[Primaryit] coding in 2017

[Mel Yuan]

Hello all,

I am starting a new role next year in DigiTech 4-10, having taught 8, 11, 12 (SoftDev) this year. The school has a new program, having offered compulsory IT in years 7-8 for some years.

This is my current plan for coding in 2017 with a view to strengthening pathways over time. I’d be interested in your thoughts - do you do the same or different? Have a missed a language that is a must-have? 

I’m thinking that code.org is the theoretical ‘backbone’ that teaches concepts, and the other language is something they can make stuff with. 

Y4 - code.org Course 2, Scratch
Y5 - code.org Course 2/3, Scratch
Y6 - code.org Course 2/3/4, Scratch
Y7 - code.org Accelerated Course 2-4, Alice 2
Y8 - code.org Accelerated Course 2-4, GameMaker
Y9/10 elective - code.org CSP course 3 AppLab, elective language (Scratch, Alice, GameMaker or other for project) 

It’s a small school and when the cohort grows, current students can keep progressing through code.org while new students start at Course 2 or Accelerated. 

Cheers, Mel