Westpac backs Code Camp for kids stuck in lockdown

Westpac has renewed its partnership with its science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) education partner Code Camp to offer free coding lessons to Victorians impacted by renewed COVID-19 restrictions.

Source: Code Camp

The banking group first sponsored the Sydney-based Code Camp back in 2016, when 4300 school-aged students used the platform to develop their own iPhone games using a range of tools from drag-and-drop elements to JavaScript.

Since then more than 100,000 students have gone on to use Code Camp, which has expanded to web design using HTML and CSS.

Westpac group chief information officer Craig Bright said on LinkedIn that from Tuesday 20,000 places will be made available on the platform for Victorian school children aged 7-12.

Eligible students will be given a free, hour-long session on the platform led by an instructor during the extended school holiday period as much of the state reverts to high levels of social isolation due to a resurgence of COVID-19.

The extra week of school will be followed by remote, at-home learning for state school students from prep to year 10.

Outside of the instructor-led sessions, Code Camp says it typically takes students between two and four days to build their own game or website, which can then be made available on its community app for others to use.

Lessons included as part of the course include how to use visual coding and algorithms, animation, variables, and in-game physics.