Extra-curricular pursuits go hi-tech as children switch on to coding

Parents have embraced coding lessons as a positive form of screen time for their children, with the tech skill nudging in alongside music, dance and sport as a top extra-curricular activity

Coding is shaping up to be the new piano as more children embrace the tech skill as an extracurricular activity.

About 50,000 children have signed up for coding with Australia’s largest coding school, Code Camp, since it was launched five years ago, and over 5000 new students join every term. Code4Fun has experienced a similar rise in participation, teaching about 1500 students per week across Sydney.

With coding introduced to the NSW school curriculum this year, it’s anticipated that more families will make coding their chosen extra-curricular activity, alongside more traditional sporting and musical pursuits.

Daniel Milech, Code Camp Australia head of programs, said coding was on its way to rivalling music lessons, which are taken up by about one in five Australian children.

“It’s already the new piano,” Mr Milech said.

“The growth has been exponential, with hundreds of coding schools operating across Australia.”

Sarah Yep, 11, designed a beach safety app which is available on iTunes. Picture: Christian Gilles

Apply for a $100 Creative Kids voucher at service.nsw.gov.au/creativekids

And while screen time is disparaged by some parents and educators as the antithesis of creativity, coding has been widely accepted as a creative pursuit.

The NSW Government’s Creative Kids program, providing up to $100 annually to encourage school-aged children into creative and cultural activities, includes coding as an option, alongside the likes of creative arts, drama, language and music.

“Screen time means you’re a consumer, watching TV programs or playing someone else’s game, but with coding, kids become creators of technology,” Mr Milech said.

“They’re designing characters and creatively solving problems to build their own websites, games and apps — it’s positive screen time.”

Within schools, coding has shouldered in alongside English and mathematics as a mandatory part of the curriculum for kindergarten through to year 10 students.

This follows from PwC research indicating that 75 per cent of the fastest-growing jobs require skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills.

Sarah Yep, 11, is one of the students getting a headstart in her career through coding. In a coding holiday program at age nine, she created a beach safety app which is now available for download through iTunes.

“Coding is creative and you get to use your imagination,” she said. “I want to be a coder when I grow up, so I can make lots of different apps that can help people.”

Originally published as Extra-curricular pursuits go hi-tech as children switch on to coding