Yearly Archives: 2019

Sometimes chopping a database up and sorting into into 1st, 2nd and 3rd normal form on the very floor works best!

There is something fascinating  revealed on those rare occasions when computer hardware (here at Heathrow) reveals what it is really thinking.!

We recorded our responses to pupil debating using an agreement / disagreement selector on the screen of each pupil: as persuasion shifts the balance, so the background colour indicates the viewpoint of each pupil around the room.

After a little father and son time, the latest iteration of the Garage Robot is born! Upon being shared as the designated show-and-tell item, the spinning motor jams on, resulting in a scene of suitable chaos in the classroom with the robot determinedly making the most of its chance to take a turn at the front!

Enjoyed meeting Claire Penketh today at BCS HQ.

We chatted about the CS Accelerator course. She has turned our chat into an article here.

Thanks Claire!

Please use this form to send me feedback / request new links to be put on to the Code Club page or to share your great ideas. Thank you.

My thanks to Jayne at Wroughton Academy for becoming the second school to join our Transition Group, first year prototype.

We will trial the Universal Transition Project after SATS in the Summer of 2020.

Jayne has form in Primary Computing innovation

• looking forward to working with you Jayne!

A James Bond themed evening in aid of our local primary school called for an outfit festooned with gadgetry!

Cue Q: A Rav Power block running to a chest held hub so that USB devices could attach centrally with wires tucked away!

The wrist-worn Microbit had different messages displayed including “Pay attention 007” {button B} and {when shaken}: “shaken, not stirred”  (of course!)

Having a loudspeaker was fun, although the request for “James Bond to reception, James Bond to reception” could perhaps have sounded less Tesco and more Mountain Lair.

The neo pixels of a Circuit Playground, or a heart aglow?!

The gadgetry was investigated once the mission was completed..

The Centre for Computing History was my destination once more for Day 2 of the NCCE Algorithms in GCSE Computer Science course.

Anjali and Chris were again on hand to guide our small but merry group in the ways of approaching a challenge patiently, logically and with an eye to what can be delivered through coding.

Loving the pun in the name: the concept of computing – ie applying a logical reasoned process to – history itself.!

Thank you to everyone who came along to LPA on Wednesday (20th March) for the first major gathering. There was a sense of tangible potential in the room that will make the next step – reporting on the data as a research project – a fun challenge to underpin the initiatives ahead. Thank you especially to Beverly who shared NCCE opportunities to all and for her encouragements. The mix of Primary and Secondary colleagues in one room, all sharing and documenting what they see of Transition each year – and taking the time to record those experiences with a view to improving the outlook for all pupils – was a mighty resource in action.

How many screens does it take to prepare for the Transition Group meeting?!

Thanks to Beverly and all at BCS for a great start to our NCCE Facilitator Development Program. Swindon were well represented; robots were coded; and the Primary / Secondary / Tertiary worlds of education thoroughly post-it noted!