The best thing about Code Club is you!

Roses are red, violets are blue, we really love Code Club, and we hope you do too!

Read on and find out why kids love attending Code Club and try our heart-themed projects this Valentine’s Day!  

The best thing about Code Club is you!

Young members from Star Clubs at RGS the Grange in Worcestershire, Cully Coders in Devon, Meriden Code Club in Coventry, and Wormit Primary school in Scotland, wrote to us to say why they love attending Code Club — it made us blush and warmed our hearts!

“You can take on fun and challenging projects which get your mind thinking”

“I love coding because you can make whatever is in your mind”

“The leaders help us if we are stuck and they are there for us if we need them!”

“I love coding and it is really fun”

 “The best thing about Tuesday”

“I can learn to create my own projects and it’s great fun to learn!”

“You can be creative and add lots of your own ideas to the challenges”

Your code brightens our day

Send a secret Valentine’s Day letter to a loved one with our mystery letter project. 

In this project, children will learn how to use multiple CSS classes to style text and find out how to use background images and free Google Fonts.

Here are messages from Regional Coordinator Liz, and International Programme Coordinator Kat.

Alternatively, you might like to test your skills by remixing our Happy Birthday project! Design a Valentine’s Day card for your pet, grandparent, or your secret crush.

Express your love with Scratch 

Everyone needs a little inspiration when writing a poem for a loved one. Our Scratch poetry generator can help, along with teaching you about variables, lists, and repeat blocks. 

Have a look at Regional Coordinator Rohima’s poem, it will make you laugh! 

If you would prefer to draw your love, try using Paint Box to draw your favourite things — this could include cake, your pet, or your sibling’s face! 

Show me more projects

If these projects have inspired you, take a look at Code Club and Raspberry Pi projects pages where you can find even more projects featuring Scratch, Python, and micro:bit!

Don’t forget to share your awesome creations on Twitter at Code Club UK or Code Club World and use the hashtag #MyCodeClub

New members of the Regional Team!

CRobot 003ode Club’s amazing Regional Coordinators are our eyes and ears on the ground across the country, attending events and supporting our volunteers and partners on a local level.

We’re really pleased to welcome three new members to the team – Victoria who will be covering the North East, Yorkshire and Humber; Mark who will be our Wales Coordinator; and Caroline, our new South West Coordinator.

We spoke to each of them to find out a little bit more about what brought them to Code Club:


VICTORIA SAURON

20160427_105209_26088758384_oI’m Victoria, and I am very chuffed indeed to be working for Code Club in such a wonderful part of the world as Yorkshire, Humber and the North East of England.

I grew up in North Yorkshire where as a child I spent many hours coding in BASIC on a ZX Spectrum and saving my very quirky invented games onto a little cassette tape. I continued being an ultra geek by learning the viola and studying Old Norse at university. Since then, I have literally made following my passions into an art form – gaining a PhD in history of art, qualifying as a French translator, singing in a swing trio, and curating my own bilingual children’s library.

I finally began work in a real library in North Yorkshire in 2012 before coming full circle back to coding, and now have the enormous privilege and fun of running Code Clubs and getting to talk and write about them all day!

Do follow me on my personal Twitter for forays into feminism, humanism, libraryism and veganism at @yorkshirewords, but for Code Club chat, it’s @codeclubYandH or @codeclubNE. And my email for anything and everything Code Club related across the whole region is yorkshireandhumber@codeclub.org.uk.

MARK ELLIS

2016-04-25 18.03.05Hi – or ‘Schmae’ (Welsh for hello) – I’m Mark the new Code Club Coordinator for Wales. I live in Rhyl on the beautiful North Wales coast.

My exposure to the world of software and computing started in high school way back in 1982. We used a tele-type machine linked to the local college mainframe. I subsequently went on to study computing at the same college and spent two years learning COBOL, BASIC and various other programming languages. After that I went on to work in various roles in software development, technology and skills training.

I now come to Code Club after returning to North Wales and starting an artisan bakery, of all things! Over the last couple of years I’ve developed a strong desire to help build the homegrown Welsh ‘tech’ and creative capability; and key to this will be skills. So having the opportunity to work with Code Club is perfect for me.

I look forward to working with and supporting our volunteers and supporters across Wales. If you want to get in touch please do, via wales@codeclub.org.uk.

CAROLINE VAAN-CANNING

PRO20234Hi there, my name is Caroline and I am the new South West Coordinator for Code Club. My interest in computing started in the 1980’s, with a personal computer called the Sinclair ZX-81, shortly followed by the ZX Spectrum. I literally spent hours typing in the programs from the “Sinclair User” magazine, tweaking the code.

Some years later, it was my maths teacher at Sixth Form who finally convinced me I should drop the idea of studying Graphic Design at Art College and instead concentrate my efforts only on studying Computer Science.

After a BTEC OND (Ordinary National Diploma) in Computer Studies and a HND in Computer Studies, I started my Bachelor of Science Degree Course at Brighton University. After graduating in 1993, I joined Microsoft, where I continued to work for a little under ten years. After having my second child, I decided to take a break from my career.

Giving up the day job however, was not an excuse to miss out on technological advancements and I found volunteering at my children’s school a great way of keeping in touch. When I discovered that Code Club were looking for new volunteers, I decided to get involved. With the help of the STEM Ambassador programme and three other like-minded people, I launched not one, but two Code Clubs in Taunton.

With my experience as a volunteer, I am looking forward to helping others get their own Code Clubs started in my new role as Regional Coordinator. Feel free to drop me a line at southwest@codeclub.org.uk, I look forward to hearing from you!


Our Regional Coordinators are there to support you! Got a question about volunteering, a problem or an issue to address? Get in touch with your local coordinator for support and advice:

Mark Ellis: Wales Coordinator – wales@codeclub.org.uk

Una McDermott: Northern Ireland Coordinator – northernireland@codeclub.org.uk

Lorna Gibson: Scotland Coordinator – scotland@codeclub.org.uk

Liz Smart: North West Coordinator – northwest@codeclub.org.uk

Victoria Sauron: North East and Yorkshire Coordinator – yorkshireandhumber@codeclub.org.uk

Tim Wilson: West Midlands Coordinator – westmidlands@codeclub.org.uk

Katharine Childs: East Midlands Coordinator – eastmidlands@codeclub.org.uk

Dan Elwick: London and East of England Coordinator – london@codeclub.org.uk

Caroline Vaan-Canning: South West Coordinator – southwest@codeclub.org.uk

Dan Powell: South East Coordinator – southeast@codeclub.org.uk