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New Generation of Coders Studying at Wakefield College

Monday, 16 December, 2019

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Press Release School Partnerships 14-16 Children's University Digital Industries

Code Club Learners

 

Pupils in Years 4-6 from around the Wakefield district have completed a term of coding at Wakefield College in conjunction with the Wakefield Children’s University. The pupils have learned how to code to produce interactive games and animations through programs such as Trinket and Python. They’ve also progressed onto using Visual Basics, a program used by A Level students at the College, to create and use their own online calculators, as well as flying a drone in the final session.

Projects are set using easy to follow instructions, with pupils working together to problem solve and test their knowledge gained during their time on the course. The pupils work at their own pace on the projects and are led and supported by Wakefield College lecturer Mary-Jean Mountain. Mary-Jean said “The children who attend Code Club have been fantastic over the past term. They’ve been so enthusiastic and are great at helping each other with various coding problems. I hope everyone continues to use the skills they’ve learned in the future.”

In recent weeks the group has had the opportunity to test their skills by programming a message which will be displayed on the International Space Station next year. Kayleigh Moore, Children’s University Coordinator said “This short project was done completely unaided and allowed the group to use their skills and creativity to produce a message, temperature reading and a picture to be shown to the astronauts on the ISS. Everyone completed the challenge and we’re looking forward to hearing more about the mission next year.” The project, Mission Zero, was designed by Astro-Pi and all entries receive a certificate stating where the ISS was when their code was run onboard.

A new term of Code Club will begin in January 2020 at Wakefield College and is open to pupils in Year 4 from Children’s University schools around the district. To find out more about the Children’s University, please visit www.wakefield.ac.uk/about-us/childrens-university