The county’s first-ever live and interactive coding day for school children will be held on 15th September, as part of national coding week.
The event will inspire children about the potential of coding for their increasingly digital futures.
Coding is a great skill for future employment opportunities; it develops problem-solving techniques and encourages creativity and collaboration.
Coding also has avenues in science, art, design and many more areas.
The session, for students in years 5, 6 and 7 (or children aged 9-12), will be live, interactive and available for schools to join remotely online.
The team at Digital Dorset is joining forces with BCP Council and Barclays Digital Eagles to run the event.
A few libraries in Dorset already run coding clubs and they will be involved in the event as well.
In this code-along session, pupils will create a simple and easy-to-follow Dorset-themed project.
The session will last approximately one hour and will cover elements of the programming topics in the Key Stage 2/3 computing curriculum, as well as being interactive and fun.
Two sessions will run during the day, one in the morning (10:00-11:00) and one in the afternoon (14:00-15:00); schools will choose the one that suits them best.
IT specialists from local tech companies will join each school in-person, who will inspire the children by sharing their own experiences of using coding in their careers.
Schools and IT specialists eager to get involved can register their interest at digitaldorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
Dorset Coding Day will also feature as part of the Festival of Future 2022 (10-14 October), showcasing the most exciting digital innovations across Dorset.
Information for schools/ parents:
Schools who sign up will be able to choose between a morning session (10:00-11:00) and an afternoon session (14:00-15:00) on Thursday 15th September.
This is primarily aimed at children in school years 5, 6 and 7 (ages 9 – 12). Children in all education settings are welcome to take part including children who attend alternative provision or are electively home educated. If your child is older, but you feel that they would still benefit from taking part then they are very welcome – email us at digitaldorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
The classes will join the live session via a Teams link, and will need to be able to show/project the Teams session at the front of the class. Each student will need to have access to a laptop/tablet – ideally individually but can be partnered if necessary. The code-along activity will be accessible via a browser link on the students’ devices, no software needs to be downloaded prior to the session
