As the weather is getting colder, lunchtime clubs at St Joseph’s Primary School are becoming quite popular.
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School principal, Noeleen O’Neill said, as it gets colder, more and more students are opting for inside activities.
“Our students are very lucky to have so many options; Coding Club on Monday, Drama Club on Tuesday and Art and Guitar Clubs on Wednesday.
“I am very grateful to our wonderful staff for offering up their lunchtimes to provide the students with such opportunities,” Mrs O’Neill said.
Sally Power, Y5/6 Classroom teacher runs Coding Club where students can learn the basics of computer programming.
“I currently have 34 students involved, but each week there is often one or two newcomers.
“All in all, about half the school, though not all of the 34 come each week, but there is definitely a regular group of 10 to 15 students that range from Kinder to Year 6.
“Although, having said that, I don’t have a lot of K6 regularly attending, perhaps they need a break after two years in the senior class. They don’t want to spend their lunch times with me as well,” Ms Power said with a smile.
At this stage the students are learning the basics, with the newest students learning to program an icon to move forward, left and right around a maze and the more advanced students are creating drawings using those instructions as well as instructions relating to angles, pixels and repeating code.
Ms Power said she had a core group of about seven students who appear to really enjoy and have an aptitude for coding.
“I manage the logistics and logins but once they get started there will be a student who can assist another student as readily as I can, or more so if they’ve recently completed the level themselves.
“As some of the students have mastered a lot of basics, I’m now looking into the next challenge,” Ms Power said.