Free coding classes for kids and teenagers this summer

After a recent report by the House of Lords found over 10 million adults in the UK lack basic IT skills, preventing them from performing simple digital tasks, Community Fibre, London’s largest 100% full fibre broadband, announces a new offering to inspire young people to develop their digital skills this summer.

With parents across the capital searching for engaging activities to entertain their children during the school holidays, the broadband provider has partnered with The Code Zone to offer free coding sessions for 100 children and teenagers this summer holidays in a bid to promote better digital literacy and skills for young people.

Live sessions, available to 100 children aged 8-14, will be guided by expert mentors to assist groups of up to six children through various ‘hacking’ and ‘modding’ tasks via a feature game.

● Hacker sessions (beginner – recommended for 8-10-year-olds): Working with a mentor, children will use Scratch to “Hack” and make games like Space Invaders & Pacman their own
● Modder sessions (intermediate – recommended for 11-14-year-olds): This live mentor-led session will see children and teenagers undertaking a fun challenge by modding pre-built games & getting to grips with the basics of how games work, so they can work their way to being pro-coders

Each recipient will also be granted access to The Code Zone’s back catalogue, comprising hundreds of coding challenges and games for the duration of the six-week holidays.

Improving digital inclusion and literacy is at the core of Community Fibre’s mission. Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre comments, “The scale of digital poverty and illiteracy remains a big issue in the UK and is something the industry needs to come together to tackle. One of the best ways to do so is to inspire passion and intrigue around IT at a young age.”

“Bridging the digital skills divide continues to be at the heart of Community Fibre’s mission,so we’re excited to offer 100 budding tech-pros the opportunity to hone their coding skills over the summer, in partnership with The Code Zone.”

According to Ashley Payne, CEO of The Code Zone, “Learning how to code is a gateway for children and young people to explore the boundless possibilities of the digital world.”

“The digital age gap is one of the main reasons for developing The Code Zone. It’s not just about introducing both children and grown-ups to coding, but also helping them grow their digital skills as a whole.”

“We are excited to be working alongside Community Fibre to reach out to more people andwelcome the opportunity for other like-minded companies to help us spread the joy of coding around!”

Parents, teachers, and children can apply for one of the 100 free sessions and access to The Code Zone’s catalogue of challenges and games throughout the summer atcommunityfibre.co.uk/CodeZone.