Mums show how it’s done at coding workshop

A project designed to inspire a new generation of coders, and encourage underrepresented groups to consider a career in coding, is celebrating its second successful event.

The Teach the Nation to Code course took place at Northumbria University over the weekend, with learners of all ages and abilities coming armed with their laptops to learn Python coding.

And there was a surprise in store on Sunday with bouquets of flowers presented to several attendees to mark Mother’s Day.

This is the second such event to take place at Northumbria as part of the University’s involvement in the Institute of Coding (IoC) – a £40m UK-wide consortium made up of businesses, training providers, professional bodies, universities and the Office for Students.

The aim of the IoC is to maintain the UK’s position as a world leader in the digital age, boost the employability of digital specialists, bring more people from underrepresented groups into the tech sector, and develop the next generation of digital talent, at degree level and above.

Northumbria’s free Teach the Nation to Code workshops are delivered by IT training company QA Consulting, and are designed to provide people with the skills required to explore a career in technology or develop existing skills further.

Dr Huseyin Seker, project lead for the Institute of Coding at Northumbria University, said: “This is the second workshop we have delivered with our partners QA Consulting – we had a wonderful response to our first workshop in February with a really diverse group of people signing up and coming along to learn coding.

“One of the main aims of the Institute of Coding is to promote coding as career which is accessible to everyone, and to encourage people who might not necessarily think that coding is for them, to give it a try.

“With our second workshop coinciding with Mother’s Day we thought we would surprise the Mums in the room with a little thank you of our own. Women are currently underrepresented in the IT sector and we wanted to celebrate the fact that so many are taking part in the Teach the Nation to Code events.”

The next Teach the Nation to Code event will take place on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 April. Find out more about this event and other Institute of Coding events organised by Northumbria by clicking here, or visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/IoC

Find out more about the IoC at instituteofcoding.org