It’s your robot, not mine: The epic moments as a robotics team lead

A new school year, a new FIRST Tech Challenge UK season – and a brand-new game: DECODE, presented by RTX. That means fresh robots, ideas and let’s be honest, new problems to solve. But as Friends’ School Lisburn’s robotics lead, Errol Martin, will tell you, those are the best kind of problems to have. 

Errol, Director of IT at Friends’ School, set up his school’s first robotics club back in 2021. Four years later, that small club has grown to over 50 young people across three FIRST Tech Challenge UK teams. 

Now, Errol reflects on his journey as a team lead – from building their very first bot to competing among the UK’s best – and shares why stepping back and handing over the reins to the young people has been the secret to their success and their excitement for the year ahead. 

Starting from scratch

Since establishing our first-ever school robotics club at Friends’ School in 2021, we’ve expanded, developed, succeeded and failed in equal measure. Most importantly, however, we’ve all learned a lot! 

With no prior experience in robotics, we began our journey into the unknown with a starter bot, a simple robot with some basic functionalities.

During FIRST Tech Challenge UK, teams work like real-world engineering industry groups to design, build and code a robot ready for competition at a regional qualifying tournament, while also engaging in community outreach and fundraising. Top-performing teams head to the UK Championship, which brings together the UK’s very best to compete alongside and against one another for a range of awards, including the highly coveted Inspire and the Winning Alliance awards, arguably the jewels of the FIRST Tech Challenge crown!

Photo by Press Eye 2025

The thrill of competition

Competition always brings out the best in students. I felt, and still do, that this was the programme for me as a teacher and the perfect vehicle through which to develop our robotics club. 

Fast-forward to 2025 with five straight Northern Ireland qualifier wins and a winning alliance medal at the champs, we’ve clearly journeyed well! Furthermore, and more importantly, we’ve never finished outside the top eight school teams in the UK in a season. 

Being a facilitator

I, of course, can lay claim to 0% of the clever engineering design, prototyping, problem-solving, and hours, days and weeks spent developing different solutions to get an edge in the competition. I can, however, lay claim to 100% of the facilitation, ensuring the young people are supported every step of the way through fundraising, organising, encouraging, administrating, networking, researching and chaperoning. These are the skills you bring as a teacher! 

I’m a hands-off facilitator. You have to be. You’re too busy being a teacher to get involved in the nitty-gritty! Also, this is a programme for young people, not for teachers to compete with one another – where’s the learning in that? 

I’m all for giving them a 101 in electronics, coding and engineering design, but after that…it’s over to you, folks. This has been central to our success as a club – the young people are 100% invested, they determine their own success and are in control of their own destinies – just as it should be. They love it and it works!

Photo by Press Eye 2025

Looking ahead to DECODE

Our DECODE journey, this year’s game, has just begun and with 50+ members, three teams and a blank canvas for each of our team robots, it’s sure to be an interesting year ahead. 

Would I recommend the FIRST universe as a vehicle for developing your robotics club in school? Absolutely! 

It’s the perfect combination of competition, learning, rich resources and of course, challenge aplenty to garner interest from students interested in STEM careers and beyond. There’s also the life experience – opportunities for developing skills sorely lacking in many young people – teamwork, conflict resolution, interpersonal communication, organisational skills, leadership and the list goes on.

If you haven’t started a robotics club in your school, now is a good time, as we enter an era of increasing levels of automation in the world we live in. FIRST Tech Challenge UK has been the perfect path for developing interest in digital technologies in our school. It’s a journey, but well worth exploring!

Inspired by Errol’s journey?

Join the DECODE season, an archaeology-inspired adventure and enable your young people to learn skills that will last a lifetime. 

Register your interest