It’s happy Thursday today, as it’s code club day! I’m well into the Autumn term of code club at Ridgeway Primary in Croydon, but you can never talk about code club too much (as my friends who I went to dinner with last night would probably confirm!)
I’m reminded today that there are many schools both in Croydon and throughout the country that are desperate for volunteers. If you’re still wondering whether you ought to volunteer and whether you’d get something out of it, read the following feedback which are all direct quotes from the children who were in my summer class last term.
“I liked making the fish game because you can change their speed and size”
“Code club has helped me to learn to make different games and also to learn collaboratively with others”
“I like the fact that we all make a similar game but there’s loads of things you can change about how it looks”
“I learned how to make games and how they work”
“I just enjoy being on the computer. I’ve learned about how to use variables”
“I’ve enjoyed using variables in the code and making multiplayer games. It’s also been good to share on the scratch website and see everyone else’s games”
“I’ve enjoyed learning how to use the code and I’ll keep using it at home”
“I like bring able to paint new sprites, making the games using code and playing the games on the website at home with my brothers. I’m following in my father’s footsteps because he’s a programmer”
“I’ve enjoyed seeing how you make a game and how it all works”
Hopefully these comments will leave you motivated to want to get involved. The other main blocker that I find potential volunteers worried about is the technical requirements needed to be a code club volunteer. These are never as high as some people expect. I spent no more than an hour a week in preparation time and you don’t need to be a developer to teach a code club.
So get over to www.codeclub.org.uk now and sign up. Stop thinking, just do it, you’ll never look back.
