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With the Autumn term about to recommence, Aylesbury-based cyber security expert Red Helix is primed and ready to deliver their coding club for a second time.
Red Helix launched a coding club earlier this year with Year 5 and 6 students from Elmhurst School in Aylesbury, an Academy of the Great Learners Trust. The club was created to help address the wider STEM skills gap in the UK, by presenting practical, hands-on, and fun ways to engage through coding, and sharing additional information on the potential job opportunities and experiences STEM can bring.
The initial club ran for six weeks over the summer term and received high praise from teachers and pupils alike. The students, under the guidance of Red Helix’s Technology Director Rob Pocock, created their own, personalised infinity mirrors with a coded control system activating different colours on LED lights they had fixed along the outside of the mirror.
Marion Stewart, CEO, Red Helix, said: “We are so pleased to be returning to Elmhurst School, championing STEM learning through our coding club for another term. There is a chronic shortage of skilled STEM professionals in the UK. Going into schools and capturing children’s imaginations by demonstrating the practical applications of STEM gives us a great chance to plant the seed of inspiration in a new generation of STEM professionals.”
“We encourage all IT and cyber security companies across the country to do their bit for the community by inspiring more young people to understand the opportunities STEM can offer.”
Dawn Hanwell, STEM leader and teacher at Elmhurst School commented: “We are very excited to have the Coding Club return for another school term, providing our students with the opportunity to get hands-on with STEM learning and discover more about the vast possibilities offered through coding.
“We were thrilled to see the high level of engagement and interest during the first club, and already have a number of students eager to participate again and learn from the experts at Red Helix.”
Red Helix, a leading UK cyber security managed service provider, launched the innovative coding club to provide primary school children with additional exposure to the real-world applications of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The goal of the project is to bolster the talent pipeline and encourage more diversity in the sector, with a specific focus on aiding social mobility by focussing on schools in receipt of a high level of pupil premium funding.
Content for the coding club has already been shared with other companies looking to run similar schemes in their local area and any company interested in rolling out such a scheme is welcome to contact Red Helix for details and advice.
