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

It's a good idea, kids are technologically savvy from a very young age now and coding will help them understand how their gadgets work. Coding is not just logic you need creativity too, and kids have loads of it!

I think it is a great idea but I do agree that it should be introduced at a later stage of say 10+ and not to a 5 year old.

I am quite excited about this myself as well actually, as I always try to do a short course to keep up with whats going on.
When my first child was in nursery I bought our first computer and joined a course at the local community center. I passed all my Clait Course and the Clait+.
So now I will take on my own new challenge to help my kids and myself. :)

In favour but for age 8 onwards

Computers are the present and the future. Almost all professions require computer literacy these days, so I think all kids should have a good understanding of how they work and what they can do.

its something thatis necessary in schools. kids are growing up much more techno savvy that us adults and they need all the help they can get to get better educated

I suppose its a good thing. The younger its introduced the more natural it becomes.

The curriculum has to move on to keep it relevant, it'd be useless teaching children how to use an abacus so coding is just progression.

I'm 30 and and think if I'd had the chance to learn coding at school knowing what I know now I'd have jumped at the chance.

I think teaching coding is a good idea but when you realise that very very few teachers are qualified or able to teach (I believe 3 teachers qualified last year with degrees in computer science) it does make it rather unobtainable.

I think it a challenging subject that my son would really enjoy. I do think that it is relevant to education & I believe it is a great idea

I think it's a fantastic idea! I have done some programming in my past and I think it has helped me think logically and break down a task into its components. Also to be precise as others have said. This skill is useful in lots of things - training others, project management. It's a great skill.

I'm not sure why someone in their 30s don't have a chance with computers at school. So many says it here. I'm 39 and I have it at school. DH is 44 and he also has down BBC micros. Computers are old and has existed for a longtime. My dad uses a word processor at work and he is 70. I wonder if we live in parallel universes.

When I went to uni in 93 it's already the internet error. Someone early 30s would still be in primary...

I mean the internet era. Loads have dial ups at home. Internet has websites etc.

I was a little dubious at first but now I think it is a good thing. The way it requires sequential thinking and problem solving ,will really get their little minds working. Kids really love it and anything that can get them involved and interested in lessons has got to be great, right?

It is a great opportunity for parents to learn something new along with their children so I welcome it for that reason. Education should also be about empowerment and knowledge, and technology is becoming more and more intrinsic to our everyday lives that all children should be given the basic tools in computing/coding, but it should remain a very small part of the curriculum for younger children. There are far better skills that can be taught to develop young brains such as music and imaginative play.

It should stretch IQ and is so necessary these days

Sorry but they should be getting to grips with the basics at that age. We are producing yet another generation of people with inadequate reading, literacy and computational skills.

I think it is a great idea to move education with the times. It shouldn't be detrimental to maths and english as these are the most important.

I loved learning coding myself as a teenager and think it's a very good idea to add it to the curriculum. I think five is a bit young for it, however.

I think it's a great idea. I am IT (well computing now) link governor at ds school and im really interested to see how it will pan out. For the youngest ones we are only talking simple commands and debugging steps with beebots and turtles etc, for older ones it will get progressively more involved. D's is very much into raspberry pi and scratch atm so he is going to love the new curriculum although in y6 so missed out.

Love that tech camp idea, ds would be in his element, thanks for posting the link!

I can do some simple html and css but beyond that am fairly clueless, that's only what I've taught myself for website design.

Depending on the age range being taught, adding coding to the curriculum is a good idea.

Computers and technology are tools that every child should learn to use, and it is necessary to understand how programmes work.

Slightly worried about which subjects will be taken off the curriculum in order to make space for children to learn coding. It's important that children get a good grounding in all subjects, including time for play.

think its a great idea children pick things up at different rates and when they get to 13 to 15 they either want to learn or not but if there taught the basics at a you age they get interested and want to learn.

I think it's a very useful addition in today's society where everything is tech based

I think it is an excellent idea. My son who has a 1st class degree in Finance is learning coding now in his spare time! (He works for an investment bank)