TECHNOLOGY wizards from a Calne school have won the regional heat of a competition by programming LEGO robots to undertake a series of challenges.

The team from St Margaret's Preparatory School beat off competition from all over the South West to win its heat of the First LEGO League Challenge in Bristol. The children will now go on to compete in the National Final at Loughborough University in February.

The Year 6 pupils who entered the competition, which tests both computing and design and technology skills, had first to think of ways to create less rubbish. They came up with ideas for reusing Pritt Sticks, before moving on to a series of robotic missions.

Head of computing, Mike Callahan, said: "First, a team of LEGO builders had to assemble the complex missions and then had to design and construct a suitable robot.

"When the strategy for achieving the missions was finalised, the team had to program the robot using the most recent software. After many hours of programming and debugging, they were able to successfully complete many of the missions."

The team of ten was supported by the whole of Year 6 at the regional heat, which took place at the Hewlett Packard Labs in Bristol, competing against 15 other school teams.

Mr Callahan said: "The flashing lights and pounding music helped to create a fantastic atmosphere, as well as taking some of the staff back to their youth. There were four categories in which to compete and the team worked well together to win the Robot Performance Award. They continued to do very well across the board and were thrilled to be placed first overall."