics (PDF version)
4. Watch the Robot Game missions video, to aid you with judging Robot Design.
Other judge resources
- Judging session flowchart
- Example Judges questions
- The Event Hub (you will receive an invitation to create an account for this before the event. Please bring your username and password with you on the day).
The Event Hub system
All marking and scoring of the teams in all the different categories will be done online via the Event Hub system.
Judges and referees will receive email invites to register on the system. Please accept these invites and ‘join the event’ straight away as they time out after a number of days, which will require us to resend them.
Set up an account and make sure you have your login details with you on the tournament days you attend.
The Event Hub is really easy to use and just involves judges or referees ticking boxes on digital versions of the judging rubrics to indicate how the teams have scored. There are also spaces to leave feedback comments and the option to nominate teams for awards.
Here’s an example of part of the Innovation Project marking page. For each criteria judges select a score of 1, 2, 3 or 4:
There will be two rubrics to complete per team (Innovation Project and Robot Design) so you need to work fairly quickly and make any discussions succinct and to the point.
When you complete your scoring and feedback you submit the form and move on to the next team you’ll be meeting.
The Robot Game also uses the Event Hub and is a similar process, although you can complete the scoring sheet while the team is present so you can discuss with them how they did and make sure they agree with the decisions made. The system will award all the correct marks for you as you tick ‘No/Yes’ for whether each mission has been achieved. It will also total up their final score for you.
Here’s part of last year’s Robot Game scoring page.
Awards
All scores are combined using the Event Hub system. Winners are then decided for the following categories:
- The Innovation Project - Highest Innovation Project score
- Core Values - Highest Core Values score
- Robot Design - Highest Robot Design score
- Robot Performance - Highest single Robot Game score
- Judges Award - Judges are invited to nominate teams that shine if they feel they would be deserving of a judges award for any reason.
- Coaches Award - Teams are invited to nominate their coaches on the day, and to explain why they deserve this award.
- Champions Award - Highest combined score across all categories.
All students will also receive certificates and medals.
Event logistics
Tournament dates
- Tuesday 10th March
- Wednesday 11th March
- Thursday 12th March
Tournament location
The Village Hotel,
10 The Silverlink North,
West Allotment,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE27 0BY
Parking
There is on-site visitor parking at the Hotel. If you are bringing a vehicle that will stay in the car park please be sure to provide your vehicle registration when arrive at the event registration desk so that it can be entered into the hotel parking system. This will prevent you from being charged for parking.
The schedule
08:30 - 08:45 - Volunteers arrive and prepare
Head to the volunteer registration desk and sign in.
09:00 - Volunteer briefing
In the briefing we will give a quick run through of the day and let you know about any last minute updates and changes if they are required.
09:15 - Team arrival and registration opens
Registration opens at 9:15 and teams must arrive, at the latest, by 09:40 for the opening ceremony and safety briefing.
09:45 - Opening ceremony and safety briefing
This will be held in the main hall where the pit areas are situated. Attendance is mandatory for everyone at the event.
10:10 - Robot Game and judging elements begin
11:45 - Lunch
12:30 - Robot Game and other judging elements continue
14:00 - Robot Game Friendly Final
A final between the two highest scoring teams in the Robot Game (just for fun). It will not determine the winners of the robot performance award.
14:30 - Awards ceremony
15:00 - Close of day
15:15 - Reset/clean up of venue
When you arrive
Upon arrival, please head left, past the hotel reception, past the swimming pool and follow the corridor around to the main event rooms at the back of the hotel. Then head to the volunteer registration desk. Here, you must
- Sign in
- Collect a name sticker
- Collect a lanyard (judges and referees only)
- Leave your car registration if needed.
Our team will show you where you will be based and explain what is expected from you during the day.
Following that you can grab a drink, greet some of the teams as they arrive. Help to make them feel welcome and settle their nerves, for most it will be their first experience of FIRST® LEGO® League and the venue.
Finally, make sure you are around for the opening ceremony and safety briefing at 9:40 am.
Dress code
Please wear something casual and comfortable but appropriate for working with children. We’d recommend layers as room temperatures can be unpredictable!
Health, safety and accessibility
The hotel has first aid facilities and trained members of staff please let a member of staff know immediately of any first aid needs.
If you have any access or additional needs for the days you are attending, please email neil.brown@northtyneside.gov.uk.
If you have any safeguarding concerns on the day you attend, please let either of the event leaders, Neil Brown and Jordan Graham, know.
Toilet facilities
Although we have all of the event space in the hotel booked for the day, the building will still be open to members of the public, which will include the toilets. The children attending will also be using these shared toilets.
Food and drink
A buffet lunch will be provided for all volunteers. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have any special dietary requirements by emailing neil.brown@northtyneside.gov.uk
Drink refreshments will be provided throughout the day for adults and students.
Photography and video
Please do not take photos or videos of the students at the event without permission from their teachers. Schools are asked to provide photo and video permission forms for all students and there are, on occasion, students who cannot have their image captured. These students should be wearing red lanyards, but please still check with school staff and be mindful of where images are shared. Do not include any student names alongside images you post online.
Socials
Please feel free to share your experience of the event on your social channels, while being extremely careful of the images you post. Please make sure that you have consent from anyone featured in images and check really carefully for students wearing red 'no photo' lanyards.
You can tag and connect with us and the IET with the following social media handles and hashtags:
- @Education North Tyneside
- @Northumberland County Council
- @Sage
- @The Sage Foundation
- @Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Threads
Hashtags
- #firstlegoleague
- #Unearthed
- #FLLNT&N
Beyond the regional tournament
Our champion team will be invited to attend the FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Great Britain final. This event will be taking place at the Harrogate Convention Centre on Saturday 25th April 2026.
Successful teams at the national finals are invited to attend international FIRST LEGO League events all around the world!
Contact details
If you have any issues on or before the day, please contact the event leaders:
Neil Brown
- Email: neil.brown@northtyneside.gov.uk
- Mob: 07717327050
Jordan Graham
- Email: jordan.graham@northumberland.gov.uk
- Mob: 07592272928
Thank you again for supporting our North Tyneside and Northumberland regional events. We are really grateful that you can give up your precious time to help. If you have any questions or problems, please get in touch.