Children at St Peter’s-in-Thanet CE Junior School, together with Hilderstone Radio Society, G0HRS, have taken part in National Coding Week (NCW).
The school used Crumble kits, which are easy-to-use, low-cost electronics controllers, in a range of activities. Year groups 3-6 (ages 7-12), first learnt the basics of the Crumble by programming it to do simple tasks such as flash different colours, as well as introducing different speeds.
They were then tasked with a range of mini projects, such as programming the Crumble to do Morse code. Students were then given the opportunity to make a basic lighthouse and a pencil case alarm.
John Hislop, G7OHO, Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) volunteer and Vice-Chairman of Hilderstone Radio Society, G0HRS, said: “So much of our modern-day technology has roots and inspirations from amateur radio, and National Coding Week has been a brilliant way to introduce this to young people.
“In fact, the RSGB has dedicated the whole of September to coding activities and amateur radio, in a focus that forms part of the Society’s commitment to encourage youngsters into amateur radio and to support lifelong learning.”
Nathan Williams, the school’s Science and Wider Curriculum Lead, said: “It’s all about introducing coding to the children in a way that they can enjoy, and importantly, to see how it can be used in ‘real life’. Learning the basics here in school will allow students to see that opportunities in coding are limitless and offer a gateway into numerous industries.
“We are so pleased with how the children got on, and how much they enjoyed it, with one student declaring the crumble the ‘coolest thing they’ve seen in their life’.”
As well as the range of mini coding projects, students at the school were also introduced to machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).
