4th April 2014
Mentor Diary: Houses of Parliament Dojo
After a brief journey from Dublin, that involved almost every form of transport, we arrived at the Palace of Westminster in time to set up for the first coding club to ever take place in the Palace of Westminster. Stephen Mosley MP and CoderDojo, in association with Hays and McAfee, helped to organise the session to highlight the importance of young people learning to code in the UK, and how essential these skills are to their future success in any career. Young Coderdojo Ninjas from across the UK filled the room, some bringing Raspberry Pis, Aurdrino kits and even a Lego Robot called Derrick!
CoderDojo Co-founder Bill Liao started the session with an inspirational speech about how the CoderDojo Ninjas are setting the standard for the next generation of coders and that it is an essential and fun skill to be learning at a young age.
At the event CoderDojo attendees from across the UK showed the MP’s such as Stephen Mosley and Tom Brake the projects they’ve been working on in their Dojo.
“I am delighted to be hosting this event in Parliament. Teaching children to code is essential if they are to compete in the world. By teaching them these important skills, we are giving them the tools they need to succeed. The Government and I are fully committed to creating an education system fit for the 21st century and coding is a valuable part of this.”
Stephen Mosley MP.
“It is easy to think of computer programming as something abstract and dull but we believe that once MPs see for themselves the level and creativity that explodes in for the kids in one of our Dojos, they will deeply recognize the true power of digital skills for young people in the UK. Anyone can set up a CoderDojo whether they can code or not and It’s time for companies across the UK to recognize the creative potential sitting under their nose, and to make their own efforts in assisting to solve the shortage of digital skills.”
Bill Liao, Co-Founder of CoderDojo.
On the day CoderDojo Ninjas demonstrated over 30 projects to MP’s and their peers. Congratulations and well done to all the ninjas that attended and presented at the #HOPDojo. You guys made history! Keep developing new projects at your Dojo and hopefully we will see some of these cool projects at the CoderDojo Coolest Projects later this year.
House of Parliament DojoPics
Henry Rose and Jacob of the Aylesbury Dojo supported by McAfee presented
their projects that were made using Java and Python!
Sam of Wilmslow CoderDojo shows us his game “Ginger Wizard” that he made using Scratch!
Dan, Hani, Cole, Isaac, James, David, Connor, Alex, Joseph, and Jake of Cardiff High
show us many different projects including motion dectection, Pi Glow
and made using Scratch, Java and Python!
Derrick the robot being programmed for his big debut!
MP Tom Brake inspires Ninjas.
Showing how to use a Pi-Cam for their raspberry Pi
Stepen Mosely MP with CoderDojo ninjas from Cardiff High
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