Primary Coding – Support with Scratch

Published: 06/12/2017, 9:00am
Primary Coding – Support with Scratch

If you are interested in developing computational thinking and coding in your primary classroom, there are a number of initiatives that you can explore.

If you want to learn about the programming language Scratch and you’re the type of person who prefers to learn with others, the following are some options.

CCEA Scratch workshops

CCEA is trialling training where if a few primary schools are willing to collaborate and get together a group of about 10 teachers, a CCEA trainer will come to you (if you have a suitable computer training room in one of the schools) or a training venue to deliver a half training session for beginners. The workshop will take teachers through the basics of Scratch and teach you how to create your own game or animation through coding.

Scratch is a good choice if you want to develop classroom coding as it is designed for children aged 7 and up. There is an excellent website and if you search for activities online, you can find a wealth of ideas that you can try out in your classroom. CCEA also has a number of Using ICT tasks which you can use with Scratch.

Code Club

Code Club is dependent on volunteers who give up their time to help teach pupils to code. They use the teaching materials provided by Code Club and these include Scratch projects.

You can contact Una McDermott, the Northern Ireland co-ordinator on [email protected] to help you with any aspect of Code Club and to answer any questions you may have if you want to register your school.

Note to Editors

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