Children get cracking the code
Oliver and Luke, who work at QinetiQ in Malvern, are joining the after school Coding Club on Thursdays to help show Year 5 and 6 children how to program, to make computer games and animations. Each week the students will progress learning, whilst at the same time use their imagination and make creative projects.
The school uses material from the Code Club, a nationwide network of free volunteer-led after-school coding clubs for children, providing educational resources as well as connecting volunteers and schools together to start a club. Their aim is to put a Code Club in every single primary school in the country.
Mrs Currie at Northleigh Primary School said; “Coding has well and truly arrived at Northleigh and we greatly appreciate the encouragement and inspiration given to the pupils by Luke, Oliver and Joe. After reaching a successful end to the first term of Code Club, all children have received a certificate at Level 1, and some are close to completing Level 2. After Easter, a new group of pupils eagerly await their turn to experience Code Club.”
Oliver Maskery at QinetiQ said; “The need for IT and cyber security professionals has never been more pressing and it is essential that we pass on knowledge to the new generation. We hope that with these Club’s we can inspire the next generation and show young people how exciting it can be to work in STEM related areas, and at companies like QinetiQ. The children are very motivated, doing extremely well and having a lot of fun in the process and we look forward to continuing to work with local schools on these activities in the future. It is through clubs and industry campaigns such as The 5% Club, that will help inspire the next generation.”
QinetiQ is the founder of the 5% Club (http://www.5percentclub.org.uk/); a campaign which calls on all UK companies to aspire to the goal of having at least 5% of their workforce as apprentice, graduate or sponsored students within the next five years.
