Coding & Robotics – Scoil Mhuire gan Smál Carlow

Coding:

Coding will be part of the New Primary Maths. Curriculum and the Department of Education plan to have coding in all primary schools in the next few years.

In Scoil Mhuire gan Smál, all pupils in Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1^st Class are introduced to algorithms and pre-coding. While a number of classes have been working on coding, it also features as part of an enrichment programme throughout the school.

Scratch:

Some pupils have featured in the National Finals of Scratch Coding Competition, held annually in the University of Limerick. Scratch is a programming language where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games and animation with people from all over the world. As children create with Scratch, they learn to think creatively, work collaboratively and reason systematically.

Robotics:

Pupils in 5^th Class participated in the VEX-Robotics initiative which involves building and programming a robot. The weeks of work culminate in an exciting day in Carlow IT where they get the chance to showcase their programming skills.

Microsoft Dream Space:

Since 2018, pupils in 6^th Class have had the opportunity to travel to the Microsoft Headquarters in Dublin where they are treated to a hands-on workshop.