CoderDojo Bray - 2024 Term 2

About Coder Dojo sessions:

The next Coder Dojo term will commence on Saturday 5th October 2024 at the later time of 15:00 in Presentation College Bray. Sessions are 90 minutes long. There will be 6 sessions total on the following dates:

• 5th October
• 12th October
• 19th October
• 9th November
• 16th November
• 23rd November
  

Tickets are free and will be released on a first come first served basis. You should book a ticket for each session you plan to attend. It is recommended to attend all sessions. Demand usually exceeds the available places, so the only way to ensure that your child gets a place is to Volunteer. See the Volunteer section of our website (www.coderdojobray.com) to learn how.

Important: Parents of children 12 and under MUST stay in the college during the dojo sessions. Under the terms of our insurance, only students participating in the Dojo are covered so we cannot accept younger children accompanying parents during the session.

What to prepare before the Sessions

1. Each student must bring a laptop (Windows or Mac, but not iPads or tablets) that is wifi-enabled. You must have the necessary admin rights (password) to the laptop to allow software to be installed and network access to be configured.

2. Create a folder on the computer called CoderDojo, where your children can save all of their work.

3. Please download and install Scratch 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/download

We currently teach two streams: Scratch and Python. Scratch is a block based tool for teaching younger kids the fundamentals of coding. Python is a modern and hugely popular programming lanuage. We have four courses/levels to choose from:

• Scratch beginner - Suitable for new students who are attending the dojo for the first time. We recommend doing at least one term of beginner Scratch.
• Scratch intermediate - Suitable for students who have attended the dojo before or have learned Scratch elsewhere.
• Advanced Scratch - Suitable for students who have already done the previous Scratch levels and want to use Scratch for programming electronic devices, and their own projects.
• Python - Suitable for older kids and teens of any level.

We have a small tuck shop where we sell a snack, sweets and fruit at break time for a nominal fee (usually €1, cash only). You're also welcome to bring along your own snack if you prefer. Please bring a water bottle or juice for your child as we no longer sell them at the tuck shop. We sell coffee, tea and biscuits for the adults. Any small proceeds from these sales go towards the Dojo's running costs.

Supporters & Future events:

CoderDojo Bray is free of charge because of the time and effort donated free by all of our volunteers and mentors, financial donations from our supporters and provision of a venue by Presentation College Bray. CoderDojo Bray would not happen without this generous continued support. If you would like to make a donation, provide equipment, or help out in any way, please contact us in the Dojo or at bray@coderdojo.com. Any funds or equipment donated will be used solely to support the running of CoderDojo Bray.

To stay informed of future events, please make sure you’ve registered on our mailing list by going to the website (https://www.coderdojobray.com/).