What do you know about coding? Tell The Sunday Times for a chance to win a £250 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

The Sunday Times have asked us to let Mumsnetters know that they’re running a Learn to Code series this weekend to coincide with the inclusion of coding in the national curriculum.

They told us: “With coding hitting the national curriculum this week, and our readers becoming more tech-savvy than ever, we will be demystifing computer programming in this weekend's edition of the paper. In partnership with Decoded, a company that specialises in digital training, the Learn to Code in a Day guide out this Sunday will take readers step-by-step through app-making.”.

“Editorial Director Eleanor Mills, who did Decoded's Code in a Day course herself, said: 'This is an exciting moment for us as we are the first British newspaper to offer a course like this. With five year-olds now learning computer programming in school, it is essential that adults keep up too.”

“If you’re nodding whilst reading the above then why not give it a go yourself? The easy guide will empower and equip you with the knowledge needed to tackle those potential conversations with your children over homework after school."

“Simply sign up to The Sunday Times for a £1 for 30-day trial and start learning now: thetim.es/1uD6qml”

So, what do you think about the addition of coding to the curriculum? Do you think it’s beneficial for children to learn this from a young age? Is this something you think you could get your head around when you were younger? Are there any other additions to the curriculum you feel are necessary for children to cope with today’s technologies?

Everyone who adds their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

Every business seems to have an app and certainly a website, so they all need people to maintain them!

I think it's a brilliant idea as we need to be preparing our children
for the future which will revolve more and more around technology and computing

I think its a brilliant idea. I used to be a computer programmer, and its a fantastic skill to have

I think it sounds like a great idea in this day and age but I must admit at 27 I know NOTHING about coding so my 7 and 5 year old boys are soon going to be overtaking me. Personally I have no interest in it but I can see why it would benefit them I've got one who is interested in trains/mechanics and the other wants to be a rock star/wwe wrestler.

I think it's an excellent idea, but it's only going to be as good as the teachers who implement it. It should produce some excellent transferable study and thinking skills in children who start learning at 5.

I started coding when I was 7. I had a zx spectrum at home and then at secondary school we used BBCs in computer lessons. At university I learned some C and Fortran 77 (the 77 being 1977 - the year I was born!). Then I got a job as a coder in a software and systems company, using mostly C on Unix systems, but also doing bits of various other languages.

Learning the syntax of a language - any language - is such a small part of coding, compared with learning to think logically and accurately, how to find and fix errors and how data is stored.

I have worked in IT all my life (and remember when I was about 11 carefully transcribing code in to my Acorn Atom computer from my 'Acorn Atom Monthly' magazine )
I think it's a great idea to introduce it as soon as possible. NOte that it doesn't have to be writing code, there are lots of ways of introducing the concepts of commands/loops/procedures etc. without writing a line of code. My 6 year old is currently addicted to LightBot (ipad app, you can get a trial version for free) which implements this in a really fun way. As PP have said, these kinds of puzzle-solving skills are easily transferrable to other parts of the curriculum.

Children are so advanced and bright these days. They seem to be quicker than their parents when it comes to technology. Therefore I think it's a good thing. Who knows it could be just the thing to find a new Bill Gates.

Does anyone know if level 3 health and social care can get you into uni. Or is it better to do the access course? Eventually want to do adult nursing

I think it's absolutely brilliant. Computers and programming are a big part of the world today and it will open up a lot of opportunities for kids

What do I think of coding on the National Curriculum?

It's a great idea! It's a far more useful skill than being taught a dead language like Latin, for example.

Whether we like it or not digital is the future, making sure our children are at the forefront of this revolution is therefore vital.

What a lot of people who don't already know code won't realise is that it teaches them a lot more than simply how to build a website, such as...

• Cognitive thinking
• literacy
• spatial awareness
• reasoning
• creative design

Teaching children should always be focussed on giving them life skills for the future. This is without doubt the sort of skill that many of them will be able to use in their adult life, be it personal or professional.

What do I think of coding on the National Curriculum?

It's a great idea! It's a far more useful skill than being taught a dead language like Latin, for example.

Whether we like it or not digital is the future, making sure our children are at the forefront of this revolution is therefore vital.

What a lot of people who don't already know code won't realise is that it teaches them a lot more than simply how to build a website, such as...

• Cognitive thinking
• literacy
• spatial awareness
• reasoning
• creative design

Teaching children should always be focussed on giving them life skills for the future. This is without doubt the sort of skill that many of them will be able to use in their adult life, be it personal or professional.

This is a wonderful idea. It is all about keeping up with the times and making sure our youngsters have the skills they will need in later life and there is no denying that being having skills to do with the digital age will be very worthwhile.

Technology will continue to develop and in turn our children need to develop. Start young so that they have the fundamental basics will only be a positive thing.

I think it's a great idea but I doubt there are enough competent teachers out there. A chicken egg situation.

I think it's brilliant! My ds school ran an afterschool club and he loved it. It's not new though, I remember programming my brother's computer (basic) in the 80's when I was primary aged. The world is very much governed by electronic devices and the children need to be prepared for the future....

5 Year olds are whizzes on smartphones!

I think it is a great idea. Coding is useful in so many fields of employment these days and teaching it at school means everyone can learn, not just those with parents who have the necessary skills to teach them.

My DD did this as an after school club last year and hasn't stopped since. I didn't know much about it and once she explained exactly what she was doing, I felt more involved and actually think it's great! They are much more advanced at computing then we were at that age and I can see her apply her knowledge of computing to everything she does. Thumbs up from me

Excellent idea as a few who would never have tried it will be natural gifted.

No doubt, great idea. 5 years old is not too young, I started teaching DS a bit of coding around that age (only Scratch, nothing fancy) and he took to it immediately. I only hope the teachers will be prepared for the curriculum change.

Since logic and problem solving are already the basis of primary education the teaching of coding should complement these strands. However with so many different programming languages it may be difficult to select the most appropriate - today learning to build smart phone or tablet apps would probably be more useful than a traditional programming language.

It's becoming a necessary part of education and something that a lot of children will really enjoy.

I think its a good idea, a lot of people are making money out of creating websites and coding. If children are taught at a young age they will grow up with valuable skills for the future and will be able to code websites themselves!

I don't think this is something that should be taught to a child aged 5. Having a 6 year old myself at home, I think he has too much on his plate already. It would be pretty unfair to introduce coding to him when he just about understands maths. I think this topic is more of a secondary school age and should be taught as subject then.

I would prefer more a theme of how to consider inputs and outputs via flowcharts, how to design and fault/sense check a program.
Actual specific programs? I guess we learned Basic at school years ago, but what language?

It's a great idea as a very important skill to have - much more so than being able to order an ice cream and count to 10 in French as my children learnt in primary. However (knowing nothing about coding) I wonder how easy it is to teach? Especially for teachers who know nothing about it? DCs were taught French by class teachers one of whom had failed GCSE French. If all class teachers are now expected to teach coding then not all of them are going to be any good at it are they?

Absolutely essential. After all they don't teach out of date knowledge in science so why not update the other areas of teaching too.