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Leading digital agency Indulge Media has donated six Raspberry Pi computers to the Amherst Primary School code club.
Amherst’s after school coding class was the first of its kind in the Channel Islands and was established by Indulge last year as part of a UK-wide initiative to encourage digital professionals to run coding classes for primary school children.
The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into a standard monitor and keyboard and can be used in electronics projects as well as run many desktop PC applications such as spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. The benefits of the Raspberry Pi in the classroom have been widely recognised by digital professionals, particularly because they provide students with an opportunity to experiment with hardware, electronic projects and creating programmes with very low financial risk.
Indulge’s Code Club has inspired similar clubs to set up in Guernsey. The need for digital education in Guernsey was one of the crucial issues discussed by leading business professionals at this year’s recent IoD Debate where Amherst Code Club was specifically praised by delegates.
Indulge web developer, Luke Oliver, said: “It is increasingly accepted that teaching digital literacy at a young age is as important as reading or writing. The world we live in has changed dramatically as have the skills required for the future workforce. This is about more than just using a computer. It’s about understanding the mechanics and the code that make everything possible and teaching skills that inspire the next generation to innovate. We wanted to give the students at our code club a useful gift that can assist their learning and reward all their hard work. The Raspberry Pis are accessible, easy to use and encourage children to safely experiment with computing technology.”
Amherst Primary School head teacher, Tracey Moore, said: “As the skills required for school leavers evolve to reflect the increasingly digital landscape of our society, it’s more important than ever that businesses engage with schools so that we are able to think about how best to meet those requirements in the way we teach, even from a young age. The fact that Indulge decided to pioneer this in the island, and consistently support our code club in this initiative, is a credit to their team and we would encourage other businesses to do the same.”
