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

Personally I think it's a good idea.
Coding is quite a logical process and having taught myself a little over the years I think it's valuable reasoning and deduction process.
Whether it should be taught to 5 year olds is debatable but by the time children are 8 or over they should be able to grasp the basics.

I think it's a great idea, although much depends on the age of the child. There are so many opportunities in the ever-growing IT world.

Ooh yes, I'm all for it, we need more coders for this increasingly digital age :)

I think it is a fantastic idea as children pick up so quickly.....although I hope I don't get asked for homework help!

cootuk - flowcharts, inputs, outputs etc are all part of the Computing curriculum so will be covered during the three key stages.

No specific coding language is recommended. It is more about the concepts and what is going on behind it all that is key.

I think this is brilliant. I would have loved to do this properly when I was little. I did do computing for A Level and felt really comfortable programming in Basic but the teacher didn't really understand the subject and was trying to teach us from a book. Had I had someone around me that had a good knowledge I think I would have made a career in computers.

I think learning coding may well be of use today. But within a couple of years it's unlikely that coding will need to be done in the way it is now - things in the computer science world are progressing at such a rate that it's possible already to build a website without any coding necessary (I build websites for a living and know nothing about coding) there is software that does it for you.

Isn't the point of this that children gain some understanding of the concepts behind it all, and what happens underneath the software?

I think times are changing and the curriculum needs to change with it, so it's a good idea although I don't think I'll be much help with the homework!

I think teaching children anything is good, I'm happy for my 3 girls to soak up every bit of information the world has to offer them.!
Children love absorbing new information they can take on loads more than adults and we should use this to feed them with as much as they can manage!

It is a great idea, it teaches logic

I like the idea and think this is developing children for jobs that will be common in the future

I like computer stuff and I think as a child I would have loved to learn coding, so I think it's a good idea to introduce children to it at an early age.

I learnt coding by myself and it has been invaluable to me for the past 10 years, best thing I have learnt so far. Would definitely teach my own children when they are old enough to understand, it is fun, yet useful.

Thinks it great, an update to learning, would love to be Able to, but we can't just keep adding things for schools to teach, also will need to train a lot of teaches

as an option for secondary school it's ok

I think it's a good idea. I think anything that children come across at a young age is absorbed and much easier for them to come back to in later life. I like the idea of my children learning something that could genuinely be useful to them.

I think that young children can take on and absorb so much of this modern teaching and as long as it is kept fun and more game like than hard work the youngsters will cope.

It scares the pants off me as I know very little about it. I work in a school and there's already enough pressure as it is!

I don't know a lot about coding but introducing it to the curriculum sounds like a good idea but maybe not straight away, I would say 8 would be a better age to introduce it.

Think it's a great idea to get some knowledge of what's going on in most of the devices they interact with on a daily basisi

I think it is beneficial but only from a certain age. I don't believe that children under the age of 11 or 12 should be learning this sort of thing in their curriculum. I'm unsure whether I would have found it useful at school simply because technology and computers were not as advances as they are now and weren't used as much in everyday general life and working lives too. I guess it is definitely necessary as these skills will be needed for jobs by the time they graduate

personally i think its a really good idea, children now of all ages love anything computer related from xboxs, ps4 or pc's, some that are too young wont have mobiles but those old enough certainly do, all will use the web by some degree.

Ensuring they know the basics behind something like this is essential to ensure the kids futures is about embracing technology and refuting the 'non user' side of it.

my father always told me how he was taught mechanics at a young age, now when there is something wrong with my car who do i go to? my dad!

embrace the change!

I think it's a great idea, but not for children that young. It would be good to teach in secondary school. About 80% of the stuff I learned throughout secondary school I haven't needed/used since leaving. This is something tha would be usefulto know in adult life, and it's important that children are kept up to date with technology as it advances. I wish they'd taught this when I was at school.

But by secondary school, they're already thinking tech isn't something girls do - they use it, but don't do the underneath stuff. They need to get the basics before then.