Mad Fer It in Manchester

It’s been a while since we blogged on all things Picademy, so here’s a quick update…

For the uninitiated, Picademy is our free, two-day CPD event series for educators who want to use the Raspberry Pi for projects in the classroom. Over the past three months, we’ve been busy delivering four events in Manchester, creating over a hundred new Raspberry Pi Certified Educators in the process. The whole team was blown away by the passion of the people who attended. In fact, such was the rabid enthusiasm for Raspberry Pi in the area that we added two extra dates in April to cope with the demand – good job, Manchester!

A recent Picademy Manchester cohort

Picademy uses project-based learning to underpin its workshops, so that delegates can immediately see how the projects can be used in a classroom setting. This way of learning might be a little bit daunting for those who haven’t been in the classroom as a student for while, so we love it when people who might initially lack confidence using the Pi undergo a transformation and embrace the role reversal of teacher becoming student.

A willingness to embrace new ideas, being open to failure, and allowing yourself to make mistakes on the road to success are important messages to take away and think about from each event. One recent Picademy Manchester graduate has written a great blog post reflecting on her experiences at Picademy, and another praised the support she received:

“Thank you so much for a brilliant two days in Manchester. It’s one of the most supportive and inspiring events I have ever attended.”
Carol Macintosh, Picademy delegate

The Pi on the Tyne is all mine

With Picademy Manchester finishing in April, we can announce that our next location will be in Newcastle at Newcastle City Library, where we will be holding events in the spring and early summer.

To find out more and make an application, visit our Picademy Newcastle page.

Our condensed version of the Newcastle skyline in all its glory

Code Club Teacher Training

If you want something more compact to fit into your busy schedule, Code Club Teacher Training will also be running in Newcastle alongside Picademy events. The training is only two hours long and provides teachers with practical activities and engaging resources to develop young people’s understanding. The sessions are delivered in school, as INSET or twilight sessions, and are mapped against the new computing curriculum. We offer three modules: Computational Thinking, Programming, and Internet and the Web.

Request a Teacher Training session in your school: www.codeclubpro.org/request_training