I attended Code Club‘s birthday celebrations at Apartment 58 last Tuesday night, and met some great people. A mixture of educators and professionals coming together in the name of digital education. Volunteers, ICT Co-ordinators, IT Technicians, Teachers, Web Developers, Designers, a great mix.
It was good to speak to a few who each had stories to tell, experiences of what things were like, before and after Code Club, what they struggled with, what new ideas they had. It really is a culture of sharing, helping and contributing, with a common goal.
It’s great to see how much progress there has been in the last year, but we could all still do so much more. The main problem facing Code Club is finding volunteers. There really is very little stopping anyone from becoming a volunteer. We’re talking about material aimed at 9 to 11 year olds. In the last term, I had a class of 8 year olds following it. So if they are finding it easy enough, there really is very little stopping ANY adult from getting involved (barring a CRB check!)
The Code Club site has all the information you need to become a volunteer. You could be a teacher, a parent, an ICT Co-ordinator, an ICT Technician, a web designer, a web developer, but you could just as easily be a shop salesperson, a bus driver, or any other occupation, there really is no hindrance. There is a great support network and plenty of people happy to talk about their experiences.
But if you really don’t want to volunteer yourself, or even if you do, support code club. Spread the word, far and wide. Tell parents, friends, schools, governors, local councillors, MPs, make sure people know about Code Club, and get Code Club into more schools.
