Round VII (2022/23)

Below is a summary of the outstanding initiatives supported by Digital Xtra during the charity’s seventh round of grant funding. In total, 35 extracurricular tech initiatives were awarded grants of up to £5,000 each.

This year, Digital Xtra received significantly more applications than previous years highlighting the growing demand for extracurricular tech activities in Scotland. After a lengthy evaluation process, the charity is pleased to be supporting 35 schools and educational organisations during the charity’s seventh round of grant awards. The 35 grants cover 24 Local Authorities and include 23 primary schools, 3 secondary schools, 3 colleges or universities, 2 libraries, and 4 additional educational bodies with a projected engagement of 7,488 children and young people, including 3,929 girls and young women. Please read the full Round VII (2022/23) Impact Report here.

Blairgowrie High School

Blairgowrie High School in Perth & Kinross will develop both a co-ed as well as a girls-only Robotics Club to help address negative stereotypes and the gender imbalance of women in tech. Participants will learn to use the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime range before taking part in various national (and international) robotics competitions. The clubs will focus on cross-curricular STEM learning and teaching transferrable skills such as communication and collaboration.

Cadder Primary School and St Mary’s Primary School

Cadder Primary School and St Mary’s Primary School in Glasgow have collaborated to enable each school to run a lunch time coding club using the LEGO Education SPIKE Essential range and Sphero BOLT robots. They will focus on engaging children from areas of high deprivation as well as those from diverse cultural backgrounds. The clubs will be led by the schools’ Digital Leaders, a group of confident young people who are more experienced using tech.

Cathkin Primary School

Cathkin Primary School in South Lanarkshire will be offering after school coding clubs for their P1&2 and P5&6 pupils with a particular emphasis on engaging children from areas of high deprivation. Participants will be using Marty the Robot, Bee-Bots and Coding Critters making it accessible for all ages. Participants will also take part in offline activities from Barefoot Computing to learn coding as well as problem solving, communication, cooperation, and resilience.

Corstorphine Primary School

Corstorphine Primary School in Edinburgh will deliver a two-stage programme for their pupils. Selected pupils from P6&7 will become Technicoders by using micro:bits and accessories, Sphero BOLT robots, and online activities from August to December. These Technicoders will then lead Code Clubs for their fellow students from January to June delivering activities and short lessons using the same equipment.

Dean Park Primary School

Dean Park Primary School in Edinburgh will offer a new coding club using the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime range as well as online activities about Scratch, HTML, Python and Java from Code Club, Raspberry Pi, and Code.org. Participants will also have the opportunity to take part in FIRST LEGO League if they wish. The school will also have a strong focus on contextualising the skills being learnt especially through industry engagement.

East Lothian Council (North Berwick Library)

East Lothian Council (North Berwick Library) will be creating a new Girls in Gaming Club to engage and teach young women about skills and careers in the gaming sector. In a safe and informal environment, participants will get a chance to play and analyse popular games as well as create their own with the aim of entering them into the BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards. Women from the gaming sector will also be invited to speak about their career journey.

Eastertoun Primary School

Eastertoun Primary School in West Lothian will create coding and robotics activities for their pupils, as well as other primary schools in their cluster, with support from Armadale Academy and Heriot Watt University. Through play-based learning with the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime range and Sphero BOLT and indi robots, participants will learn to programme and test robots, via the design process, to complete various tasks as well as use various sensors.

Edinburgh Science Foundation

Using a set of Marty the Robots purchased through their Round V grant award, Edinburgh Science Foundation will now expand these resources and activities across their Primary (Generation Science), Secondary (Careers Hive), and Festival channels under the theme of Let’s Experiment. Across all three channels, over 4,000 young people across multiple Local Authorities will have a chance to programme Marty to walk, dance, and even navigate an obstacle course.

Heart of Midlothian Football Club

The latest grant for Heart of Midlothian Football Club’s Innovation Centre in Edinburgh will see the creation of an Inventors for Good Club. Three cohorts of young people, including one all-girls, will get hands-on with micro:bits and a variety of accessories to prototype inventions that will benefit the community. Participants will also take part in the Micro:bit Educational Foundation’s do your :bit challenge focussing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Hillside Primary School

Hillside Primary School in Aberdeenshire will work with Aberdeen University Business School and Computing departments to develop a lunch time coding club for P6&7 pupils. Children will learn about robotics and games development using micro:bits (with a variety of micro:bit controlled robots) as well as online resources to learn Scratch. They will then create various games using the micro:bits and Microsoft MakeCode Arcade.

James Hamilton Primary School

James Hamilton Primary School in East Ayrshire will deliver a 6-week coding club for its pupils during each school term. Each cohort will host different children giving more pupils the opportunity to take part in the club. Participants will learn block coding and computational thinking through a series of activities using Sphero BOLT robots as well as offline activities from Barefoot Computing.

Kirkliston Primary School

Kirkliston Primary School in Edinburgh will build on their previous grant and develop a Robotics After School Club for up to 30 P7 girls. It will allow participants to expand their skillset and knowledge into more practical applications of coding. Activities will be based around developing an understanding of some real world applications of robotics using Marty the Robot and various accessories such as light, noise and distance sensors.

Leadhills Primary School

Pupils from Leadhills Primary School in South Lanarkshire will learn the fundamentals of engineering and coding using the VEX GO construction system. Participants will then use the official VEX GO Competition Field Kit to build and play four themed games: Ocean Science Exploration, City Technology Rebuild, Village Engineering Construction, or Mars Math Expedition. Previous staff training from SSERC will allow the staff (and students) to hit the ground running.

Logie Primary School

Logie Primary School, a small rural school in Moray with close ties to the community, will use a range of equipment including Sphero BOLT and mini robots, Dash and Dot robots, Botley 2.0, Marty the Robot, Coding Critters, Bee-Bots, micro:bits, and Makey Makey to create a progressive plan to develop digital skills across all early learning and primary years as well as some family learning experiences. Older pupils will also help lead the club with younger years.

Lourdes Secondary School

Lourdes Secondary School in Glasgow will expand their current Sphero Lunch Time club from four Sphero BOLT robots to 19 with a new Sphero BOLT Power Pack as well as various other Sphero learning resources and accessories. This will allow up to 70 young people from S2&3 to take part in the club across the year. In addition, a group of 10-12 Digital Ambassadors from S4 will support the school’s Computing Science teacher to help deliver the club.

Maidenhill Primary School

Maidenhill Primary School in East Renfrewshire will prioritise engaging girls and young women with their club to inspire them to consider a career in STEM. Participants will have a chance to use a range of resources such as the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime range, Sphero BOLT robots, micro:bits, Scratch, K’NEX Education and Tinkercad, as well as 3D printers. They will then work together to solve a series of computational, robotics, and structural tasks and challenges.

Moray Libraries (Moray Council)

Moray Libraries (Moray Council) will pilot a new Digital Creators Club for children from P5-P7 with the aim to offer it in additional libraries in future years. Participants will learn to design and build robots using the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime range and DJI Tello Ryze Mini Drones before programming them to perform relatable, real world tasks. Sessions will highlight the practical applications and possibilities of these technologies to young people.

Muirhouse Primary School and Nursery

Muirhouse Primary School and Nursery Class in North Lanarkshire will use Bee-Bots, Blue-Bots, and Sphero BOLT robots to engage and inspire young learners across three separate cohorts of 8-children during the year. Family members will also be encouraged to attend. The children and their families will be introduced to coding concepts and then asked to apply this knowledge to the programmable toys in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

North East Scotland College

North East Scotland College will create a new Digital Engineers Club for secondary aged pupils in the Fraserburgh area. The main objective will be to demonstrate the influence digital skills has in the renewable energy Sector using tools including AutoCAD and Festo software to complete various design challenges and digital simulations while gathering data to analyse the efficiency of their turbines.

Ochiltree Primary School

Through a unique partnership between Ochiltree Primary School in East Ayrshire and the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, participants will use technology to support the biosphere and help their local community. Using micro:bits, children will gather data and analyse local bee numbers, biodiversity of plants and wildlife, weather patterns, and local tree and wildflower planting before taking part in a Prototype Challenge within the local environment.

Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School

Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School in Glasgow will create a new all-girls coding cub for the school. Pupils will learn Scratch before getting hands on with Sphero BOLT robots, Marty the Robot, and micro:bits during the 8-week programme. Different careers in tech and female role models will also be highlighted each week alongside the activities. The programme will run four times throughout the academic year giving up to 80 girls an opportunity to take part.

Pitlessie Primary School

Pitlessie Primary School is a small rural school in Fife with a current roll of 18 children. As such, their new after school club will be for everyone! Children will learn to use Blockly, Scratch Jr, and micro:bits with their new iPads before applying these skills to robotics and inventors’ kits designed for use with a micro:bit. Offline learning will also be available using Barefoot Computing and Cubetto.

Quarry Brae Primary School

Quarry Brae Primary School in Glasgow will offer a new Lunchtime Coding Club for pupils in P5-7. The club will be led by ‘The Tech Team’ made up of upper school pupils who have demonstrated an interest in digital tech. Participants will initially learn block-based coding via Tynker, Swift Playgrounds, Code.org, and Scratch before completing various lessons and challenges using Marty the Robot and a variety of Marty’s sensors.

Rochsolloch Primary School

Rochsolloch Primary School previously ran a successful coding club using micro:bits, however, these were borrowed from the Local Authority and had to be returned. The grant will enable the North Lanarkshire school to purchase their own micro:bits and accessories as well as Sphero BOLT robots and iPads. Children from all stages of the school will be invited to take part in the new Digital Leaders Club with an emphasis on older pupils supporting younger pupils.

SCDI’s Young Engineers & Science Clubs

SCDI’s Young Engineers & Science Clubs’ updated Code versus Climate programme will give educators the kit and training needed to help young people investigate energy usage in their school or home. Participants will then use micro:bits to create solutions to reduce their consumption. While the programme is delivered in Local Authorities across Scotland, this funding will be used to specifically target 16 schools across Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire.

St Agatha's Primary School

St Agatha’s Primary School in Fife will run three cohorts of a lunch-time coding club to ensure their many pupils who are bussed in can also take part. Participants will learn computational thinking and programming using Bee-Bots, Code and Go Robot Mouse, Sphero indi robots, and Botley 2.0 as well as the LEGO Education SPIKE Essential range. There will also be further opportunities for pupils to take part in FIRST LEGO League Explore too.

St Brendan’s Primary School and Nursery

St Brendan’s Primary School and Nursery will offer a coding club for primary and early learners of varying ages. Children will learn to develop creative coding solutions using Swift Playgrounds, Sphero BOLT and indi robots and InO-Bots. A selection of sessions will also be offered as family learning opportunities, where family members will learn alongside their child. The North Lanarkshire school will host three cohorts across the academic year.

St Joseph’s RC Primary School

St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Dundee will build on previous success in Minecraft and Astro Pi competitions with a new LEGO Leaders Code Club offering a variety of LEGO based activities. The school will purchase several LEGO sets, including multiple sets and sensors from the LEGO Education SPIKE Essential range, to undertake a variety of challenges. Younger children will also use Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots as an introduction to computational thinking.

St. Palladius Primary School

The Tech Titans After School Club at St. Palladius Primary School in North Ayrshire will learn to code using Barclays Code Playground and online Scratch resources on their new iPads. Following this, participants will take part in Make It Happen Club to learn about app design and development before learning about physical computing using the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime range. Lastly, the children will visit Glasgow Science Centre for a day of fun STEM activities.

Stane Primary School

Stane Primary School in North Lanarkshire will deliver a new Robotics After School Club to teach programming skills to pupils in P1-3 and P4-7 within the context of robotics. Using Marty the Robot as well as a variety of Marty’s sensors, participants will tackle a series of challenges. During each weekly session, participants will also watch and discuss a Tech She Can animated video highlighting the different types and roles technology plays in daily life.

Stromness Academy

Using the Otto DIY robot system, pupils at Stromness Academy in Orkney will build, program, and test their own Otto robots. The inclusion of two new 3D printers will allow participants to also personalise their robots using Tinkercad. More advanced and older pupils will progress onto textual programming using Arduino code. The robots can then be disassembled at the end of each cohort so future young people can build, program, test, and personalise their robots.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET) manage all three FIRST® LEGO® League divisions (Discover, Explore, and Challenge) in the UK and Ireland. Funding will support the expansion of the Explore division in Aberdeenshire and Renfrewshire, although delivery of all three divisions will be taking place across Scotland. Children will explore a real-world issue before building and programming a solution using the LEGO Education SPIKE Essential range.

Tulliallan Primary School

Tulliallan Primary School in Fife will introduce a Code Together Club for their learners and their parents/carers. It will be an after school club open to all ages in P1-7. Participants will learn computing skills using micro:bits and accessories as well as Sphero BOLT and indi robots. At the end of each cohort, the children will present an example of what they’ve learned to the school community to help inspire the next cohort of participants.

University of the Highlands and Islands

The University of the Highlands and Islands’ Digital Lend-A-Lab programme gives educators an opportunity to engage learners with digital tech through a variety of micro:bit based activities. The Labs include all the equipment, activities, and training required. Funding will help expand the programme to include on-site training and will engage learners through various events and festivals in Argyll & Bute, Highlands, Moray, Orkney, Perth & Kinross, and Shetland.

West College Scotland

Funding for West College Scotland will enable Dr Amanda Ford to use her extensive knowledge and expertise to deliver a 3-day Gaming and Programming Holiday Camp during the 2023 Easter holidays. Participants will learn about creating music, games, and stories through various coding-based activities as well as hear from industry guest speakers. The camp will be for girls in P5 to S2 who attend school in Renfrewshire and will be delivered at WCS’ Paisley campus in Renfrewshire.

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