Coding Club gets thumbs up from kids

An after-school coding class at a Geraldton primary school has proven so popular there is already a list of 50 students waiting to enrol.

On the announcement of the new Coding Club at Bluff Point Primary School this term, almost a quarter of the available spots filled up within minutes of opening.

Endorsed by the STEM (science, technology, education and maths) school initiative, the once-a-week after-school program is part of Code Club Australia, which provides a free curriculum and framework to support the project locally.

Students have been learning skills to program and code computers and websites while also covering Scratch, HTML, CSS and the creation of animations, games and websites.

“Code Club is about fun, creativity and learning through exploring,” a spokesman said.

Student Vanessa, 10, said she hoped the classes would help teach her the skills for a pathway into animation design.

“I love gaming and one day I hope to have a job as either a game designer or creating cartoon animations,” she said.

“At the moment we’re learning how to code sprites (animations) to move and make noises.

“It’s really cool to be able to see what goes into it.

“I love playing games on the XBox and I’m a big fan of Pokemon, so now we kind of get to see how those games were made.” The program is able to accommodate up to 20 pupils and already it has had a 100 per cent attendance rate among the enrolled students.

The Coding Club stems from a recent visit by the University of WA’s Robogals to the school, hoping to inspire an interest in robotics among female students.

Bluff Point Primary School deputy principal Owen Bell said 50 per cent of the students in the program were girls.

“Half of the students are boys and the other half are girls — there’s an equal interest and enthusiasm in coding among the students,” he said.

“They’re excited to learn the movements and processes behind the games and websites they love and it’s largely student-based learning.

“It’s also self managed — they progress through activities in their workbooks at their own pace and are helped by the teachers when needed.

“The enthusiasm they have shown to learning these skills has been quite remarkable.”