Micro-interview

Micro-interview with Code Club member Terrell

In our micro-interview blog series, we’re chatting to educators and young coding enthusiasts and hearing about their Code Club experience.

Worth Valley Primary School in Keighley, England launched their Code Club in spring 2023, and club members have been working through our Introduction to Scratch path.

Each week, 15 young people take part in the club sessions, and this is where we first met Terrell, aged 9, a budding coder with a passion for coding and learning new skills.

Terrell told us what he enjoys about attending the new after-school Code Club at his school.

Enjoy this micro-interview with Code Club member Terrell 

Let’s get started…

What inspired you to start coding?

What inspired me was when I first saw coding, I saw that it was great to help people make things happen in programs and make games, and I wanted to have a go as I really like games and would love to make my own games so that I can play them and evaluate them and give myself feedback to improve it, then send the programs to share with others.

What do you enjoy the most about coding?

The best thing about coding is all the things we have to do. We’ve learnt how to follow programs and make things happen and then share them with everyone and show how proud we are of our code. I’ve enjoyed everything we do in Code Club, and learn new skills as we complete each project.

How do you help your Code Club friends with their coding projects? 

I help them if they are stuck. I like to help, and if I can, I’ll find a solution, or if I know how to make them succeed, I will help them. It’s great to help each other and if we are not sure, we ask each other or persevere to find the answer.

What’s your favourite project that you have made with code? 

My favourite project was making my own book as I got to use all my skills and choose my own sprites. You can replay it and add more if you want to, or listen to it whenever I want to.

Describe your Code Club in three words.

Educating. Fun. Programming.

Thank you, Terrell!

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 Norfolk, England.

You don’t need any coding experience to run a Code Club, and you can help more young people like Terrell learn vital coding and digital skills. Start a club today!

Micro-interview with Code Club educator Sue Gray

We are excited to introduce our micro-interview blog series, where we chat to educators and young coding enthusiasts and hear about their Code Club experience.

Meet Sue, a retired secondary school teacher with expertise in key stage 3, key stage 4 BTEC, and GCSE computing (learners aged 11–16). Now leading a Code Club at Fakenham Library in Norfolk, England, Sue describes her experience as fun, evolving, and fulfilling.

Sue told us about her experiences of using the Code Club resources and projects in her club.

Enjoy this micro-interview with Code Club educator Sue Gray

Let’s get started…

Are there any specific Code Club projects that you particularly like? If so, what makes them special to you?

I really like Space talk. You can do so much with this little project. I love showing children how to say thank you in sign language — it always gets a “Wow!” from them. I would love to have more time to be able to investigate further sign language animations.

How have Code Club projects and resources supported the young people’s learning experience in your club?

The project paths and certificates are very popular. The children enjoy the continuity and the building up of their skills. Being able to say, “Remember last week we learned…” helps a lot to remind them that we are on a journey. Seeing them able to quickly recall and use skills learned in previous sessions is a great reward, and then seeing some of them really expand on their skills and experiment is just super. Plus, everyone loves stickers and certificates!

Share a moment when you have seen a young club member grow in confidence.

I had a girl attend some of the very early Scratch sessions that we did in January 2022, and she came back for a set of three ‘Intro to Scratch’ sessions in July 2022 that we ran. She was very shy, but she blossomed during the Code Club sessions. She understood far more than I think she believed she would be able to and then just quietly grew in confidence, and her smiles were joyful to see.

What feedback have you received from learners or parents?

All the children seem to enjoy the Code Club. Everyone leaves with a smile and, very often, having had a “Wow!” moment when they have learned some new skills or experimented and found out something new.

Thank you, Sue!

Could you give one hour a week to inspire the next generation to code? Then sign up and become a Code Club volunteer today.