v THE NEXT HERALD IS OUT ON 7TH DECEMBER v 16th November 2023 • The HERALD • Page 61 ASK A PROFESSIONAL Solent LEP Inspires Young Minds to Explore the Exciting World of Coding The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is launching ‘Aqua’, the newest recruit to encourage schools to sign up for Solent Coding Day - a fun event aimed at inspiring young minds to discover computer programming and follow career pathways in future technology. Solent Coding Day is perfect for teachers looking to spark an interest in coding among their students and for young minds eager to explore the limitless possibilities of programming. Students aged between 9 to 13 will be given the opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of coding at the free interactive workshops to be held at the participating schools on Friday 1st December. Rachael Randall, Chair of the Solent LEP, said: “We are delighted to be hosting Solent Coding Day, where young people in the region will be invited to ‘unlock the code’ by learning and sharing programming skills. This activity will not only enthuse young people to the potential careers that coding can lead to but will boost the region’s economy by creating a highly skilled talent pool for the future. “We’ve teamed up with Barclays Code Playground (Digital Eagles) to motivate the next generation of coders. The inspiring tech event will offer an engaging platform where students in Years 5 to 8 can unravel the mysteries of coding in a fun and accessible way. Please register your school’s interest to take part.” Teachers and students will take Aqua into the coding world and create a platform-based game with the LEP’s latest recruit as the leading character. ey will be able to take her on virtual adventures across the shores of the Solent, through the towns of Portsmouth, Southampton, Gosport, or on the Isle of Wight. Coding is a versatile skill that can open doors to a wide range of exciting jobs across various industries, including future gaming, robotics, web/app development, or being an ethical hacker, music producer or AI researcher. Schools can register their interest by signing up here https://solentlep.org. uk/careers-and-skills-hub/solentcoding-days/ ese interactive workshops will give students the tools to create a platform game using ‘Scratch’ web so ware and cover elements of the programming topics in the Key Stage 2/3 computing curriculum. Solent Coding Day will run in conjunction with national Computer Science Education Week /www. csedweek.org/ from 4th to 10th December, and Hour of Code, a global campaign organising an hour of coding, hourofcode.com/uk ‘Aqua’ - inviting pupils from across the region to take part in Solent Coding Day on 1st December
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