ComputerXplorers to Introduce Programming for Primaries ...



ComputerXplorers Announce Date for 2015 Programming for Primaries Week.

Following the huge success of the inaugural 2014 programming for Primaries awareness week held in March, ComputerXplorers has announced that the event is to run again next year and has earmarked 26 January to 1 February as the date for the 2015 campaign.

This year’s Programming for Primaries events saw over 900 children using Kodu, Microsoft’s game-making software, to develop their own video games. In addition, 110 teachers attended continuing professional development (CPD) workshops focused on introducing pupils to programming and coding.

For 2015 the aim of the week is to shine the spotlight on programming and coding support and resources that are available to children and teachers in primary schools. For its part, ComputerXplorers will be offering free children’s’ workshops and CPD sessions for teachers. Pupils will be introduced to the basics of programming their own smart phone apps and for teachers the CPD module will be based around the new national curriculum with a hands-on session featuring either Scratch or Kodu.

Microsoft Partners in Learning is once again supporting Programming for Primaries and ComputerXplorers expects more to follow.

ComputerXplorers has pioneered the introduction of programming classes for primary school children and pre-schoolers. Since 2006 the company’s programming and coding classes have inspired children to develop and broaden their computing skills alongside a wide range of technology classes from 3D animation and modelling to Minecraft and web design - all with computational thinking, creativity and critical thinking at their core.

Said Nigel Toplis, managing director of ComputerXplorers: “We were very encouraged by the amount of schools and individual teachers that took up our offer of free programming workshops and CPD sessions during the first ever Programming for Primaries awareness week. Whilst there is a wealth of material out there available to primary school teachers, knowing how to access it can be a challenge, which is why I hope that even more organisations will get involved this year to help signpost the way to these valuable resources.

“It is vital to engage and inspire children at a much younger age. In spite of some progress in recent years too many children never grasp those vital skills that enable them to become creators and not just consumers of technology and set them on a path of great career options. Those children will forever be on the wrong side of the digital divide.

“By the time they arrive at secondary school too many children have already decided that computing is not for them. Whether that self-selection is as a result of gender, economics, interest level or lack of exposure to inspiring opportunities, they miss out.

“We share the belief that computer skills are central to economic progress at an individual level as well as at a national level. Those skills are just as valuable to children who go on to work outside of the technology sector as they are to children aspiring to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.”

The UK Government’s revised national computing curriculum for 2014 puts significant emphasis on teaching children how to write code. Pupils aged five to seven will be expected to "understand what algorithms are" and to "create and debug simple programs". By the age of 11, pupils will have to "design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems".

Most experts now agree that learning to code or program is a vital ingredient for future success. Programming skills are rapidly changing our world, but more importantly learning to program teaches a child to think differently, express creativity and feel empowered.

For more information on the Programming for Primaries week and details on how you can become involved or for details on the free regional workshops for teachers or children please contact Sandra Fitzgerald from ComputerXplorers at sfitzgerald@computerxplorers.co.uk.

Ends September 2015

Media contacts: Lindsay Jones or Mira Munraknah at LJPR on 01934 838559 or email Lindsay@ljpr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

About ComputerXplorers

ComputerXplorers is the leading provider of quality technology education for children from the ages of 3 to 13.  The clubs and classes are engaging, educational and fun, and are run in a variety of settings, such as after school clubs, pre-school and nurseries, summer camps and in-curriculum time classes.  For pre-school children ComputerXplorers covers everything from podcasting, digital photography programming and robotics to digital microscopes and an introduction to the internet. Primary school children learn programming, digital storytelling, animation, web design, coding, forensic science, video game design, music technology etc. Classes are linked to the new national curriculum in England, the Curriculum for Excellence, the national curriculum for Wales and the NCCA curriculum in Ireland.

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