Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Electronics Workshop Returns to Norwich Primary Academy

On Tuesday 16th of May, the Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Outreach Team attended Norwich Primary Academy to provide its primary school students with an exciting electronics workshop. 

Inspiration Trust, of which Norwich Primary Academy and Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form are both part of, is extremely passionate about affording pupils a variety of computer science opportunities from as young as possible, with numerous experts and specialists on board to aid in making this a reality.

The workshop aimed to inspire pupils as well as teach them more about how Computer Science can be used in everyday life. It also showed pupils how they can take their first steps into the world of coding - something that is just getting bigger and bigger.

During the workshop, pupils were guided through using Python coding language to display a rainbow on addressable multi-coloured LEDs. Pupils were continually challenged to improve their skills by facing increasingly difficult objectives which not only encouraged them to try something new but piqued their curiosity in Computer Science further

Norwich Primary Academy pupils also benefited from peer-to-peer support from Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form students, who also attended the workshop. Through the support of the sixth form student volunteers, the pupils at Norwich Primary Academy learnt how their Zip Halo devices interacted with their micro:bit and began to see how these pieces of equipment facilitated lighting up the LEDs by transferring code from the pupils' computers to be read by the Halo where the LED lights were housed. 

Dr Trudy Coleman, Computer Science Outreach from Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form commented:

“The best part is when the children can see their success in real time!”

Amanda Armstrong, a Teacher at Norwich Primary Academy said:

“It is something that the children really enjoy." 

By the end of the workshop, pupils had learnt how to make their LEDs light up, change colour, and even react to moving their Halo in real time! They were also able to make their lights spin faster or slower depending on how much the Halo was tilted.

They were also introduced to key concepts in Computer Science, using these to solve the key problems they faced whilst participating in this workshop. 

The workshop was a fantastic success and it was wonderful to have so many sixth form students volunteering to support the younger students in our trust, with all our primary school pupils leaving the session with new knowledge that can be applied in the future, and our sixth form students leaving with a feeling of achievement too.