Of coding, rock bands and unicorns.

Today is the end of an era for me. For just over three years I've been volunteering at a local school running a "Code Club" each week helping kids learn coding by building games and other little apps. I'd started doing it simply because I would have loved someone to have come to my school to do the same thing when I was their age (ok, we didn't have computers in school when I was their age, but you know what I mean) and it's been a lot more than an entertaining diversion during my working week.

Above everything else, it's been a lot of fun. Seeing the kids' reaction when they build something that "works" and watching their imagination run riot as they take a simple project and make it their own (often with the help of unicorns - don't ask) has been brilliant. Having the whole room sing along to each other's "rock band" was a particular highlight!

The reason to pause (not stop) is time related, projects on the horizon will need me to be available more than I can be now and Code Club is the biggest single chunk of my time that I can let go of at the moment but it's been a really tough decision to take. Fortunately, the school appears to have found someone to take over from me which has eased my worries. I intend to run another club, probably at a school closer to home though to cut the journey time, later in the year, I am going to miss it.

If you have some spare time and want to help the next generation then pay a visit to https://www.codeclub.org.uk/ to find out more. You don't have to be great at coding yourself, you can learn with the kids and there's plenty of support to help you, regular meet-ups with other code club volunteers, the local co-ordinator is always there to help and all the lessons are mapped out so if you need a structure, it's there (but you can also do your own thing or just see where the kids take you). Oh, and if you're worried about being left alone with a room full of kids, don't be, there has to be a teacher from the school in the room with you to make sure they all behave!

If you do decide to give it a go though, you'll love every minute of it!

Many thanks to the Elms Primary School for allowing me to work with their pupils, the staff who sit in on the clubs and wonder what the hell we're up to and the more than 100 kids (and their unicorns) that have been to the club in the past three years. Some of you will definitely be taking my job one day!