On 7 July, children from Eagley Junior School Code Club in Bolton visited our state of the art building at MediaCityUK. The Code Club was started by Alex Fenton of Salford Business School working with Sophie Jacques at the school.
So, how did the trip of 18 junior Code Club members get on at MediaCityUK?
Alex said: “I saw a presentation about Code Club at the Manchester DigitalConference and it really inspired me to make a difference. I saw the benefits of Code Club first hand and really believe in the importance of giving young people a chance to have the opportunity to create digital projects in a fun and engaging way."
The tour started in the buildings Egg reception with a play on the multi-touch tables. The space has been designed to bring coding projects to life and the club were very excited to see and interact with their games and animations on the large Christie Digital Tile wall. The projects were also displayed throughout the building on the Cisco screens showing them off to all visitors on the day.
The tour visited the state of the art TV production studios and on into the digital performance lab theatre. Tour lead Alex explained about some of the events and performances that have happened in the space since the buildings opening. Venturing upstairs, the tour went through the library and overlooked the balcony and into other areas of MediaCityUK. The club got the chance to wave at ITV staff as they looked down into the University space. The tour reached the third floor window area overlooking the whole view of MediaCityUK, the Lowry and the Imperial War museum.
Code Club at MediaCityUK
The Code Club had the chance to get out into the sunshine over the green to the Blue Peter garden and took a look at the BBC buildings and suspension bridge over toward the new Coronation St. set before heading back to School.
Sophie Jacques said: “The Club has been incredibly popular with children and parents and we’re really grateful to Alex and Salford Business School for helping us and for the opportunity to bring our coding projects to MediaCityUK. The trip was great and the children were buzzing when they got back to school – they really enjoyed the day”
Alex Fenton said: “With the new University Technical College opening in 2015 for 14+ year olds at MediaCityUK, the University is committed to giving young people the opportunity to learn and experiment with digital and creative tools that are enjoyable, build confidence and will be useful for their lives and future careers. The Business School is really proud to be able to support the ambitions of our next generation of business people and give them meaningful new learning opportunities. “
