Supporting Coding Adventures in Schools
Back in December 2022 a chance introduction lead to Dogsbody Technology partnering with Get with the Program and sponsoring Coding Adventures in Schools.
Their values and mission very much aligned with Dogsbody’s own and we love to give back to our community.
But what does that mean?
Get with the Program run tech learning events or “Coding Adventures” for children aged 5 – 9. These adventures teach coding concepts through fun interactive theatre, they are designed to be accessible to all, encouraging students to have fun and embrace digital technology studies. Schools benefit from a fun activity that aligns with the school curriculum and ensure key terms in the computing curriculum are demonstrated. Everyone’s a winner!
Coding adventures are being added regularly and at Christmas there are even coding pantos! oh no there isn’t… oh yes there is…
Jeni Trice aka ‘Professor’ Trice, CEO, Founder and Chief Coding Adventurer started Get with the Program to offer the opportunity of coding to children who may not have had the resources available and “reach kids who may not naturally choose computing or thought computers were not for them”. Her model of connecting schools and business together to deliver exciting tech learning events for students means businesses get to invest in the students future and students benefit from learning in an area that is only going to grow as they get older.
Sponsoring a local Farnborough School
After an introduction we decided to sponsor a local Farnborough school for a coding adventure as we had a staff member with kids there. They chose the Eco Coding Adventure as it coincided with their topic for the term.
The feedback was very positive, 75 children watched the show and took part in the follow up activities which is 75 children who may not have otherwise had access to the resource.
We asked our 8 year old spy on the ground how it went…
“I really enjoyed programming the robot to pick items that used less packaging. It was so fun and everyone got to have a go at writing the code and putting the code in order. I was very happy that my robot picked the right fruit”.
Get with the Program need more businesses to partner with to provide these coding adventure to schools! You, your organisation or your workplace can be involved through financial sponsorship, volunteering or content development. Get in contact with them to discuss how you can help.
Want your school to be involved? Get with the Program are offering free Healthy Lunch-Bot coding days in partnership with Bupa. Anyone can sign up or nominate a school or you can register your interest as a volunteer. Once a term (on a specified day), nominated schools will get free access to a fun 30-minute online show and a 45-minute follow-up activity per class (plus some great additional resources).