Dublin, 2nd July 2014: UPC, in partnership with CoderDojo, recently launched the D4 CoderDojo with two pilot sessions attended by over 100 children.
Held at the Star of the Sea Parish Hall in Sandymount, the D4 CoderDojo saw children as young as 6 learning how to develop websites, apps, games and much more.

One of the star mentors was nine year old Lauren Boyle from Foxrock. Lauren, a pupil of the Teresian School, who has only been coding for a year and a half, was on hand to instruct over 100 young coders in understanding programme languages such as Java, HTML and CSS, as well as programmes such as Scratch.

Coder Lauren said, “Coding is a really fun activity because you get to see the results of your work; you get to see it come alive. I think it’s very important for young people to get involved and it’s great that I can share what I’ve learned with them.”

Lauren is also a double winner of the CoderDojo Coolest Project Awards. This year she finished runner up in the website category for her website www.coolkidsstudio.com. In 2013 she took home the overall prize for her Scratch Cooking Game and Makeup Salon that she designed.

Noel King, Coolest Projects Leader and Mentor at CoderDojo said “The knowledge and the skill that these kids have is fantastic. It’s a great resource for CoderDojo that they can pass on their skills to another generation of coders who are eager to learn. For those that are brand new to coding, these young coding mentors, whether they are younger or older, are an inspiration and give them someone to look up to.”

Grainne McLaughlin, VP of Legal Services at UPC Ireland and sponsor of D4 Dojo said, “UPC is extremely proud to be partnering with CoderDojo. Coding knowhow and experience is becoming an important skill for young people, whether for future jobs or as a basic literacy and problem solving tool, which they use in life. In fact, coding can also be used as a gateway into higher level interest and understanding of computer science – a subject which is currently insufficiently understood and studied by young people across the EU – resulting in a skills shortage in certain EU countries.”

CoderDojo is a network of free coding clubs for children. This Irish-led, global network of computer clubs, is a place where young people can learn important skills that will keep their active minds busy and also benefit them in the future such as developing websites, apps, games and more, in a fun environment!. The club atmosphere encourages young people to share their knowledge, interact with each other, and improve their creativity, presentation and problem-solving skills.

Following the success of both pilot sessions, the D4 CoderDojo will return after the summer break on Saturday August 30th. To register for information about future coding events, please contact coderdojo@upc.ie

ENDS

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