What a lovely couple of days I had out at Maes yr Haul Primary on the 3rd and 5th of Feb.

On the 3rd of February, we were lucky that the rain held off and so we were able to do some of the activities outside! We nearly got blown away and the equipment did not stay still for long, but we enjoyed and the atmosphere just added to the fun we were having.

I was really impressed with the enthusiasm and concentration that every single pupil demonstrated, and we shared some lovely stories.

We discussed in depth how technology has changed the way we live. One year 5 pupil explained to me that when her father was a little boy, back in the day when there were black and white televisions, he used to struggle to watch the snooker! We all laughed at the thought.

On my second visit on the 5th of February, we weren’t quite so lucky with the weather as surprise surprise, it was raining! However we still had lots of fun, and did a few extra activities in the classroom. Pupils were fantastic at completing the ‘Treasure Hunt’ activity and wrote some fantastic instructions, as well as peer assessing their partners work and de-bugging any errors. Pupils also had lots of fun learning about pixels and how images are represented by lots of tiny pixels. We did a task where pupils had to follow a code, and colour in certain squares on a grid to create an image. It was fascinating!

Lots went on at Maes yr Haul, it was a fun filled day.

Thanks for your warm welcome Maes yr Haul!

Beth 🙂

It was great to go out to Tondu primary last week. We had a fantastic day with the year 5 and 6 pupils and they we’re all such a  pleasure to teach!

We especially had lots of fun taking part in the programming activity where pupils had to direct their blindfolded partners through an obstacle course. There were some fantastic instructions given. I thought that pupils demonstrated fantastic teamwork skills and we all had a lovely time.

Thanks Tondu primary!

I hope I am able to come out to you some other time.

Beth 🙂

I had a fabulous day out at Craigcefnparc primary yesterday! All pupils were clearly very happy to learn about Computer Science and I think that if we were given half a chance, we could have talked about it all day! We really thought about the way that technology had evolved over the years.

I was impressed with how quickly Harry spotted the pattern in the binary code activity and I thought that Nia and Llywelyn worked wonderfully together. I could not fault Llywelyns’ instructions during the ‘human programming’ activity!

I received some wonderful comments from the pupils on the feedback sheets. To mention a few:

“Really interesting. I thought it was fun and creative and I wish we can do something like this again sometime. I loved it. Thanks you so much for teaching me these things”.

“I think it was interesting and fun. 🙂 Thanks for coming!”

It was a pleasure to come out to you Craigcefnparc! Keep up the good work.

Beth

Wow! I was completely blown away by the warm welcome I received at Llanfair Primary on Friday the 17th of January! It was extremely pleasing to hear that pupils had been looking forward for my visit for a long time. A lovely young man called Guiom ( I hope I have spelled that right) even brought me a Python programming book for me to see. It was great to hear that many of the pupils had already demonstrated a great interest in Computer Science.

Both year 5 and 6 classes really excelled themselves and each and every one of the pupils demonstrated fantastic levels of concentration. The questions they asked were of a very high level, and they were able to apply what they had learned into real life situations.

Here is a photo of pupils writing their names in computer language:

I was very impressed with Abigail in year 5, who not only completed the binary activity in record time, but also completed the ‘crack the code’ extension activity in record time too! A few of the boys also asked for additional worksheets to take home with them which is fantastic.

I truly hope that I can come back to Llanfair again!

To view more photo’s on flickr, please follow this link.

Thanks Llanfair for a wonderful day.

Bethan 🙂

What a successful day!

I had a fantastic time out at Portmead Primary yesterday with year 3 and 4.

Yesterday was a bit of an experiment for me, as I had never taught pupils as young as year 3 previous and was looking forward to seeing how they would respond to the workshop. What a wonderful surprise it was! I cannot believe that year 3 pupils understood algorithms, and even spotted the pattern in our binary code activity. We also had a very in depth discussion discussing the benefits and drawbacks of a flying car!

Year 4 pupils were equally fantastic and demonstrated complete concentration throughout the day. The Evening Post came out to take a few photo’s of us all having a great time during the human programming activity in the hall!

The behavior of all pupils was exceptional and I truly hope that I will get the opportunity to go out again some time.

Thanks Portmead!

Beth 🙂

What an absolute pleasure it was to be invited out to Gnoll primary to teach the year 5 and 6 pupils about Computer Science yesterday!

Pupils appeared to thoroughly enjoy creating their own binary badges and were very enthusiastic when taking part in the activities and games.

We enjoyed developing our computational and problem solving skills, and I was impressed with the quality of answers that pupils gave to my tricky questions!

I also received a spontaneous round of applause from the year 6 pupils, which was lovely!  It is refreshing to see pupils who have such a positive relationship with learning and who demonstrate gratitude for the opportunity to learn new things.

There are some definite budding Computer Scientists of the future out at Gnoll primary. Watch this space!

Beth 🙂

What a great day I had out at Oystermouth Primary yesterday! Pupils were very keen to learn something new and I was very impressed with how enthusiastic year 6 pupils were, especially when we discussed the future at length. Our whole class discussion touched upon all sorts of important matters, such as how new technologies can assist with medical treatments! Great thinking skills demonstrated by many – very well done!

Thanks Oystermouth!

Beth

I had such a lovely day out at Porthcawl Primary on the 4th of December. I was given star treatment and enjoyed a tasty mince pie and cup of tea at the start of the day!

I was really impressed with the outstanding behavior of every single pupil. We had some great laughs and I enjoyed the whole class discussions that we had. I was also impressed with the pupils’ excellent teamwork skills which was demonstrated throughout the day.  It was clear to see how much pupils’ enjoyed learning all about Computer Science!

Here’s a photo of pupils wearing their binary badges with pride …

For the complete album, please follow this link or alternatively go to our flickr account!

Thanks Porthcawl Primary!

Beth

Yet another lovely day out at Pentre’r Graig on the 3rd of December! Great participation from pupils and some fantastic code cracking going on!

I was really impressed with how well pupils were issuing instruction to their partners during the ‘human programming’ activity. What a lovely day! To see more photo’s,  follow this link or go to our flickr account.

Thanks Pentre’r Graig,

Beth 🙂

What an absolute joy it was to go out to Pontybrenin Primary on the 28th and 29th of November. There was a lovely atmosphere around the school as pupils were working hard to make soap to sell at the Christmas Fête. Pupils managed to sell plenty of soap which is great news for the school!

Pupils were really keen to learn something new and appeared to thoroughly enjoy the workshop experience. The weather was also lovely and mild, and so we were able to do some of the activities out on the playground!

Some fantastic photographs taken once again! Please follow this link or go to our flickr account for more photographs.

Thanks Pontybrenin for such a lovely few days!

Beth