Hour of Code – Digi Coach: Embracing Change

Coding week in the Lower School was a big success! The purpose of this week was to spark an interest in computer programming across the school. To kick off the celebrations our student Digital Leaders ran an assembly to spread the excitement. One of our Digital Leaders dressed up as a robot and his peers created an algorithm for him to follow. Two competitions were also launched for Lower and Upper Primary. Students had to use problem solving skills to identify what would happen when the algorithms were run.

Throughout the week, each class completed an Hour of Code. Students were introduced to key coding terminology such as algorithm (step by step instructions to solve a problem) and debug (find and fix mistakes in a computer program). As they wrote, ran and debugged algorithms, students were encouraged to use the computing vocabulary with their peers. It was wonderful to hear some of our youngest students talk about how computers work.

Practicing coding is an excellent opportunity for students to work collaboratively and use problem solving skills. When students were paired together on a device, we found that rich discussion followed as they shared strategies and clarified steps whilst adding them to the algorithm. Students also developed their spatial awareness skills as they determined which way they should turn their character to reach the target.

Overall it was a successful week and feedback from staff and students was positive. We look forward to including more coding into the curriculum and exploring more resources.

This year we introduced an exciting new opportunity for students in Year 5 and 6 to become Digital Leaders. These students are passionate about IT and applied to be a part of this exciting lunch time club.

The club meets every Tuesday and students have the opportunity to experiment with new technologies and tools, develop skills to teach others and help improve IT at our school.

In the first week of our club, the students worked together to complete a SWOT analysis of how IT is used in our school. They considered the Strengths, Weakness’, Opportunities and Threats and the impact they have on our school. The discussion was very rich and our young leaders had valuable insights into the direction they would like their learning to take. Interestingly the students identified that there needs to be a balance of IT use within school. The children were aware that prolonged screen time can have a negative impact on their daily lives.

One area that the students felt passionately about was learning to code. The students agreed that they would like to see an increase in the teaching of coding at school. In response to their discussions, we decided that participating in Hour of Code would be a great way to kick start the enthusiasm for coding across the Lower School. In the following weeks, the Digital Leaders took action and split into teams to research resources for an Hour of Code week. The students put themselves in the shoes of different aged students and reflected on which resources would be suitable for each year group.

The Digital Leaders and teachers are looking forward to an exciting Hour of Code week early in the new year!