All posts by John McAtominey

From one club to a global movement: Celebrating 15 years of CoderDojo!

Post Syndicated from John McAtominey original https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/from-one-club-to-a-global-movement-celebrating-15-years-of-coderdojo/

4 years ago I decided to start a new CoderDojo in my community. The logic was simple: to provide the best support I could to the CoderDojo community, I wanted to understand what it was really like to be a CoderDojo Champion. And so, with the help of local volunteers, Selby CoderDojo was born. We had an amazing response from the community, we’ve been running every month since then to meet demand, and we’ve been the catalyst for the launch of six other local clubs reaching hundreds of young people every month.

CoderDojos embrace fun, creativity, collaboration, and openness
CoderDojos embrace fun, creativity, collaboration, and openness

This month, Selby CoderDojo celebrated its 40th Dojo event. 40 opportunities for young people to come together, have fun, learn new skills and build new creations. 40 opportunities to see that moment a young person lets out a scream of joy, claps their hands, and jumps up and down when they turn on an LED for the first time. 40 opportunities for young people and parents to genuinely collaborate on a project, and 40 opportunities to see young people grow as they find their voice and proudly show off their new creations to a room full of people. When you create a space for young people to have fun and get creative with technology on their terms, there’s so much joy to see.

15 years of CoderDojo

This year we celebrate 15 years since the first-ever CoderDojo event in Cork, Ireland. I want to say a huge thanks to co-founders James Whelton and Bill Liao for starting a movement that embraces the power of non-formal education and continues to impact so many young people, including those right here in my community in Selby. We also owe a massive thank you to every Mentor, Champion, supporter, funder, parent, and of course every single Ninja past and present who have made CoderDojo what it is.

CoderDojo create opportunities to learn and get creative with tech for tens of thousands of kids
CoderDojo create opportunities to learn and get creative with tech for tens of thousands of kids

Today there are over 600 active CoderDojos running around the world, creating opportunities for tens of thousands of young people. CoderDojos are part of the Code Club movement, the world’s largest coordinated network of free coding clubs for young people, with over 10,000 Code Clubs meeting monthly.

Representatives from Dojos around the world took part in our global partners summit Raspberry Fields earlier this month
Representatives from Dojos around the world took part in our global partners summit Raspberry Fields earlier this month

Earlier this month we held Raspberry Fields, our first global partners summit in Cambridge. It was great to have representatives from Dojos around the world join in important conversations about the future of computing education and the impact of AI. Undoubtedly schools play a significant role in preparing young people for the future, but not every child thrives at or even attends school. Every conversation, panel discussion, and workshop at Raspberry Fields reminded me that the original CoderDojo approach — championing non-formal education and embracing fun, creativity, collaboration, and openness — is still immensely important. I’m really proud that these values remain a core part of CoderDojo and the wider Code Club movement today.

Continuing the mission

Raspberry Fields was a useful reminder that even in the age of AI, it’s imperative that we encourage and enable young people to learn to code. We need to help young people understand, question and shape the AI systems affecting their lives, and we need to think carefully about how we reach young people who can’t or don’t access school. We need even more clubs that will continue the mission that CoderDojo began.

The 2025 DojoCon event in the Netherlands welcomed our CEO Philip Colligan among its guests
The 2025 DojoCon event in the Netherlands welcomed our CEO Philip Colligan among its guests

Launching a CoderDojo is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I’m proud to be part of both CoderDojo and Code Club, and I’m proud that we continue to support all of our clubs, no matter what name they choose. If you’d like to join or launch a club in your community, head to the Code Club website to get started — I promise you won’t regret it!

Thank you to James, Bill, and everyone who has been part of the CoderDojo journey. Be cool!

PS For those of you reading this in the community in Ireland, where CoderDojo first began all those years ago, I can’t wait to hear your experiences and learn together in Athlone at Meet, Learn, Make this October.

The post From one club to a global movement: Celebrating 15 years of CoderDojo! appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Enhancing your enrichment offer? Code Club is the answer

Post Syndicated from John McAtominey original https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/code-club-enrichment-offer-schools-free-support/

There’s something really special about a Code Club. It’s a unique space for young people to get creative with technology on their terms, explore what interests them, and learn through experimenting and having fun. But speak to any Code Club leader and they’ll tell you: Code Club delivers so much more than just coding skills.

Two young people work together at a Code Club.

In the thousands of free Code Clubs across the world, you’ll see young people not only make amazing tech creations, but also grow as people. You’ll see young people find their voice and grow in confidence as they present what they’ve made to a room full of friends and parents. You’ll see them show a problem in their code to their friends and work as a team to fix it. You’ll see young people come up with the most creative digital solutions to challenges they see around them.

The ideal enrichment activity for the age of AI

We’re delighted that the UK government recently recognised Code Club as a key resource to help schools enhance their enrichment offer. This confirms what the community tells us, and what independent research shows: that Code Club works. Not only does it help young people develop their programming skills, but it also builds life skills including confidence, resilience, and problem solving. And Code Club is completely free. Schools, libraries, and community centres can set up Code Clubs using their existing equipment, and register their clubs to access all our free resources and support for getting started and running successful club sessions for the long term.

A Code Club session in a school classroom filled with young people working together at laptops.

And what about AI? There’s no getting around it, at the moment AI dominates almost every conversation about computing education, and this includes enrichment and non-formal activities too. All young people should have the power and agency to understand, question, and shape the AI systems increasingly affecting their lives. We believe that kids still need to learn to code in the age of AI, and we’ve created resources and coding projects for Code Clubs that help young people understand how AI tools work, and how to use them carefully. 

A Code Club in every UK school and library

Last year we announced our ambition to support every school and library in the UK to set up a free Code Club so that young people can develop the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the age of AI.

Two young people smiling whilst working on their laptop with an adult mentor by their side.

Now we’re pleased to announce a package of free support for UK trusts and local authorities that are interested in becoming growth partners and setting up Code Clubs across their networks. If you join us as a growth partner, you will get:

  • Direct support from a member of our team, who will work with you to get new Code Clubs running
  • Training for your team on how to run a great Code Club experience
  • Exclusive partner logos to use on your website and in social media posts
  • Resources to promote and celebrate your clubs
  • The chance to be included in our global communications
  • Priority places at our community events
  • Access to a digital platform to monitor and manage your clubs
  • A welcome pack including some of our most popular resources
  • And of course, easy-to-follow projects for your young people

If you would like to find out more about how Code Club can enhance your enrichment offer, how easy it is to get started, and how we can help, please get in touch!

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