Code Club Impact

Micro-interview with Code Club Growth Partner, Solomon

In our new micro-interview blog series, we chat to educators and young coding enthusiasts about their Code Club experience. Enjoy!

Solomon’s organisation, The Unique Foundation, has been a Growth Partner since 2019. He runs a thriving Code Club at his learning and resource centre in The Gambia and describes his club as creative, empowering, and innovative.

The children who attend represent a diverse mix of boys and girls that come from 20 different schools in the area, and Solomon shares why Code Club is an essential part of their learning journey.

The Unique Foundation

Enjoy this micro-interview with Code Club growth partner, Solomon. 

Let’s get started…

What inspired you to become a part of the Code Club network?

We strongly believe in the transformative power of digital skills and their potential to create opportunities for young people. Witnessing the lack of access to computer knowledge among high school graduates in The Gambia and other sub-Saharan African countries inspired us to take action. By bridging the digital skills gap, we aim to empower young individuals to thrive in the 21st century.

How does your Code Club empower young coders to develop a sense of independence?

Our Code Club empowers young coders to develop a strong sense of independence and self-resilience through our focus on developing technical skills. Through hands-on learning and practical experience, our young coders gain confidence in their abilities, foster their problem-solving skills, and develop the resilience necessary to tackle challenges in the rapidly changing digital world. By nurturing their cross-cultural communication and innovation abilities, we empower them to become independent learners.

Why do young people in The Gambia find Code Club appealing?

Code Club is appealing and well-received amongst young people in The Gambia due to its interactive and engaging learning approach, empowering them to be creators and express their creativity through coding. Developing future-ready skills prepares them for opportunities in the digital world, while the sense of community and collaboration fosters peer support. Additionally, Code Club’s international recognition and access to resources enable participants to learn from and collaborate with young coders globally, broadening their horizons.

How can participating in Code Club benefit young people’s future opportunities?

They can expect to develop coding and digital literacy skills that will serve as a strong foundation for higher education in computer science or related fields. Code Club fosters innovation, encouraging young participants to pursue entrepreneurial ventures or contribute to existing companies. Collaboration and networking within the coding community can lead to internships and mentorships, while participation in tech competitions and hackathons provides platforms for recognition and potential job offers. Global exposure opens doors to remote work opportunities and international collaborations, shaping a promising future.

Thank you, Solomon!

If you enjoyed this micro-interview, read our micro-interview with Sue and learn about her experiences of using the Code Club resources and projects in her club, in the UK.

If Solomon’s journey with Code Club has sparked your interest, explore how you can become a Code Club Global Partner!

Our survey says…A look at the results 

The summer is an exciting time for us at Code Club as we receive the results from our Annual Survey and we learn about your club and your opinion of Code Club. 

Thank you to everyone who filled in the survey; your responses were insightful. Read on for a closer look at the highlights and most significant findings that we’ve uncovered.

Children sat at desks in a classroom looking at laptops.
Melbourn Code Club

Where and who: getting to know clubs and their leaders

We’re interested in building a picture of what clubs look like, where in the world they run, and who participates in them. 

First, we found that there’s a real global mix: 69% of responses were from clubs in the UK, but we also heard from clubs from 31 other countries, from Afghanistan to Canada!  

You told us that being part of our global community is important to you: 77% of you reported that you find being part of the community motivating, and 81% of you have found that community beneficial for answering questions and solving problems.

Next, we found that just over 50% of responses were from school educators and the rest were from volunteers who go into their local school or library to run their club. Over half (53%) of club leaders identify as female and we were pleased to discover that, again, the proportion of Code Club members who identify as female has increased, to 42%. This is fantastic and we’re very proud of this achievement.

If you’re interested in engaging with fellow club leaders from around the world, consider joining our community on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. Share your questions and success stories to connect and interact with like-minded individuals.

The impact of Code Club

We were overjoyed to hear about the positive impacts that coming to Code Club has on your young learners: 94% of you told us that you saw positive changes in club members’ personal confidence. You also reported that attending Code Club helps your learners: 

  • Increase independence in their learning (91%) 
  • Develop their creative thinking (90%)
  • See the usefulness of computing (90%)
  • Increase their feeling of belonging (81%) 

We also discovered that, when thinking about digital technologies:

  • 94% of you agreed that club members’ skills in computing and programming had increased
  • 93% agreed that your club members’ confidence in learning about computing and programming had increased
  • 92% agreed that your club members’ interest in computing had increased
  • 87% agreed that club members’ ability to solve problems with computers had increased

Why do schools run a Code Club?

We asked educators about how their school benefits from running a Code Club and discovered that 84% valued the increase in visibility of computer science in their school and 61% valued the contribution to a broad extra curricular programme.

What happens at Code Club sessions?

We were not surprised to find out that the majority of clubs (95%) use Scratch in their sessions, but we were pleased to hear that you have been also working with Micro:bits (58%), Python (47%), and HTML/CSS (30%).

We heard a lot of love for our projects, with 81% of clubs using them mostly or exclusively. You told us that you found them easy to follow, and liked the layout:

“[We find the]..clear coloured blocks and guidance tips useful. The use of expandable information windows is good as it saves scrolling back and forth.”

How can we support you?

This is one of the most important questions that we asked you. We want to help you run fun, successful clubs, and are keen to hear your ideas for how we can support you further. 

We found that 75% of you have participated in training offered by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. This includes our Code Club online workshops, the ‘Prepare to run a Code Club‘ course, and any of the courses provided by the Raspberry Pi Foundation on the global online learning platform edX.

We’ve had some excellent feedback and ideas about how we could do more to help, and we’re going to work on a few of these suggestions in the next couple of months. Watch this space!

We always enjoy hearing your ideas on how we can assist you in running your Code Club. If you missed the survey but have an idea about how we can support you, please reach out to the team by emailing us at support@codeclub.org.