STEMNET, Code Club and Being An Ambassador for Education

It feels weird that I only really started to learn how to code 2 years ago. I wasn't taught in the worst schools really, they weren't poorly funded and academic performance was above average for the area. My secondary school, The Whitby High School, was and still is proud of their GCSEs at C-A* yet my experience didn't leave me any more qualified to do what I wanted in life. In Sixth Form I struggled with Information Technology and ultimately wasted my time taking the module. I spent most of my time in those classes trying to learn C++ instead of whatever useless material there was and usually got asked to leave because the teacher wasn't a fan of me. It's safe to say my experience of secondary education was less than stellar.

When I finished school, failing to get enough UCAS points to get to university, I didn't really see any problem with the courses I did. I blamed myself for my failure and went straight to college to try again at getting into university. I gave it my best, got a Distinction Merit Merit and into my first choice, Hull University. When I went to university I approached it with the same formula and ended with a first in the first year. How does that happen? I might be smarter, sure, but that isn't really what made me finish coursework or study more for an exam. The difference was I had people who cared, had experience to speak of and were teaching skills I could use to make things. It made me realise the problem I had with education. 

In education we do well to include maths, English and the sciences. but when it comes to anything with computers my experience fell short of what I needed. It's an important problem and I'd like to help. That's why I'm taking a module called Communicating and Teaching Computing, signed up to be a STEM ambassador, helped out at Raspberry Jam and had a meeting with some of the nice folks at Code Club. Skills I learn from one will almost always help out with the others which is brilliant. I get to let people know there are actually interesting and cool things to do with computers too which is also brilliant. 

Finally I'm getting to why I have that title. What have I actually done so far?

Things really kicked off on the 7th. I attended the first meeting for my teaching module where I was introduced to how the module works, what's expected of me and where I'll have my placement at which is Sirius Academy West. Same day I confirmed I could attend a STEMNET meeting on Tuesday 13th for a new pilot scheme at Sirius Academy North. This was a good way to learn there are two Sirius Academies and make my first step into making a network with the lovely people in education. The pilot scheme sounded fantastic by the way but is perhaps too similar to what I aim to achieve with my module anyway. Still, it was good learning about what teachers want and how people can help.

First visitor pass, perhaps first of many.

Weirdly, I still had more to do that day. I'm applying for being a student ambassador for the University itself and an induction session taught me what the ambassadors can do and how they can help children and teenagers pursue Higher Education. For me this lets me help people decide what they want to do and also help the University, both things I care about. It was great seeing so many people interested in being an ambassador for Hull University. I just wish the STEMNET meeting had even a quarter of the attendance. 

Day after I had even more great stuff to do. A familiar sight, one of the people at the University Ambassador induction, was also the one to teach us how to, well, teach. We went through some of the complicated issues of working with young people but overall really just a lesson about communication. I didn't feel qualified after 3 hours of a lecture but I knew this was more about learning while doing. This lecture clashed with an important seminar about Code Club but thankfully Rob Miles was there to save the day and gave me a tip about Code Club also doing a meeting at the Centre for Digital Innovation. It was great learning about the methodology of Code Club, the people who work with it and most of all how quickly it has grown. Once again it was disappointing being the only student from the University there. 

Their loss too, the food at the meeting was fantastic. Thanks, C4DI.

Thursday though was a very important day. Thursday was when I finally visited Sirius Academy West. Arriving at the reception equipped with my DBS certificate I was instantly recognised by my contact Debbie. I guess it was pretty obvious I was a computer science student. I had been to Kingswood and Sirius North Academy already so the scale and modern design for a secondary school was less surprising to me but still really impressive. I should mention that the unlikely and perfect-for-film scenario happened where a fight between two students/pupils/learners (year 8s I imagine) broke out but it was handled so perfectly by staff. The fight was dissolved in seconds and the other students were happy to name the one who started the aggression as he walked away. No one was hurt and the staff know who to deal with and hopefully help both of the students in the fight fix their problems.

If I were able to keep these I'd start a collection.

Time was short but I got to see a lot. I got to ask about the course material with some of the computing/IT staff and things sounded way better than what I had in school. I wish I had more time to pick their brains but there was business to be done. My free day, Wednesday, leaves me open to experience all key stages of what Sirius Academy North provides which is fantastic. The details are still being hashed out but I'm set to have different experiences throughout the day which sounds incredibly useful to me. After hanging out with a sixth form teacher and some of his students and get to know what they're doing and will do in the future I had to leave. It left me with the feeling that I had picked the perfect module.