Month: December 2022

Best of 2022!

As we close the door on 2022, we have the perfect opportunity to pause, reflect, and appreciate the year gone by. How would you describe your Code Club’s year? Maybe it felt fun, inspiring, or even like a roller coaster?

Why not share your accomplishments from 2022 with us on social media using the hashtag #MyCodeClub? We’d love to celebrate your stories with you and the world.

Some of the Code Club team!

One of the best moments of 2022 was celebrating our 10th birthday and all your support from the past decade. This was a huge highlight for everyone. We loved seeing your parties, cakes, and special edition swag to celebrate the occasion — we’re still not over the Code Club-branded tie!

Head of Code Club, Tamasin said:

“I loved hearing stories from clubs that have been running for many years and the young people who have so many lovely memories of their time at Code Club. It was wonderful to hear how an extracurricular club has given them so much confidence and ideas.”

2022 memorable moments

To celebrate another marvellous year, we spoke to the Code Club team to find out why this year was special for them.

“We hosted our first meetup for the community in Wales in November this year. It was the first event of its kind for all of us, and I was so inspired to see how passionate our community is about Code Club!” 

Sarah, Community Coordinator, Wales

Sarah is ready to welcome the community!

“My year was made by the enthusiasm that club members showed to our World Hello Day activity. I spent a good month laughing, smiling and admiring their creative entries! Thank you for bringing joy into my role at Code Club.”

Zoe, Programme Coordinator, UK 

A World Hello Day entry from Scotland

“I’ve loved seeing the wonderful work our Code Club partner organisations are doing, helping to get even more young people coding around the world. And it was great to meet Nadia, our lead volunteer for Code Club/CoderDojo Iraq!”

Izzy, Programme Coordinator, UK 

Code Club and CoderDojo with Nadia

“We ran our first in-person sessions with over 400 teachers from all over government schools in Odisha, India. For me, this was my highlight — our community! It was a big reassurance and reminder for me about our purpose, our mission and why we do what we do!”

Vasu, National Community Manager, India 

Vasu with educators in Odisha

“For the first time I got to host a codealong for our US community to close our two-week long celebration of Code Club’s 10th birthday and it was so much fun.”

Kevin, Program Coordinator, USA

Kevin leading a codealong

“I have loved seeing, first hand, how satisfying it is for beginner coders to remix a project and make it their own. It’s not all about a totally new idea. One of my favourite projects from my club was this remix of a fidget toy where the club member has added their love of the sea.”

Tamasin, Head of Code Club

Tamasin’s favourite project!

What made 2022 stand out for you? 

Zoe asked for your memorable moments on social media and this is what you shared: 

This Code Club enjoyed taking part in our World Hello day activity!

Ali from Iraq had this to say about 2022:

“It was amazing year I spent it with MyCodeClub members when we learning coding using the 3,2,1…Make! pathways (Scratch , Python, HTML)”

This year, Darren from England saw how Code Club can be a great opportunity for learners to support each other: 

Code Club educator in Wales, Paul had to think on his feet during a Code Club session, which had a brilliant outcome! 

“One of our learners got very excited by HTML tags. An impromptu lesson when Wi-Fi failed. thanks to @garethgwyther was quite surprised by the learners enthusiasm!”

The next 12 months brings lots of excitement for Code Club. So, 2023 is the year of… well, let’s wait and see!

Celebrating ‘World Hello Day’ through code! 

To mark World Hello Day on Monday 21 November, we gave Code Clubs in the UK, Ireland, Croatia, Ghana and Portugal the exciting opportunity to connect through code and say “Hello” to each other. 

Using the Scratch project ‘From me to you’, young coders followed a design brief to code a digital card that says “Hello!”. We encouraged learners to be as creative as they liked when deciding on their card design and message. 

Our Scratch studio now has over 60 unique ‘From me to you’ cards, all showcasing young creator’s imaginative ideas through code. Every club that participated has received a card from another club.  

Here are some of the cards that made us smile: 

“‘Agoo from Ghana’! I really enjoyed learning how to say ‘Hello’ in Ghanian. This simple project, with a catchy soundtrack is the perfect contribution to celebrate World Hello Day!” 

Ellie, Global Partnership Manager

“This animation is the ultimate surprise party. Scratch Cat is chilling out and then receives the biggest birthday greeting from Croatia. I loved it!”

Tamasin, Head of Code Club 

“I really loved the creativity around the painted sprites!”

Liz, Learning Manager

“Saying ‘Hello!’ while dodging clouds, a fab little game from a Code Club in Wigan, England.”

Chris, Clubs Process and Support Coordinator 

“For the rest of the day, I was singing ‘Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down, Never gonna run around and desert you!’. This very humorous card made my day!”

Zoe, Programme Coordinator

Supporting creativity in your Code Club 

Inspiring creativity not only helps young people develop their cognitive skills, it also stimulates their imagination and gives them a space for self-expression. 

In 2023, Coolest Projects, the world’s leading technology showcase, is back! This event provides the perfect opportunity for young creators to explore their creativity even further. 

We’d love to see submissions from creators with all experience levels. Our 3…2…1…Make! projects are the ideal starting points for any of your club members to create something that they are proud of, and participate in this global event. 

Learn how your Code Club can take part in Coolest Projects 2023 and share their projects with the world! 

Celebrating International Volunteer Day with the Code Club community

Code Club would not be the success it is today without the dedication and hard work of you, our brilliant volunteer community! To celebrate International Volunteer Day (5 December), we asked volunteers across the globe to share why they volunteer and what Code Club means to them.

The UN declared International Volunteer Day an annual celebration in 1985 and it provides us with the perfect opportunity to recognise the amazing volunteers working tirelessly to bring Code Club to their local communities.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen volunteers join our community from 160 countries around the world and we’d like to say thanks to each and every one of you who are helping to put the power of digital making into the hands of young people.

Voices from around the world

Tayla Da Coster

Tayla Da Coster runs a Code Club in Perth, Australia. Her Code Club journey began when she saw the Moonhack competition online.

“I immediately thought of our students and how valuable it would feel to be a part of a national club where they shared common interests with students from around the world.”

Code Club is important to her because of how easy it is to access.

“It accounted for all student’s abilities, and I was blown away by how many languages we could view the PDFs in. Being a part of something global was very special for everyone!”

Kaloi Duncan Saitoti

Kaloi Duncan Saitoti runs Code Clubs with Maasai communities in Kenya. Volunteering with a Code Club is important to him because it gives children the opportunity to reach for their dreams.

“The power of coding skills, and computing in general, is helping kids empower themselves by making their dreams come true.”

Eirini Mbouti

Eirini Mbouti runs a Code Club in Leanyer, Northern Territory, Australia. She was inspired to establish a Code Club by her students.

“Their curiosity, imagination, and persistence has enabled me to set up a Code Club in our school. The students are very interested in coding, which has led me to learn more about coding. I also love to see the students’ excitement and amazement when I introduce a new code or function.” 

Why volunteer with Code Club? 

There are so many benefits to volunteering at a Code Club, including learning new skills, boosting your sense of well-being, and feeling more connected to your local community.

No previous coding experience is required to run a Code Club. You can learn alongside the club members and our free projects and resources help to take the work out of planning sessions. Start your volunteering journey today by signing up to one of our free training webinars.

And to all the current Code Club educators and volunteers across the world, we extend a heartfelt thank you for all that do!

Help us continue the spirit of International Volunteer Day by sharing your best Code Club volunteer moments with us on Twitter or Facebook. We love hearing about what Code Club means to you!