What sort of role can I do as a volunteer?
|
Role |
Description |
Time commitments |
FIRST® LEGO® League division |
|
Mentor |
Inspire the next generation of engineers by supporting young people as they work through the FIRST® LEGO® League programme. Give them advise, guidance and support whilst sharing your industry experience with them (any industry is important, not just engineering!). You will need a DBS check to work closely with a local school. |
Teams often meet once a week for approximately 1-2 hours (sometimes during school time, sometimes after school), but how often you want to support as a mentor is up to you. |
All |
|
Reviewer |
Listen to teams talk about their ideas and solutions, ask them questions to find out more about their learning journey, and celebrate their achievements! |
Approx. 3-4 hours at a final event. |
Discover and Explore |
|
Judge |
Work with fellow judges to listen to teams’ presentations on their robot design, innovation project and core values – score the teams using a structured scoresheet (rubric) to allocate awards. |
One full day for the tournament event, and approximately 1-2 hours for training beforehand. |
Challenge |
|
Referee |
Score the teams’ robot performance at the robot game table using a structured scoring system. |
One full day for the tournament event, and approximately 1-2 hours for training beforehand. |
Challenge |
|
General event volunteer |
Support with general event running activities, such as chaperoning teams to appointments, running an information stand or supporting with queuing areas. |
One full day for the tournament event, and approximately 1-2 hours for training beforehand. |
Challenge |
More information on roles specific to Explore and Challenge:
What training do I need to be a volunteer?
IET Safeguarding
In order to become a FIRST® LEGO® League volunteer, you will need to complete our mandatory IET safeguarding training and policy. This is in place to protect our volunteers and the FIRST® LEGO® League students.
Safeguarding training will help you to understand your role, how to identify risks, recognise and confidently respond to signs of abuse or neglect, and know what next steps you need to take, including how to escalate concerns.
The safeguarding of children is a priority for the IET. All FIRST® LEGO® League volunteers must have completed our safeguarding training before attending our events.
Once you sign up to be a volunteer, you will receive a confirmation email and the next steps on getting you onboarded to our training system.
But don’t worry… it's quick and easy!
IET Training Videos
Take a look at our recorded videos from our FIRST LEGO League Volunteer Training Day 2022
I’m not an engineer – does that matter?
Absolutely not! Teams will be learning and developing a whole host of important 21st-century skills which are relevant to lots of different industries, so no matter what your background your support and guidance will be invaluable to the FIRST® LEGO® League teams.
Do I need to be DBS checked?
For certain volunteer roles, such as mentoring, a DBS check is required.
We recommend visiting STEM Learning and registering to become a STEM Ambassador as they can provide you with a free DBS check (plus give you lots of extra information and support as a STEM Ambassador!) – take a look at their website for more information.
Can I use this volunteering experience on my CV?
Absolutely! Employers love to see if you have had volunteering experience.
We’re also currently exploring ways of being able to ‘log’ your volunteer activity with us so that you can tangibly track the hours and experience you are undertaking.
How do I get involved?
If you are interested in getting involved as a FIRST LEGO League volunteer, register here.
What is the process to becoming a volunteer?
You can download the document below on our official onboarding process to become a FIRST LEGO League volunteer.
Where can I volunteer?
We have 70 regional tournaments for CHALLENGE each season. A regional host needs to request volunteers for their tournament for you to be able to volunteer with them.
Once you have signed up to be a volunteer, you will receive a list of all the tournaments that have requested volunteers this season. You can then sign up for the tournaments you would like to attend.
Please keep in mind that you will need to have completed your safeguarding training and policy before attending any FIRST® LEGO® League events. You will need to send your safeguarding completion certificate to your regional host.