11 Plus Exams Forum

My DS is in Yr 10 and he is not doing ICT/Computing as part of his GCSE subjects and he may not be doing at his A levels, as we may be concentrating on Maths/Sciences in his 6th Form.

We may apply for Computer science for Univerisy but I am just thinking he should do some kind of ICT/Programming soon so that he will know what is Computer programming and all. He will also have a clue on if he is going to like Programming or not ? hence I am looking for him to do some Programming course outside school.

Do you know any Educational Instituions/Group tutions who does provide this kind of traning

Please suggest and thanks for your help

He can teach himself online - scratch is a good starting point (used in primary).

Some students get a Raspberry Pi and create coding for that. Universities ask for Maths (and some F Maths) for a computing degree.

Hi these might be of interest:

http://www.cambridgegcsecomputing.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cat ... nd-digital" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am looking for a Summer course etc to happen in Institute and not online

I had been looking for a tutor in Python for my daughter for ages and eventually I put an add in Oxford University HUB newsletter and have found a really lovely DPhil student to teach her. Can I suggest that you try your local Uni newsletter?

I understand but it will look more impressive on a UCAS form if it has been self-taught.

harrow123 wrote:My DS is in Yr 10 and he is not doing ICT/Computing as part of his GCSE subjects and he may not be doing at his A levels, as we may be concentrating on Maths/Sciences in his 6th Form.

We may apply for Computer science for Univerisy but I am just thinking he should do some kind of ICT/Programming soon so that he will know what is Computer programming and all. He will also have a clue on if he is going to like Programming or not ? hence I am looking for him to do some Programming course outside school.

Do you know any Educational Instituions/Group tutions who does provide this kind of traning

Please suggest and thanks for your help

...."we may be concentrating.....We may apply for Computer science...."????

So, you are going to be doing the same A levels and applying for a degree at the same time as him? May I respectfully suggest that you let him choose his A levels and degree based on his interests, abilities and affinities, not yours. If he is really interested, trying "Scratch" at home on his own, will give him a really good insight - if he hates it, then you won't have wasted any money on a summer course at an institution...other forms of childcare are available!!

I'd second a raspberry pi. Self taught is definitely possible, there are lots of online resources. Coding is a great skill, especially along with traditional sciences.

On a slightly different tack, if you're looking for some inspiration I'd recommend 'Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore' by Robin Slone or 'The Fear Index' by Robert Harris. Both have interesting stories with a background of coding, quick reads too.

kenyancowgirl wrote:

harrow123 wrote:My DS is in Yr 10 and he is not doing ICT/Computing as part of his GCSE subjects and he may not be doing at his A levels, as we may be concentrating on Maths/Sciences in his 6th Form.

We may apply for Computer science for Univerisy but I am just thinking he should do some kind of ICT/Programming soon so that he will know what is Computer programming and all. He will also have a clue on if he is going to like Programming or not ? hence I am looking for him to do some Programming course outside school.

Do you know any Educational Instituions/Group tutions who does provide this kind of traning

Please suggest and thanks for your help

...."we may be concentrating.....We may apply for Computer science...."????

So, you are going to be doing the same A levels and applying for a degree at the same time as him? May I respectfully suggest that you let him choose his A levels and degree based on his interests, abilities and affinities, not yours. If he is really interested, trying "Scratch" at home on his own, will give him a really good insight - if he hates it, then you won't have wasted any money on a summer course at an institution...other forms of childcare are available!!

My thoughts entirely. When we had our talk about transition to sixth form at my son's school they were very, very clear that A level choices should absolutely be our offspring's decision, not ours. They are the ones who have to commit to doing all that work, after all, so they have to be passionate (sorry, horrible overused word) about their subject choices.

Peridot wrote:

kenyancowgirl wrote:

harrow123 wrote:My DS is in Yr 10 and he is not doing ICT/Computing as part of his GCSE subjects and he may not be doing at his A levels, as we may be concentrating on Maths/Sciences in his 6th Form.

We may apply for Computer science for Univerisy but I am just thinking he should do some kind of ICT/Programming soon so that he will know what is Computer programming and all. He will also have a clue on if he is going to like Programming or not ? hence I am looking for him to do some Programming course outside school.

Do you know any Educational Instituions/Group tutions who does provide this kind of traning

Please suggest and thanks for your help

...."we may be concentrating.....We may apply for Computer science...."????

So, you are going to be doing the same A levels and applying for a degree at the same time as him? May I respectfully suggest that you let him choose his A levels and degree based on his interests, abilities and affinities, not yours. If he is really interested, trying "Scratch" at home on his own, will give him a really good insight - if he hates it, then you won't have wasted any money on a summer course at an institution...other forms of childcare are available!!

My thoughts entirely. When we had our talk about transition to sixth form at my son's school they were very, very clear that A level choices should absolutely be our offspring's decision, not ours. They are the ones who have to commit to doing all that work, after all, so they have to be passionate (sorry, horrible overused word) about their subject choices.

Unless we are talking about QE here, in which case all these fine words may be a little redundant?

Sorry, off-topic .