| Specifications | |
| Location(s) | Throughout the UK |
| Key Stages | KS2, KS3, KS4 |
| Special Schools | Yes |
| Public Liability | Less than 5,000,000 |
| Enhanced DBS | Yes |
| Fees | Please contact us with details of your requirements |
| Administration Service | Administered by the provider |
| Website | https://thecodeshow.info/our-roadshow/ |
More about this Workshop/Service and the Provider
We are #TheCODEShow
Celebrating how Britain entered the computing and digital age.
The CODE Show visit schools across the UK
With over 20 years working experience within STEM related industries, from the manufacture of printed circuit boards for the defence and telecommunications sectors, through to engineering within the aerospace sectors for commercial and defence clients, Gary now brings this knowledge into the education sector.
About The Code Show
Whilst delivering the computing curriculum in a local primary school, I identified the National Curriculum makes no mention of how Britain entered the computing age. Initially wanting to plan a class visit to the centre for computing history museum of Cambridge logistics of costs, time and distance proved to be impractical from my school in Lancashire.
“The CODE Show and my vision was born.”
With over 300 machines and my passion, I believe I can offer schools an affordable and alternative experience in their own setting, providing the whole school with a day of learning and hands on experiences. Lets celebrate how Britain entered the computing age via the bedrooms of children in the 1980’s and together inspire a new generation of learners.
Our Aims
We aim to reach out to every child and teacher across every school in the UK. Providing them with the opportunity to learn, explore and celebrate our home computing history furthermore embed some fun into the subject area so in turn we can hopefully inspire students to study computer science in school.
The story of children discovering and programming their home computer is a fascinating story which deserves to be embraced, preserved and demonstrated to our current generation of learners so they too can experience the hardware and software of the time whilst helping them understand that what they are learning in the computing curriculum is not a new concept, but is something we excel at as a nation.
We demonstrate how 1980s Britain learned to love the micro computer from the bedrooms of children and young teens learning to program their home computer. Everything on display is hands on learning for students and staff to explore learning to program the computers to exploring some of the classic software titles created by Britain’s bedroom programmers.
Practical Points
- Ideally the use of your school hall for our visit is preferred, however, we can work with a free classroom as an alternative
- Access to around 5 or 6 mains sockets and 8 to 12 free desks (depending on criteria of machines requested for visit) will be needed
- We will need two hours setup time and an hour to pack up at the end of the school day.
All our hardware is fully PAT tested.
Testimonials
Cannot recommend The Code Show highly enough, this could be the answer to getting your SLT, colleagues, and pupils of all ages and gender excited about computing! After finding out about The Code Show I contacted Gary who runs it, and booked the show to visit my school on Friday last week for the day. Our Y11’s and U6th pupils have all recently finished their mock exams, so this seemed like the ideal time to have the show as a bit of a treat. .This was without doubt and by a country mile the best investment from my budget that I’ve ever made in 25 years of being Head of Computing/IT. Gary arrived early as planned in his van, and brought some of his huge collection of (working) computers and technology from the home-computing boom years of the 70s 80s and 90s.The excitement and buzz around the school was palpable, even our deputy head got all excited and reminisced about playing Hungry Horace on his Spectrum back in the day. It wasn’t all about games, there was so much to see and do. The whole school are now talking about the day, Gary was amazing and worked with the children solidly from 9am to 4pm without a break. Boys, girls, teachers, and all staff had such an amazing day. For about the same cost as I’ve previously paid for a day’s INSET, this has put computing at the forefront of everyone’s mind at the school. Thank you, Gary!
Mr Daren Craddock (Head of Computing), Hill House School, Doncaster
So last Thursday I had the pleasure of having Gary at my school from The Code Show. What can I say? He was exceptional. Will defo be inviting him back. Look forward to seeing and speaking with you soon Gary It wasn’t just the pupils that found our visit a fascinating experience, as teachers were taken down a nostalgic trip of tech down memory lane. Cannot recommend Gary enough. His equipment and knowledge is brilliant and the way he engages and challenges the students is fantastic.. All students thoroughly enjoyed his workshops and we look forward to inviting him back soon Jamie Booth (Head of Computing), St Michael’s Preparatory School , Sevenoaks, Kent
Jamie Booth (Head of Computing)
The exhibition was set up for the whole day and the day went brilliantly. Gary gave a short introductory speech at the start of each session, of which there were five throughout the day. Then the children could use and explore the technology. Whilst lead by Computer Science, Maths and Science were also invited to attend to forge cross curricular links between subject disciplines.The Code Show was also open at break and lunch. Even some children who did not pick Computer Science as a GCSE came along to see some of the equipment, which was fantastic. A Parents evening followed a couple of days later and a few of the parents commented on the great feedback their child had been saying at home.Gary was great to work with, and he confidently and knowledgably discussed the technology with the students throughout the day. I look forward to another visit a year from now.
Alex Barker (Head of Computing), Moulsham High School, Chelmsford
Availability & How to Book
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