Education

Three benefits of attending the computing education seminars! 

2023 is shaping up to be a year full of personal development and learning opportunities at Code Club: in March we’re hosting the Clubs Conference for you; throughout the year you can join our brilliant new Code Club online event programme; and now we have a primary computing education seminar series, delivered by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Learning at Code Club

While you are busy running Code Clubs, researchers across the globe are committing their time to exploring how education works and how we can ensure that our practice continues to benefit young people’s learning.

The researchers at the Raspberry Pi Foundation have lined up a set of free online seminars about primary (K–5) computing teaching and learning, covering a wide range of topics in primary education.

We invite you to join in these seminars so you can hear some of the most interesting researchers out there share their learnings, and discuss with us how we all can use the researchers’ work to make a difference in our Code Clubs.

The researchers will bring their learnings, but the knowledge you have as a Code Club educator or volunteer will be what makes these seminars unique! That is why we encourage you, whatever your background, to attend and share your experience.

Seminar topics that have caught our attention include:

  • How to teach data literacy in primary education
  • Strategies for giving appropriate feedback
  • How children learn coding through ScratchJr

The benefits of attending

Learning together is a key aspect of Code Club, and the online seminars provide you with a friendly learning environment with like-minded people from across the globe. You’ll gain valuable insights into how your youngest learners develop their computing knowledge, and you will be able to discuss with peers what this means for your Code Club in practical terms.

Expand your computer knowledge

Dr Bobby Whyte from the Raspberry Pi Foundation is the speaker of the Tuesday 7 March seminar. In the session, he will give practical examples of how primary computing can be integrated into literacy education.

Here Bobby shares three benefits you will get out of attending the seminar series: 

  1. Participating in the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s computing education seminars is a great opportunity for you to hear about the latest research topics and ideas. The seminars are open to everyone who is interested in developing their own teaching practice and learning about innovative approaches.
  1. By joining us, you have the chance to spend time with like-minded practitioners and researchers from around the world. After each seminar presentation, you get the opportunity to participate in a breakout session where you can network and share ideas and best practice from your Code Club.
  1. The seminars are a chance to engage in a lively discussion about teaching and provide the chance for you to deepen your knowledge of computing education and expand your teaching toolkit. Researchers often present innovative practices and even share lesson materials, tools, and ideas that you can use in your Code Club. I can’t wait to see you there! 

You can check out the full line-up of seminar speakers online, and sign up to receive all the latest news and to attend a seminar soon.

Support the transition to secondary school with Code Club!

We understand that education recovery is currently at the top of the agenda for many teachers. Here’s how Code Club can support learners to gain the relevant coding skills to make the transition from primary to secondary computing education. 

Support your learners through Code Club  

In the UK, most children are now back to learning in the classroom instead of learning from home. We know that teachers are looking to understand what learning and experiences their students have missed during the pandemic and to find ways to help them catch up. 

Teachers tell us that learners who will transition from primary to secondary education this year are particularly at a disadvantage. Not only are they potentially behind on important building blocks of learning that they need to take with them to secondary school, but they have also lost out on chances to bond with others as a group, lead activities within their school, and celebrate their achievements. Running a Code Club will support your learners with all of this.

Help provide vital coding skills 

Code Club’s step-by-step Scratch projects, for example, are perfect for helping young people to grasp basic coding concepts, and are a great option for schools looking for transition activities. Sway Grantham, educator and Raspberry Pi Foundation Senior Learning Manager, explains how: 

“Running a Code Club is an easy way to support your learners. The first two Scratch modules give your learners an opportunity to understand the potential of computing, with creative projects that show the wider application of programming skills. This, paired with how they introduce sequence, selection, and repetition, will provide learners with a solid overview of programming before they transition to secondary school.”

The added extras that learners gain from attending Code Club

Whenever we speak to the Code Club community, the overwhelming take-home message is that the benefits of running and attending a Code Club are so much broader than coding and digital skills.  

Clubs provide a fun and informal environment for young people to develop lifelong skills: from collaborating and sharing learning, to problem solving and confidence building. These skills can be particularly important at times of change, such as the transition to a new school. 

Educator Janice, from Scotland, explains how Code Club has benefited their club members:

“I have always said that Code Club is transformational. It teaches young learners thinking skills like ordering, logic, and being precise, without them even knowing, as they are too busy having fun. Code Club gives them confidence to challenge perceptions, fix things, and help each other. I couldn’t think of a better set of skills and experiences for them to [take on] the next part of their educational journey”.

How we can support you 

From skills development to wellbeing, Code Club provides an ideal space to support children transitioning to secondary school and we want to make sure you have all the tools to support this.  

If you would like to restart your Code Club either online or in-person, or are looking to launch a new club this term, here’s a hand-picked selection of resources to help you:

If you have any ideas on how Code Club can help children transition to secondary school, or have any questions about getting your club up and running, drop our team an email. We’d love to hear from you. 

Jacob shares his top tips to running a fun and engaging Code Club

In February we met educator Jacob from Penpol School in Cornwall. He volunteered to join the Code Club panel as part of the Raspberry Pi educator sessions hosted in London. 

After the event, we caught up with Jacob and asked if he would contribute to our blog and share his experiences of running a fun and engaging Code Club.

Say hello to Jacob

Jacob has been running his Code Club at Penpol School in Cornwall for over three years.  He has a wealth of knowledge on running a Code Club. Let’s find out what his three tips are to running a fun and engaging club! 

Image shows teacher Jacob in his class room
Jacob from Penpol School in Cornwall

1. Have fun! 

Have fun with it. Running a Code Club is a fantastic chance to engage with students and children in a different way, everyone has come together to have fun and explore ideas with each other. The children have chosen to attend Code Club so they are already excited about the idea — take this energy and run with it! 

2. It isn’t a lesson 

Remember, it isn’t a ‘lesson’. This isn’t like a computing lesson in school, there is no set goal, no endpoint, no ‘finished!’ moment. Instead, children are encouraged to explore projects, take them in any direction they wish and discover new ideas and issues along the way. 

These moments provide excellent learning opportunities for both the children and yourself as they are real-world issues that they have encountered and want to explore, not scenarios you have planned in advance.

Young boy working at a computer
Code Club projects in action!

3. Embrace the dancing ice creams! 

Let the children lead the way. If they want to explore a certain set of resources, let them. If they want to change a project halfway through to incorporate a set of dancing ice creams, let them. They are learning, exploring, and problem-solving — whether in a structured or unstructured way. 

Don’t be afraid to let them take the lead and follow where they want to go.

Three girls sat in a line behind computers, smiling.
Learning to code with friends

You can follow Jacob’s adventures with code on Twitter, start a conversation, and share your Code Club experiences! 

What are your tips? 

What are your tips to running a fun and engaging Code Club? Let us know by tweeting us at Code Club UK & Code Club world using the hashtag #MyCodeClub