STEM

Dreams on track: Inspiring the next generation with industry connections

Children often dream about amazing careers as astronauts, inventors, or racing car drivers. By introducing them to industry professionals, we have the opportunity to bridge the gap between dreams and reality.

After more than 35 years, Gary Foote, Chief Information Officer at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, returned to his former primary school in Cambridgeshire, UK. He brought with him not just memories, but also a box of Formula 1 car electronics, a wealth of experience, and a humble request to join their Code Club session. 

We accompanied him on this journey to discover why he believes it’s crucial for children to engage with industry professionals, and to hear what he thinks of Code Club. 

Gary a classroom at a table with a group of children surrounding him
Gary having fun at Code Club!

Someone like me

When children see professionals who they can identify with succeeding in STEM fields, it sends a powerful message and introduces a sense of possibility that they too can dream big and their dreams can become a reality.

Although few 6-year-olds (16%) worry about what job they will get in the future, by age 11, 46% are worried, and this increases to 65% by age 15. Seeing a future that they could aspire to is vital in supporting young people to understand how they can take action to make that future a reality.

“I’ve been obsessed with anything four wheels since I was a toddler, and began programming computers while still in primary school. It wasn’t until I was in my teenage years that I realised I could combine my two passions, and that combining motorsport and computing was a career possibility. I love being able to show children that there are opportunities in Formula 1 for people across all walks of life and expertise, not just driving! From STEM subjects like maths and engineering well into the arts, design, and creatives.”

Gary Foote, CIO at Haas F1

Code Club in action

The journey from school to the workplace becomes real for young people when former students like Gary come back into schools as speakers or Code Club leaders. These experiences can help broaden students’ horizons and enable them to make more informed choices, helping them to shape their future lives.

“It’s important for children to have the opportunity to talk to industry professionals, as they are the future. They will be driving the innovation of future technology platforms — they will be solving big world problems.”

Gary Foote, CIO at Haas F1

How many sensors?

In a Formula 1 car, more than 220 sensors meticulously monitor every input and output throughout a race.

Inputs and outputs are key concepts we teach young learners at Code Club. Thanks to the knowledge gained through their Code Club sessions, the children had an insight into how sensors function within a car, learning how the information gathered by these sensors enables engineers to ensure optimal performance of the car.

“The children were brimming with curiosity and loved hearing about the world of Formula 1. It can sometimes be challenging for children to understand the real-world
application of STEM, so to hear how the concepts they are learning at Code Club can be used to solve problems in Formula 1 was enlightening for them!”

Zoe, Code Club Programme Coordinator

Don’t forget that Code Club has a ‘Code Club explains computer science’ poster series showcasing key concepts such as inputs and outputs, selection, and variables. If you run a Code Club, you can log in and download the posters from the website.

Our ‘Code Club explains computer science’ poster series

Gary sums up his Code Club experience

We regularly ask young people to summarise Code Club in just three words, and we were keen to ask Gary for the three words he would choose too!

Here are the three words Gary picked to sum up his Code Club visit:

Encouraging
“These kids are the future of technology; we have an obligation (and especially as a technologist) to mentor, guide, and help these children come up through these technology platforms, so technology can keep on developing. I really see this in Code Club.”

Inspiring
“The enthusiasm these children have is wonderful! As adults, we could take a lot from that.”

Enjoyment
“Children (and adults) perform at their best when they do something they enjoy.”

Following Gary’s Code Club visit, who knows, maybe a Code Club graduate will join the motorsport industry in the future!

If you’re interested in inspiring the next generation, why not consider setting up a Code Club in your local school? Find out how: https://codeclub.org/en/get-involved

Digital Moment: Building coding communities in Canada

Code Club partner Digital Moment is supporting young people to learn digital skills in clubs across Canada. Ellie, Global Partnerships Manager, caught up with Matthew Griffin and Léa Guez from Digital Moment to find out more.

Two girls, sat at a desk, looking at their laptops.

Unique challenges

Digital Moment was founded in 2013 with a focus on creating programs and experiences for young people and their communities on digital skills, covering coding, algorithms, data literacy, and artificial intelligence. Not long after, Digital Moment joined forces with Code Club. On the benefits of the programme, Matthew says:

‘’Code Club is a way for us to build sustainable communities of practice, build depth in our offerings, and engage a diverse audience across the country.’’

Digital Moment faces some unique challenges in giving every child in Canada the opportunity to join a Code Club and learn new digital skills.

Firstly, Canada is huge! From snowy mountains and wild waterfalls, to beautiful blue lakes and built-up cities, Canada stretches almost 4700 miles across. It’s a challenge just to physically reach a large, dispersed population. Additionally, Canada is a country with two official languages. Some clubs use English, some use French, and some use both.

So, how are they overcoming these challenges? In terms of language, Digital Moment always produces materials in both English and French to cater for everyone. 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.

The Code Club projects page.

Digital Moment also uses online communication to keep in touch with remote communities that are difficult to get to in person. It helps that the Code Club materials are designed to help clubs pick up the programme quickly and easily, without needing a lot of training to get started.

An inclusive approach

Matthew and Léa say the key to engaging with Canada’s diverse communities is to meet young people where they are at, and use that as the starting point to working together.

Code Clubs provide a great platform to be able to do this. With a wide range of projects, and young people encouraged to share their passions and make what matters to them, Code Club is able to provide an inclusive space for all young people to get involved.

As one Club Leader in Canada reports:

‘’[Code Club] is a safe space that opens many doors and everyone is welcome. The ideas that students come up with are amazing! […] Seeing their smile and sheer joy when they finally “get it” or make it work is magic!’’

The Digital2030 Challenge

In 2019, Digital Moment started a ten-year mission to tackle global problems. They began to provide annual challenges for young people across the globe to develop skills in coding, data, and artificial intelligence, to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues. The Challenge is available online and there is step-by-step guidance for each activity.

Currently, there are two challenges: Reduction of Plastic Pollution and Good Health & Wellbeing.

A scrolling gif showing the #Kids2030 webpage

The aim is to build a community of socially conscious young people with a shared desire to make the world a better place. Does that sound like the young people in your Code Club? Digital Moment invites you to get them involved! The Challenge is open to young people everywhere. Why not take a look at the current Challenges together at your next club meeting, and look out for the third Challenge launching in August 2023.

Try out The Challenge with your Code Club and keep up to date with the launch of the next activity by visiting digital-2030.org.

Coding through science — how Code Club India is supporting young coders

The team at Code Club India are always working on new ways to make coding accessible and relevant for students and educators in India. 

Vasu shares how Code Club is helping to enrich the New Education Policy with their new ‘Learn coding through science’ resource, which was designed to support cross-curricular links for educators and students. 

New Education Policy 

After 34 years, the Ministry of Education in India has introduced the New Education Policy (NEP), which aims to break from traditional teaching approaches to provide a comprehensive programme of learning for students across India. 

The NEP will set up classes on coding for students from Grade 6 onwards, allowing students to develop their coding skills and learn about advanced technologies.

Vasu, Club Programme Coordinator, said:

“We are excited that this development will provide students across India with greater flexibility in their learning, as well as the opportunity to develop their skills for the future. So we asked ourselves — how could Code Club best support the NEP?”

Linking coding to the curriculum

At Code Club, we work with schools across India to support young people to learn to code. To help our club leaders and students, we created a resource that links the topics in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) science curriculum to projects in different programming languages like Scratch, HTML, Python, and more.

Learning coding through science

You can use these resources in a variety of ways. For example, if you are an educator who would like to know if there is a coding project that is directly relevant to your student’s schoolwork, this is a great resource to try in your classroom. Or if you are a student who is interested in exploring both science and computer science, this resource is perfect for you! Use this resource to experiment and explore computer science while following the instructions on the projects. You can also make it more exciting by trying the projects at different levels!

The resource has been shared with our existing Code Club community members, who were asked for their feedback. From the responses we’ve received, it’s clear that the community has been wanting a resource like this and that it has helped them to explore cross-curricular links further. 

How you can help

If you run a Code Club in India, try our ‘Learning coding through science’ resource with one of our  FREE coding projects and share how you got on in our feedback form. Your feedback is key to help us improve and offer the resources you need.  

Want to find out more about Code Club in India? Contact Divya and Vasu, who are always happy to chat to you about the Code Club community in India.