What's Your Child Learning This Term...
Each half term the children in our amazing coding clubs will study a new module where they will be able to showcase and improve on their skills!
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We publish our curriculum below so that you can see exactly what your child is learning and why. You can even use the links to play along with your child at home after each session. Please don't jump ahead of us though as we don't want the children to repeat content.
KS1 - Coding with Music
This half term, our younger pupils will be working their way through our Creative Music Coding module. This is a module where the children will be learning and applying block coding knowledge and skills on a variety of platforms that results in them creating melodies and rhythms according to their coding.
Summer Term 2025
Lesson 1
In lesson 1, children are introduced to the concepts of how what they see on the screen relates to what they then hear. This is done through using four of the ‘tools’ on the Chrome Music Lab platform - https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/ Here they will experiment with the ‘Kandinsky’, ‘Melody Maker’, ‘Rhythm’ and ‘Song Maker’ tools to begin their journey into creating music on a computer.
Lesson 2
Lesson 2 switches to Code Club World and uses its ‘Make Music’ platform - https://codeclubworld.org/activities/music Children will focus on specific coding blocks, starting with the ‘play notes’ coding block through which they will learn how its two variables alter the sounds that they hear. They will begin to combine this coding block with other blocks (such as ‘set tempo’ and a repeat loop) to learn how to further vary the melody being heard. They will also think about rhythm by learning how to use the ‘play beat’ coding block and then combine this with the ‘play notes’ block to form a basic song.
Lesson 3
Lesson 3 moves onto the third platform of the module, using the Microsoft MakeCode website to use the online virtual micro:bit - https://makecode.microbit.org/#editor Here the children will first learn how to use the ‘start melody’ coding block to use pre-made melodies in combination with the ‘show icon’ coding block to switch on the micro:bit’s various LED lights as the melody plays. The lesson will move onto using the ‘play melody’ coding block which then allows the children to code their own melodies. By the end of the lesson the children will be combining these melody blocks with repeat loops and the ‘show icon’ blocks to create a multimedia experience of music and lights!
Lesson 4
Lesson 4 continues with using the Microsoft MakeCode for micro:bit platform and introduces an alternative way of producing melodies by using the ‘play tone’ coding block. The children will build up a series of ‘play tone’ coding blocks (in combination with ‘set tempo’ blocks and repeat loops) to create their own extended melodies.
Lesson 5
Lesson 5 introduces the fourth platform of Pencil Code Gym, using its Jam interface - https://gym.pencilcode.net/jam/#/jam/firstnote.html Children focus on using just one specific coding block in this lesson, the ‘play notes’ block. They learn how to type different things into this coding block to affect the note that they hear. This includes how to get the same note in a different octave, using rests, and increasing or decreasing the note length. Support will be given in the lesson to help children locate on their computer keyboards the different keys they will need to use in their coding.
Lesson 6
Lesson 6 continues with this platform by introducing the ‘play tone’ coding block to create notes in a different way to the previous lesson. They will then learn how to code inputs, first by coding a note to be played when a keyboard key is pressed and then by coding buttons on the screen that need to be pressed. By the end of the lesson, the children will have created a digital instrument which can be played by pressing keyboard keys and on-screen buttons.
KS2 - Code Combat
This is a game-based module where the children learn python with the help of ancient ninja warriors. The children will have their own logins to the codecombat.com website so you can take a look to see their progress. Please don’t allow them to complete any of the challenges at home though as they’ll miss our expert instruction and will then get bored in the lessons if they have to complete the tasks again.
Lesson 1
The children will practise algorithmic sequences in python and will be introduced to arguments in move commands to make their code more efficient. We’ll be completing Levels 1-8 in the CS1 stage.
Lesson 2
Levels 9-14: we’ll introduce loops, which allow the children to achieve more with fewer lines of code. Specifically, students use while True loops which allow a block of code to be repeated infinitely until the level is completed. The puzzles in this section are harder to solve than in the first lesson so we encourage collaboration among your students as they first must understand what their goal is, then devise a strategy for solving the level, then put that plan into action.
Lesson 3
The students will be moving through levels 15-17 at their own pace in this lesson to learn about variables.
Working with variables is like organising things in shoeboxes. You give the shoebox a name, like "School Supplies", and then you put things inside. The exact contents of the box might change over time, but whatever's inside will always be called "School Supplies". In programming, variables are symbols used to store data that will change over the course of the program. Variables can hold a variety of data types, including numbers and strings (words).
In these levels, variables are used to name enemies so that the hero knows which character to attack.
Lesson 4
The children will be working on the sandbox level which is an opportunity for them to creatively apply all the concepts they have learned to develop a program that solves a problem. They first develop an algorithm that will defeat a computer opponent, they then compete against classmates, refining their algorithm to beat the level as quickly as possible. In this student-favourite lesson, they'll put all their learning together in a special activity called an Arena.
Lesson 5
In today's lesson, we'll be completing challenges on the game Ozaria which is supported on the same platform as CodeCombat. The levels in this game introduce syntax, arguments and methods, all encompassing the computational thinking concept of decomposition.
Lesson 6
e'll be moving onto more advanced levels in Ozaria today. These levels continue with syntax, arguments and methods, and loops, encompassing the computational thinking concept of debugging.