Aylesbury kids coding specialists host STEM event for local girl guides
On Tuesday 21st March, Aston Clinton girl guides visited Code Ninjas Aylesbury at Bucks New University to participate in a special evening of STEM and coding activities. The session aimed to boost the children’s confidence and equip them with future career-enhancing skills including coding, maths, logic, critical thinking and problem-solving. Alongside the excited guides in attendance was Mayor of Aylesbury, Cllr Tim Dixon, who supports owners of Aylesbury Code Ninjas, Robin Theakston and Charlie Gunn, in their commitment to creating a fun, safe and inclusive learning environment.
“I was amazed at how well the children focused on the activities. They were completely immersed in what they were doing,” said Tim. “Digital skills are vital for the future, and Code Ninjas is leading the way in encouraging young people in Aylesbury to gain knowledge and understanding of coding that will stand them in such good stead for their bright futures.”
Code Ninjas Senseis led the learning, with the guides split into groups to try out a variety of activities from building video games to creating robotics projects. “It was so inspiring to see how the Aston Clinton guides approached each of the activities in the dojo,” explained Charlie. “With some tasks requiring teamwork, it was great to see the children working so well together and collaborating. Being able to pique children’s interest in coding and technology is so important to us. It is our mission to expose children across Buckinghamshire to an accessible, engaging learning environment so they can become confident, resilient, independent coders, equipped with key skills.”
Code Ninjas is a coding club for kids, where 5- to 14-year-olds learn to code in a fun, approachable environment by playing and building video games and working with STEM activity sets such as Lego robotics and switch circuits. Robin and Charlie are committed to delivering a quality and engaging curriculum to children across the county. Aston Clinton guides leader, Sue Wall, said, “We’re delighted to have been invited to this special session. Experiencing the dojo has been fantastic, and our guides are buzzing with excitement! Robin and Charlie are aligned with our own ethos of supporting and encouraging young people. The guides have been able to achieve so much in just one session, and it really boosts their confidence.”
“The session has been so fun,” said one of the girl guides who attended the session. “I got to use a laptop to build my own video game and it has a QR code, so I can take it home with me to show my mum and dad.”
“We are very aware of the barrier some girls have to tech,” Robin told us. “We have an equal balance of male and female Senseis at Code Ninjas Aylesbury, and we’re committed to encouraging more girls to come and try coding. Girls and boys tend to approach activities so differently, and by recognising the unique and valuable input females bring to tech from an early age, we are setting the scene for the future generations of children in Buckinghamshire.”
“We are now looking forward to our free-of-charge one-off girls-only Code Ninjas coding and STEM session on Saturday 6th May. All girls aged between 7 and 14 are welcome. We’ll be using block coding in MakeCode to build a video game, constructing and coding Lego Hoppers to race each other and solving a challenge on a Turing Tumble marble-based computer.”
Numbers are strictly limited; to reserve a place at the session, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/saturday-6th-may-free-girls-only-code-ninjas-coding-and-stem-session-tickets-576280690057