A NEW innovation centre which puts Lego at the heart of learning has been launched at Callington Community College — the first venture of its kind in the South West.

The facility will be used to encourage a greater understanding of curriculum areas from maths to art and aspires to give all students access to the world of robotics.

Head of physics Mike Grocott said Callington was one of the first colleges to come on board: 'This is part of Lego UK but it is something new.

'It's all about encouraging students into learning the curriculum in different ways, through robotics.

'We will be using the creative element of Lego systems to help develop team skills and problem solving.'

Mr Grocott said that Year 8 pupils were learning about circles, circumferences and measuring in maths and they would be building a robot and working out diameters of wheels etc.

He said almost every child had played with Lego and for many it would inspire an interest in subjects that perhaps textbooks could not.

Maths teacher Ben Watts said in the old days you could get a motor to make a Lego robot move which you could control manually but now you had a Lego brick which you could programme.

'It's pretty exciting for all the students and it will especially help with the boys who really apply themselves when they are doing stuff with robots.

'We can use them a lot in maths, there is a lot of engineering involved in building things, science experiments, environmental work in recording, drawing and even making the robots move to music.'

Combining ingenuity with programming skills, students will pit their wits against a series of challenges or use the concept of programming and control to develop a greater understanding of most curriculum areas.

The centre will be available to schools across the region and there are numerous courses to suit all age ranges and capabilities. The 'First Lego League' regional finals will take place in Callington on December 6 and the 'Robotic Olympics' are scheduled for July 2012 where teams of students will build robots to compete in events such as 400m, shot put, weightlifting and more.

For further details on the Lego Innovation Centre contact Lisa Grocott at Callington Space Centre on 01579 386124.