Creating a Sense of Belonging: Setting up the Papakura High Code Club
Pop music, peanut butter toast, and noodles: the new Papakura High Code Club cares for the whole student to help them learn digital technologies.
On Wednesday 29 July 2020 Papakura High School launched their own Code Club. Twenty-five students joined parents, teachers, and people from the community to see how they could learn to code and to support the new club.
Papakura High School is one of the southernmost secondary schools in the Auckland region and one of two state schools in the Papakura district. It is a diverse and multicultural school, with over 60% of students identifying as Māori and with a large Pasifika community that includes Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island and Fijian Indian people. The school was established in 1954 when Papakura was still a rural town, but is now part of the Auckland supercity. Papakura High prides itself on its beautiful setting, its richly carved wharenui Kahurangi, the academic and cultural achievements of its students, and also the school’s commitment to digital learning.
Students at the launch of the new Papakura High Code Club.
Satchet Singh, Head of Technology at Papakura High is the driving force behind the new Code Club, but he wants the club to be sustainable beyond his input. “It can’t be a one off,” he says. “It needs to be able to continue if I ever leave the school.” This meant it was important to Singh that the entire community and school were involved with the Code Club, so before launching the club he promoted it widely to gather support. Singh talked about the new club at staff briefings, and explained the value of students and teachers learning to code; he put up posters around the school and had the school’s Principal John Rohs talk in assembly about the benefits of being part of Code Club.
Singh says that he learned the importance of gaining community support when teaching digital technologies while taking a Postgraduate Certificate in Digital & Collaborative Learning from Mind Lab, but also from learning about kaupapa Māori. The first session of the Code Club was opened with a blessing. “If you’re starting a Code Club, it has to be for the community,” he says. “During the blessing I could feel the wairua.”
Singh’s hard work paid off. The Principal came to the launch as well as many teachers, and teachers from local schools who have been inspired to set up Code Clubs of their own. Children from other schools are also participating in the Papakura High Code Club as it is open to everyone in the community. A group of teachers and senior students who want to develop a website for a personal project came along to the club to see how coding can help them. Code Club Aotearoa General Manager Michael Trengrove and Coordinator Siobhan O’Connor also went to the club’s launch.
“If you’re starting a Code Club, it has to be for the the community”
“The club has been a great way to show the school’s board and staff the benefits of digital technologies education,” says O’Connor, who has been supporting the club since it was first registered in February 2020. While Code Club projects are aimed at children aged 9–13, they can be used by people of any age, especially as an introduction to coding. “A few of the students had experience programming, but younger students with no experience started with introductory Scratch projects,” O’Connor says, whereas children with some experience are working with Python. O’Connor praises the way Singh combines Code Club projects with other learning platforms such as GROK. “The students are loving it,” she says.
O’Connor also praises the inclusive space that Singh creates with the Papakura High Code Club. For instance, Singh put posters up around the school encouraging girls to join the club because he knew technology spaces have not always welcomed non-male genders. “The Code Club is a safe space that is open to anyone; it doesn’t matter who they are or where they are at with their learning. Such a space is especially important for children who don’t have devices or connectivity at home,” says O’Connor.
“The Code Club is a safe space
that is open to anyone;
it doesn’t matter who they are”
Papakura High School has a history of supporting students who do not have access to devices. In 2015 they joined a cluster of schools known as the Kootuitui ki Papakura Trust, where “kootuitui” means to interconnect or weave together and “ki Papakura” means “in Papakura.” The Trust aims to develop digital technologies education in its member schools with the focus being on how “fully-engaged digital citizenship” in students will have a flow-on effect of promoting health, social and economic wellbeing in the wider Papakura community. Projects so far have included the launch of a digital based pedagogy for years 9–11, and a programme that enables students to lease a Chromebook for a modest weekly cost over a three year period, as well as Chromebook scholarships.
“It feels really good to be able to support this club and school as much as possible,” says O’Connor who is volunteering at the club’s weekly sessions. “We’re here to help any teacher who wants to create a digital technologies learning space in their community. We know it can be a battle with other school priorities,” she says. “Starting a club is not arduous and not difficult,” says Singh. “And there’s a lot of support from Code Club Aotearoa to get started.”
Student works on a project at the launch of the new Papakura High Code Club
Future Plans
Since the launch, the club has gone from strength to strength, even through Auckland’s second lockdown when the club moved online (Code Club Aotearoa has a comprehensive set of instructions on how to move a club online).
As the club grows, Singh plans to provide robotics and MakeyMakey kits for children to learn with, and for students to be able to complete projects in their own time. “I’ve tried to create an environment that’s comfortable and safe for the students,” says Singh. By providing a welcoming space and a variety of learning resources, Singh believes the students will follow their natural curiosity and desire to experiment. He doesn’t dictate which coding projects the students learn, and let’s them follow their own nose and swap between different projects. “If they want to come and play Minecraft for education, that’s fine,” he says.
“I’m responding to what
a student needs
at the end of the school day”
Singh also recognises that he needs to care for the whole student, and to provide a space that encourages them to turn up. “We’ve got noodles, peanut butter, bread and a toaster. It’s important to have kai available because no one can learn when they’re hungry,” he says. Singh often puts on music as well. “I’m responding to what a student needs at the end of the school day,” he says. “I want to make it feel like fun, rather than more school work.” His approach echoes the goals of the Kootuitui ki Papakura Trust – to support digital technologies learning, but also to recognise way learning and digital citizenship interconnects with health and wellbeing.
Singh also intends to give students who attend Code Club a certificate in assembly, and is organising Code Club membership cards (all of which can be found on the Code Club Aotearoa resources page). “Small things like a membership card give students a sense of belonging,” says Singh, and he believes everyone should feel like they belong at Code Club. In the future, Singh wants to connect with other Code Clubs around the country to share ideas. As his club grows he will also be looking for more volunteers. With the generosity that seems innate to Singh, he has offered to help others set up their own club. “If anyone needs help, tell them to get in touch,” he says. “A club comes together one step at a time. Just give it a try.”
Find out more about starting your own Code Club.
If you would like to volunteer for the Papakura Code Club or your local Code Club, register online.