Hour Of Code Initiative Is A Resounding Success

We asked Director of ICT Mr Michael Bull for his reflections on the excellent 'Hour of Code' initiative that has made Computer Science Education Week such a success. He reported:

'As Computer Science Education Week draws to a close, we can look back with satisfaction that over 300 pupils will have taken part in activities involving coding during the five days.

Every pupil in the Shells to 3rd year undertook an hour of coding using the resources provided on the Code.Org UK website, proudly taking home a certificate to show their achievements! Pupils found the activities both fun and challenging, with many of them going on to design their own version of Flappy Birds!

On Tuesday lunchtime, 6th Form pupils, who only had a limited amount of programming experience, developed their skills further, while on Wednesday, over 25 pupils from the 3rd year attended a lunchtime session run by a Computer Scientist from Coventry University and one of his PhD students. Special thanks go to them both for supporting us with this initiative. During the session, the pupils had the opportunity to see how robots had been programmed to play football autonomously and then begin some programming in JavaScript.

One of the most heartening aspects of the week was to note that the additional sessions appealed equally to both boys and girls.'

Well done to the whole ICT department (Mr Atwal, Miss Blattner and Mr Bull) for establishing an interest this week, which we are sure will lead to many more pupils taking an active interest in coding and programming.