DS in tears over school coding club what do you think?

[Mrskeepforgettingmywords]

Signed DS up to after school coding club he has begged me for months and I changed my hours at work so he could go. He left school Thursday in tears he said the teacher sat on her laptop the whole time and handed the kids iPads. He said it was really difficult and when he asked for help she said I don’t have enough time now.

When I picked him up he bursted in to tears right away he has been waiting to go for months so it is that instant disappointment.

Would you expect a coding club to teach kids? Or is it just a get together.

How old is DS?

Is it a free after school club? They can be a bit varied in quality in my experience. Sometimes the teacher are obliged to run a club, but don't put much effort in to it.
If you are paying I would definitely say something.

They should be teaching them, but maybe that teacher had an unexpected issue to attend to or maybe the normal coding teacher was away and she was covering. I'd give it another week and see how it goes.

He’s 7 and absolutely loves coding!

Well I would expect some input from the teacher, but perhaps not as much as a structured lesson would usually be.
some staff are expected to cover these after school activities on top of their usual responsibilities, and not all of them will want to. However, it’s a shame that there seemed to be so little interaction. If it is the same next time then I might mention it to the school.

how old is your DC? I do get the disappointment, but unless he is very young, I’d have thought most kids would have come out moaning about how bored they were, rather than being tearful? I’m not sure I’d include that part if was going to speak to the school about it.

I would expect it to be taught.
I would ask him to give it another try (usually I tell my kids three tries and that anything new often feels hard) and if he still doesn't like it, he can stop.
Maybe see if you have a coder dojo running in your area. They're usually ran by volunteers working in the industry, or enthusiasts and our experience has always been excellent.

I would have a word with the teacher ,just say you understand shes busy ,but your son was upset .Do you pay for the class? That would make a difference I think .My friends son has a free class and the Teacher oversees them .

I would give it a few more weeks and if it continues to be rubbish, find a good coding class outside school instead. Most of the activity clubs at my son's school aren't very good, unless they are led either by a teacher who has a passion for the subject or by an external provider who makes a living from it.

She sat on her laptop?! By accident?

What a shame, this would upset my son too, same age. I agree with a PP, give it another whirl and if he has a bad experience again then send him to a good paid for one

Is it run by a teacher from the school or an external provider? DS (5) also does coding club after school and it's the latter which means that it's much more structured. The downside is the cost!

I would expect them to have some teaching and hope that the club was being run by a teacher that had a particular interest in coding.
However, having taught in schools where after school clubs were demanded of all staff, whether they wanted to run them or not, there will often be the situation where there is minimal input unfortunately.
I once launched into my pottery club, had lots of fun then realised it was taking me an hour to clean up once the children had left plus extra hours getting pots fired. I saw the board games club teacher waltz off home 5 minutes after the end of her club…so I can see it from both sides.
I would have a quick word with the teacher if you know them and ask if there’s anything your DS could be practising at home ready for next club day and it will maybe give you an indication of their commitment to the club. I’m sorry that he was so disappointed.

It does sound like this teacher wasn't great but perhaps she doesn't actually know how to code, is she a specialist or one of the usual teachers?
DH is a very experienced coder, it used to be his job and he does it for fun now. He used to help at the code club at our DCs Primary, the Teacher who ran the club tried his best but really wasn't up to it.
I appreciate that its disappointing for your son and might get better next week but I think you are going to have to manage his expectations a bit

I think after school clubs can be both.
Chess club - a chance to play chess, unless explicitly stated it would be teaching non-players.
Recorder club - I'd expect recorder to be taught.
Choir - learning songs, but not being taught how to sing.
Orchestra - as above
Knitting - being taught how to knit.
Football - playing rather than being taught.

I would expect this to be clear before signing up and in all cases I would expect the teacher to be engaged with the pupils, not just supervising.

nb this is all for primary, it's different in secondary where students may well be expected to know how to e.g. knit and play the recorder.

@EvilsElsasPetSnowman sat on her laptop as in didn't interact with the children, not literally sat on her laptop

Ds2 did a coding club at primary and they had someone walk them through the activity each time. You might find it is a bit too easy for your son if he already codes. Have a look online, sometimes secondary schools have code clubs open to primary children that run on a weekend. There are also lots of online resources to challenge him too.

I would speak to the teacher to ask how it is being run to decide if it is worth your son attending future lessons. Ds's teacher was from the local university so incredibly knowledgeable and competent meaning when children could be pushed beyond what was intended to be taught he could facilitate that.

sat on her laptop as in didn't interact with the children, not literally sat on her laptop

OMFG what is wrong with me, so embarrassing 🤣 I blame peri/menopause

@EvilsElsasPetSnowman I did it on another thread, I couldn't understand why someone would do something and some lovely MNetter explained it. I am also peri and felt really silly that I couldn't see it that way

I used to run Code Club at my son's primary school (back in the day). It's great and it should be very interactive. It should be fun. They start off with projects in Scratch and move on to CSS/HTML, Python.

He might find that a local library rub a Code Club or local church/community centre? Check here: Free coding clubs for kids | Code Club

I thought you was being sarcastic and taking the mick out of my grammar 🤣

Nope, just being a total numpty over here 🤣 I was thinking “Why would she sit on her laptop” 😂

He’s learnt a life lesson - that some things can be disappointing. Now all you should tell him to do is give it a couple more weeks. If it continues to be shit, complain and find another club.

Can you speak to some of the other parents and see what they think?

Find another one.

My DC go to one but while at school is run by external providers who are excellent and definitely teach. We do pay for it

I would have a chat with the teacher.

I think sometimes kids mask how they are feeling at school so she may not have realised that he took it this way

I don't think it's ok for a teacher to take it out on the kids if they hate their job.

If it's run by a random teacher after-school for free that the children would probably use scratch or programme those ladybird things using skills already developed. I would expect the teacher to help them get set up so they could get on independently, perhaps teach one skill or give them a goal, and to review what they had done at the end.

If it's a class run by an external provider that you are paying for I would expect instruction and a development of skills.

I would get him a Raspberry Pi set for Christmas, or borrow one from the library and look on Eventbrite for remote children's coding classes if you don't have in person ones in your area.