Block coding – Beginner level – Year 1-2

Junior coders will embark on an exciting journey alongside a friendly monkey in a world filled with captivating creatures and bright colours. Together, they will explore the magical world, collecting bananas and unlocking hidden treasures, all while learning the fundamentals of coding. This beginner-level coding course is designed for children aged 5 to 7, introducing them to the programming world through a fun and interactive adventure. No prior coding experience is required.

By the end of this coding course, young learners will have:

• Acquired basic programming knowledge.
• Developed problem-solving skills through hands-on activities.
• Improved their understanding of algorithms, sequencing, and loops.
• Gained the ability to think logically and apply critical thinking.
• Cultivated a love for learning through interactive adventures.

Materials Required

• A computer or tablet with internet access.
• Access to the online coding platform.
• Basic mouse and keyboard skills.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through participation in class activities, solving coding puzzles, and their ability to complete coding challenges. No formal exams will be conducted to ensure a stress-free learning environment.

Join us on this exciting coding adventure and watch your child’s creativity and problem-solving skills soar as they explore a world of colourful creatures and hidden treasures! Enrol now, and let the journey begin!

Text coding – Elementary level – Year 3-6

Welcome to a thrilling Coding Adventure designed for young explorers aged 8-11! In this elementary-level course, students will dive headfirst into the world of coding through exciting challenges, games, and friendly characters. This course is an immersive journey into coding concepts that will equip students with the skills they need to understand and harness the power of code.

In the introductory part of our Coding Adventure, students will join our favourite monkey as they take on 75 exhilarating challenges. Along the way, they’ll encounter adorable characters while learning the fundamentals of coding. Topics covered include sequencing, objects, loops, variables, array indexing, and for loops. Personalised hints and tips will guide students through their coding journey.
Then, our monkey will be back teaming up with a friendly rat! In this part of the Coding Adventure, students will delve deeper into coding concepts, including functions and Boolean logic (if-else, AND, OR). They’ll meet cats in the desert, goats in the wintertime, and even learn how to unfreeze frozen bananas!

Hard work pays off! In the final part of our Coding Adventure, students will explore advanced coding concepts, such as logic and events. They’ll be well-prepared to take on the greedy gorilla, and along the way, they’ll learn about Operator NOT, comparisons, function return values, and using events triggered by their mouse and keyboard. This part also includes a challenging Skill Mode.

In addition to coding, this course provides a holistic understanding of technology. Students will explore the digital world, learning about hardware, software, memory, browsers, the internet, keyboards and typing, search engines, communication tools, presentations, spreadsheets, and word processing. It’s not just about coding; it’s about comprehending the technology that powers our world.

Coding Concepts Covered:

• Sequencing, Objects, Loops, Variables, Array Indexing, For Loops
• Functions, Until Loops, If Statements, If/Else Statements, Logical Operators (AND, OR)
• Operator NOT, Comparison Operators (<, ==),Function Return Values, Events (onKey, onMouseMove, onClick)
• Hardware, Software, Internet Searching, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentation Software

Materials Required:

• A computer or tablet with internet access.
• Access to the online coding platform.
• Basic mouse and keyboard skills.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through participation in class activities, building games, and their ability to complete coding challenges. No formal exams will be conducted to ensure a stress-free learning environment.

This Coding Adventure is a comprehensive journey into the world of technology, equipping young explorers with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in a digital age. Get ready for a thrilling adventure in coding and tech exploration!

Intermediate level – Year 3-6 

Become a game design pro with Game Builder, the platform that lets you create games using text coding or block coding. Share your games with your peers and the world, showcasing your skills as a game developer.

Course Overview:

Welcome to the exciting world of Game Creation Adventures for students in Years 3-6! This intermediate-level course will unleash your creativity and coding skills as you embark on a journey to build and design your own games. Whether you’re a budding game developer or just starting, this course has engaging exercises covering various coding concepts and game mechanics.

The adventure will begin with an introductory course; you’ll dive into the world of game creation by crafting a fun jumper game using block coding. The drag-and-drop coding interface makes it easy for you to bring your game to life. Get ready to explore the world of game development and learn essential coding concepts such as loops, events, and functions.

Then, you will take your game creation skills to the next level with 35 fully detailed exercises that teach you the fundamentals of game creation. Learn how to master the keyboard user interface and game mechanics, including keyboard events, timers, and collision events. After completing this part, you can create your own games inspired by the iconic Super Mario™ series.

In the next part of our course, you’ll embark on a creative journey to develop your own versions of the classic game Frogger™. These student-created games will be designed for touch interfaces and can be played on mobile phones. Learn about events, conditional statements, loops, randomness, and more as you craft engaging games.

Unleash your artistic side in 26 exercises as you draw images, program animations, and create original sprites for your games. This course part will help you channel your inner digital artist and learn coding concepts like events, assignment operators, randomness, arrays, and for loops.

Coding concepts covered:

• Loops, Events, Functions, Keyboard Mastery and Super Mario Style Games
• If Statements, Assignment Operators, If/Else Statements, Properties, Equality Operators (==), Frogger-Inspired Mobile Games
• Randomness, Functions, Comparison Operators (<, >), Digital Artistry and Sprite Creation
• Arrays, For Loops, Exploring Endless Possibilities, Professional Game Design with Game Builder

Materials Required:

• A computer or tablet with internet access.
• Access to the online coding platform.
• Basic mouse and keyboard skills.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through participation in class activities, building games, and their ability to complete coding challenges. No formal exams will be conducted to ensure a stress-free learning environment.

Join us on this thrilling adventure in game creation and game design. Let’s make your gaming dreams come true!

Intermediate level – Year 7-9

Students will help feed a baby monkey by bringing him a banana using unusual modes of transportation. Along the way, they will write Python code to overcome obstacles like fiery dragons and unpredictable terrain. Students will learn sequencing, lists, indexing, for loops, variables, if/else conditionals, while loops, Boolean operators and functions.

Students will continue the tale of getting a baby monkey his bananas, except this time, they will use advanced Python! Along the way, they will encounter all types of creatures and realms. Students will complete their journey having learned classes, input, string manipulation, advanced data types, 2D lists and bubble sort. 

In addition, students will explore the Moon Lander Game Creation Course with 17 exercises that help students practice their coding and physics skills as they build a physics-based game. In the course, they will use code and 6-9th grade Physics concepts to help land a spaceship safely on the moon.

Coding Concepts:

• Classes, Input, Integers, Strings, Dictionary, Set, Tuple, 2d lists, Bubble sort
• Event, Sequencing, Lists, For Loops, Range, Variables, If/Else, While loops, Boolean operators, Functions 

Materials Required:

• A computer or tablet with internet access.
• Access to the online coding platform.
• Basic mouse and keyboard skills.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through participation in class activities, building games, and their ability to complete coding challenges. No formal exams will be conducted to ensure a stress-free learning environment.

Advanced level – Year 7-9

Coding Chatbots takes game-based learning to the next level as students complete over 70 coding exercises. In the course, older students learn Python as they program and play a word-guessing game with a chatbot program they wrote. In the game, students will learn variables, conditionals, loops, classes and Python built-in functions. No previous experience is necessary.

Then, the students will be introduced to Trivia Chatbot to use Python in 15 exercises. The objective is to code a chatbot that can interact with users and test their trivia knowledge. Trivia Chatbot teaches Python, server side programming, chatbot development, string manipulation, data structures, loops, conditionals and variables.

Coding Concepts:

• Input/Output (send/read), Variables, Strings, Operators in/not in, If else (elif),Range, Lists, Integers, Classes, For Loops, ==, !=, Functions, While loops, and, or, ascii codes, Return, modules and import, True/ False, Not, Random
• Dictionary, If, ==, If else (elif), Variables, Lists, For Loops, Assignment operators

Materials Required:

• A computer or tablet with internet access.
• Access to the online coding platform.
• Basic mouse and keyboard skills.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through participation in class activities, building games, and their ability to complete coding challenges. No formal exams will be conducted to ensure a stress-free learning environment.

• 1 hour per week for each subject
• £9 p/h