Code Club

Code Club is back at Central Library this autumn, with a new six-week block running on Monday afternoons. It's for children aged 9 to 13, and the sessions run on 9, 16, 23 and 30 November, then 7 and 14 December, from 4.00pm to 5.00pm. It's a free club, though voluntary donations are appreciated.

If you're not familiar with it, Code Club is part of a nationwide network of volunteers and educators who run free after-school coding clubs to get children excited about computer science and digital making. In Milton Keynes, it's been running at Central Library since January 2017, organised in these six-week blocks during term time. The sessions are designed to be accessible: children build games, animations and websites using Scratch, HTML & CSS and Python, following step-by-step guides that introduce coding concepts one bit at a time. Because the guides do the heavy lifting, the adults running the session don't need any computing expertise themselves.

On the practical side, the library provides a limited number of tablets and public PCs, but it's easier for children to bring their own laptop or tablet and use the free Wi-Fi. There's a waiting list if spaces aren't immediately available, so it's worth getting in early. If you're interested in helping out, volunteers need to be at least 16, undergo a DBS check and sign up on the official UK Code Club website.

It's all held upstairs at Central Library, 555 Silbury Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes MK9 3HL. The sessions run 4.00pm to 5.00pm on Mondays: 9, 16, 23 and 30 November, and 7 and 14 December.