What you’ll learn at Code Club online workshops

Whether you’re a coding enthusiast, an educator, or someone who is new to coding, Code Club’s online workshops offer you the opportunity to learn alongside like-minded people in a supportive environment. 

Code Club online workshops introduce you to a wide range of coding languages. From Python to Scratch, HTML to Unity, you’ll get hands-on experience using different tools and programming languages, as well as exploring the Code Club projects and resources that can support the running of your club.

Join us at an online workshop from a location that suits you!

Darren Bayliss, Programme Coordinator, leads on the delivery of our workshops and shares more about the format:

“Our shorter format workshops have been designed to turn educators’ curiosity into empowerment and to help build your confidence as a Code Club leader. By developing your coding skills through our online short codealongs and deep dives into our projects and resources, it will allow you to support young coders to explore different coding languages and design projects that matter to them.”

Here are three outcomes that you will gain from attending our workshops:

Increased confidence

One of the highlights of the Code Club online workshops is the opportunity to engage in short codealongs of our projects to understand basic concepts like loops, conditionals, and variables. Through interactive exercises and practical examples, you’ll gain confidence in your coding abilities, see your projects come to life, and be able to take this learning back to your Code Club.

Collaborative learning

Our workshops foster a collaborative learning environment. You’ll have the chance to connect with fellow Code Club community members and learn alongside each other.

By engaging in group activities and discussions, you’ll enhance your problem-solving skills, learn from different perspectives, and build valuable connections with the Code Club community, who share your passion in providing coding opportunities for young people.

Creativity 

We believe that coding is not just about lines of code; it’s a place for self-expression, imagination, and creativity. During each workshop, you’ll have fun exploring our coding projects and discover how you can encourage learners in your Code Club to get creative and code projects that matter to them. 

Our workshops are developed to give you the tools, knowledge, and confidence to deliver a fun and inspiring Code Club. Our event series changes monthly, so make sure you keep an eye on our events calendar

If there is a workshop that you’d like us to run, please email Darren at support@codeclub.org as he’d love to hear from you!

TagusValley: Telling stories from Portugal through digital making

TagusValley, a science and technology park in Portugal, partners with Code Club to give local young people the opportunity to express themselves through digital making.

Ellie, Code Club Global Partnerships Manager, chatted to Homero Cardoso, Project Manager at TagusValley and one of the co-founders of its Code Club network to find out more.

Five people facing the camera smiling .
The TagusValley Code Club team

How it started

In the heart of Portugal lies a small municipality called Abrantes. With a sparse population, and not much in the way of a technology industry, many of the young people here think you need to go somewhere bigger for new opportunities — that is until TagusValley brought Code Clubs into local schools.

Homero saw the potential in using Code Clubs to show young people how fun technology can be and how it can open up endless possibilities. He trialled Code Clubs in ten classrooms for a few months, working with teachers to deliver the sessions. It was a big hit.

‘‘The kids loved it, the teachers loved it, the municipality loved it.’’

The local municipality loved it so much they wanted to fund the programme to continue. So Homero gathered a small team to go out to local schools and continue to support teachers in running clubs. They now visit 30 classrooms a week.

“For us it’s a process of discovery — themselves (the students), their capacity, their ability to create something, their discovery of their surroundings.’’

A young coder looking at a screen working on a Scratch project.
A young coder exploring Scratch

The oldest olive tree in Portugal

Abrantes is home to a 3,350-year-old olive tree. Locals will tell you it’s the oldest in the world, but others may disagree! Children in Code Clubs were tasked with featuring the olive tree in a project. They created a game in which a character is trying to pick the olives from the tree, whilst avoiding a bird that is trying to poop on them! As you can imagine, the coders had a lot of fun creating the characters’ reactions when the bird achieves its mission.

By using culturally relevant storytelling and taking a ‘no limits’ approach, Homero says the children’s imaginations grow and grow.

‘’When they start to have crazy ideas, instead of telling them ‘that’s crazy’, we say ‘that’s really cool!’ Have you thought about something even more crazy! We can create anything!’’

This approach has had a very positive impact. Some children have developed an enthusiasm for coding outside of their regular Code Club. One boy was on holiday when he saw a book on Scratch that he insisted his parents buy him. When he came back to school, it was the one souvenir from his holiday he was most excited to bring back to Code Club and show his friends.

Coding as a universal language

Abrantes is home to a multicultural population. When two Urdu-speaking girls joined a Portuguese-speaking Code Club, coding helped everyone to communicate across the language differences. After a quick bit of online translation to find the Urdu version of Scratch, the girls quickly figured out how to create what they wanted, and were able to share their creations along with their classmates.

A classroom setting with children sat in pairs, working on a laptop.
A Code Club session

You can see which Code Club projects have been translated into different languages by clicking on the top right-hand box on the Code Club Project site.

What’s next?

Homero is keen to get his students involved in next year’s Astro Pi Mission Zero. He is also working on a programme to encourage mature students from local universities to volunteer at Code Clubs.

He would like to help more teachers feel confident about teaching coding. Homero sees the training and support as key to fostering the abilities and confidence of the teachers in school, so they can continue running clubs themselves, and to ensure the long-term success of the programme.

Find out more about becoming a Code Club Global Partner organisation.

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!