Event encourages local school children into coding
By: News Archive
They will take part in a coding competition to design and create a game that harks back to the early years of gaming in the late 70s and early 80s.
The aim of the annual ‘Computing at Schools, Scratch Off Competition’ event is to encourage children to consider a future in coding – which allows the construction of computer software, apps and websites essential for the digital age.
The seventh annual Scratch Off Competition aims at promoting computer sciences by encouraging participants to create these arcade type game using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) free Scratch online.
The app is designed to help teach youngsters to code, involves dragging and dropping statements rather than writing it from scratch. Using this, the children will build their games before they arrive at the event.
And to test their ability to work under pressure in a real life gaming environment, the children will also be presented with a number of surprise task.
This year’s competition will encourage local students from 11 primary and 16 secondary schools to imagine, code and learn together. Age range for primary school participants is 8-11 years old and those of secondary schools is 11-14 years old.
Event organiser and Senior Lecturer in computer sciences, Dr Pam Mayhew, said: “Coding is a skill that can benefit everybody as we live in a world surrounded by computers. For those who don’t know much about coding, it makes all technology work, so there’s definitely a future for it.”
She added: “There’s a real shortage of IT professionals nationally and locally so it’s really important to encourage the new generation into the profession. I’m sure that many people would be surprised at how advanced children are at coding, they’ve grown up around so much technology so it’s mainly second nature to them.”
The Head of Little Melton Primary School, Alex Pritchard, said: "We've taken part in the UEA Scratch Off competition for several years now. The teams this year are already very excited and they have been working on their games for a while now and can't wait to show them off. They are also keen to test out the games made by other competitors and to try their hand at the challenge. The standard of coding on show at this event is always inspiring."
This year’s event is sponsored by Number Eight, Earthware, UEA, Neontribe, Aviva, Syrinix, Britvic, Waitrose and Fxhome.
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