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It’s probably time to dispel some myths about computer coding... As Codebase, Stirling prepares to turn 2, Barry McDonald, Community & Events Manager at CodeBase Stirling joins us as a guest blogger for #NationalCodingWeek to explain a bit about coding. Whether you are a teacher, parent or young person navigating through this evolutionary phenomenon, Barry may have a bit of useful information to share.  The harsh truth is that coding is no longer the domain of the stereotypical hoodie-wearing, laptop basher, frantically tapping away at the keyboard into the wee small hours. Walk into any one of our Level:Up coding clubs and it’s full of laughing, excited girls and boys of all ages, unleashing their creativity to design their own games, make their own websites or code the tiny BBC micro:bit computers to play rock/paper/scissors with their friends. They’re having fun while developing vital skills. And while they may be learning useful technical skills to equip them for a tech and digital future, they’re really developing transferable skills that will hold them in good stead for the future world of work. Usually without realising it.
 In a two hour session at our Prewired coding club, a 12 year-old may begin to design a simple game. She may encounter a few problems along the way, perhaps get a couple of lines of code wrong, but she pushes through and eventually has a game showing an animated cat chasing a mouse through a maze. It’s not Red Dead Redemption 2, but it’s a good start. And in those two hours she developed her creativity, resilience, problem solving, analytical and logical thinking skills. Learning to code also opens career doors. Joseph Marsden, 17, used to attend Prewired and it provided a critical platform for him to develop his coding skills. Two years later and his career is off to a flying start. The former school pupil is now an Apprentice Software Engineer at one of our tenant companies, CitNOW. Joseph is evangelical about coding and has plenty of words of encouragement for those embarking on their coding journey. He said: "Keep refining your skills and meeting new people - and don't be afraid to learn new programming languages or techniques. Aim for the stars, and you will reach them!" So if your child attends a school coding club or an extra curricular session like Level:Up and you ask them what they did on their return and they reply: "I learned to code." You know they’ve learned an awful lot more. For more information on CodeBase, Stirling’s skills workshops click below: happy 2nd birthday codebase!DYW Forth Valley are delighted to share this invitation on behelf of Codebase, to their 2nd birthday celebrations and tenant showcase. The event will be held on Friday 4th October 2019 from 5-9pm, refreshments and buffet will be provided. The tenant community will be showcasing their Startups in the community zone with demos and intros and in the Level:Up Zone there will be an exhibition of the skills development activities with young people, and MetaFest. Please register using the button below or rsvp to: stirling@thisiscodebase.com A bit more about codebase...Based at the heart of Stirling's digital district and in partnership with Stirling Council, CodeBase Stirling gathers and supports the local tech startup and scaleup community providing scaleup sessions, flexible office and coworking spaces, mentoring and a full programme of excellent events.
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