No meeting on the 16th + important information

Thank you to all the kids, teens and parents for being so patient while we sourced our larger venue.  

As I am sure you are aware there is no CoderDojo this weekend (16th February), thereafter it will be held at Gorey Community School.

Due to insurance restrictions from 23rd February we can only take children over 8 years of age.  If you have children younger than 8 and you want them to attend please contact Roisin & volunteer to provide that opportunity.

Our Calendar for the next few weeks is as follows:
February 23rd – CoderDojo
March 2nd – CoderDojo
March 9th – CoderDojo
March 16th – No CoderDojo
March 23rd – CoderDojo Fun Day
March 30th & April 6th – No CoderDojo (Easter)
April 13th – CoderDojo

Again, we are offering Scratch (an easily accessible introduction to programming language and concepts) and HTML (basic programming language used to develop websites) as well as Python (another programming language) broken down as follows:
Introduction to scratch 8+
Scratch 8+
Introduction to HTML 8-12
HTML 12+
Python 13+

As you are aware CoderDojo is run on a free / voluntary basis.  Please contact us if you know anyone / company who would like to sponsor us for items such as achievement badges / certificates / t-shirts for the kids.

Invitations for the next session (23rd February) will be issued at 6pm on Tuesday 19th February.
How do you get an invitation see FAQ's.

Even if your child attended previously you must accept the Eventbrite invitation by;

a) Pressing the green “attend event” button.
b) Choosing quantity of tickets and pressing register
c) Completing all required details and pressing register again

Once you see “order complete” you know you have been issued a ticket by email. This ticket can then be presented in the form of a printout or on the Eventbrite Smartphone app.

If you get an error processing your order, please wait 5 minutes and try again.

If you have not already done so, please complete and print out the attached Parental Consent / Registration form and bring it with you.

If all tickets have been allocated you will have the option to be waitlisted. The waitlist is the only way to qualify for any tickets that may become available.  Consequently, we would appreciate if you would please let us know as soon as possible by email if you have accept a ticket and cannot attend.

We hope you enjoy your mid-term.

Regards,
CoderDojo Gorey Team 

GREAT news! New location secured.

We are delighted that the Board of Management at Gorey Community School has approved our request for use of the schools facilities. Many thanks to Fintan Kemple one of the dads at the Dojo whom helped us with that. I wrote to the GSC board of management outlining CoderDojo Gorey's request for use of the school, they discussed it at their BOM meeting on 29th of January and Yes our ability to have more space and offer more tickets is solved!
However using the school is subject to two conditions:

• having insurance in place 
• staff being Garda vetted

One of the rules in the club is everything is free and open.

So our second piece of more amazing news...Aidan Clince another of the Dads has organised sponsorship for the insurance (yay for Dads at the dojo) . 

The sponsor a local business man, wants to remain anonymous. I want to publicly thank his philanthropic gesture as our children, teens and plenty of families in Gorey and North Wexford will benefit from his generosity. Lets play that one forward. Aidan and I will work on getting all the documentation required and having that in place as soon as possible.

So the second issue of Garda vetting technically we are all volunteers - mentors and background support for organisation, administration and communication. But to use the school facilities it is a criteria and having discussed it mentors and parents agree it is best practices and protects our child centered approach. That will be work in process lets see how to handle costs on that. 

So it looks like we can banish 'no ticket and waiting list' blues. 

What is being taught at the club?

Coderdojo Gorey currently offers 3 classes:

Introduction to HTML for ages 8 - 12 years

Introduction to HTML for 13+ years

Introduction to Scratch 8+

Laptops are required.

Links to the lessons here: 

Scratch.ie the first three lessons are available and the is a lot of information to get you going.

HTML will add shortly

CoderDojo Gorey up and coding

The club held its second meeting last Saturday and it went really well. It required a lot of administration and communication - the response has been overwhelming. A great group of volunteer parents has come together  to build the background organisation so the mentors can concentrate on their piece and the kids can just get on with coding!

We are releasing tickets today at 6pm for the 3rd session. 

If we don't have your email address and your children or teens are interested email us coderdojogorey [at] gmail [dot] com. Mention age groups. Right now your child, off spring or teen needs to bring a laptop to attend.

Lets get Gorey coding!

lets get Gorey coding!

CoderDojo Gorey First meeting 2013.
Photo credit Mark McGrath, Pixl9

Do you live in and around Gorey? do you have a kid, several of them or teenagers interested in learning how to code? make websites, games or apps? well you are in the right place, welcome!

Click HERE and fill out the 1 minute survey, which is a prerequisite for further information on our next meeting, 26th of January 2013.

Thanks!