Gladiators and BBC micro:bit join forces on a new competition to design a fitness gadget

Gladiators and BBC micro:bit join forces on a new competition to design a fitness gadget
The winning primary school will receive an in person Gladiators visit

Contenders ready? Children aged 7-11-years-old at UK primary schools should get set for a new challenge to design a gadget to improve sporting performance.

BBC Children’s and Education and the Micro:bit Educational Foundation have teamed up with the hit TV show Gladiators to call on primary schools to take part in an exciting new design competition.

The Gladiators are throwing down the gauntlet for children to design an innovative gadget which uses the pocket-sized micro:bit computer to enhance their performance. It’s all about design and is the perfect way to start with the BBC micro:bit. All that is needed is the desire to explore and create.

Opening at 11am today (Tuesday 15 October), primary schools have until midday on Friday 6 December 2024 to submit their entries.

The winning school will receive a visit from a Gladiator, a £500 voucher for computing equipment and have their design turned into a prototype gadget. They will also enjoy a special Gladiator-themed coding day with a BBC micro:bit expert. The top 50 schools will also win classroom sets of micro:bits.

 “We want to hear the exciting ideas children come up with to test our fitness. No need to know about coding, just use your imagination to set us a challenge to help us to become faster, stronger and even more unstoppable!”

 “Technology can really help improve performance by measuring lots of different aspects including speed, force and balance. So, get creative and think about fun ways to use the BBC micro:bit to improve our sporting performance.”

“We’re calling on primary school teachers around the country to harness the power of the Gladiators and fire up children’s imaginations. The BBC micro:bit is such a versatile device, and we hope pupils will come up with some really creative design ideas to test the mighty Gladiators.”

“We are so excited to put the power of both the BBC micro:bit and the Gladiators into pupils’ hands. Design thinking is a valuable process to teach children, using it in this competition is a fun way to get all pupils involved. Nearly 700,000 micro:bits have been distributed to UK primary schools, funded by Nominet as part of the BBC micro:bit – the next gen campaign. With the features packed onto the micro:bit and the incredible skills of Dynamite and Phantom, the creative possibilities are endless – we can’t wait to see what UK schools come up with.”

The competition launches with an exclusive Live Lesson featuring Phantom and Dynamite, which is available to watch from 11am today on the BBC Teach website.

The duo compete head-to-head in a fun design and technology lesson for primary schools as children across the UK are encouraged to join in, in real-time, with a series of curriculum-linked design and technology activities. For schools that are inspired by the Live Lesson and ready to take the next step, BBC Teach is offering free and easy to use lesson plans to bring Gladiators fun into the classroom and help to engage children with the competition.

Each school can submit a maximum of three entries. The competition is open to UK residents aged between 7 and 11 years of age. The entry form, terms and conditions and privacy notice can be found at bbc.co.uk/microbit

The competition closes at midday on Friday 6 December 2024 and the winner will be announced on Monday 10 March 2025.

Gladiators is a Hungry Bear and MGM Alternative UK, a division of Amazon MGM Studios, production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer and was commissioned by Kalpna Patel-Knight, BBC Head of Entertainment Commissioning. The Executive Producers are Dan Baldwin and Lou Brown for Hungry Bear, and Dom Bird and Barry Poznick for MGM Alternative UK, a division of Amazon MGM Studios. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Clodagh O’Donoghue.

The original American Gladiators series was created by Johnny C. Ferraro and Dan Carr and developed by Johnny C. Ferraro.

The first series of Gladiators is available to view on BBC iPlayer.