The girls spent the day designing, building and programming their own computing project, as well as hearing talks from inspiration women in computing.
They then took part in a range of exciting workshops, using a variety of devices including BBC micro:bit, raspberry pi and codebug. Assisted by school teachers, University lecturers, University staff and current Lancaster University undergraduate students, the workshops included creating music using Sonic Pi, sewing LEDs into clothing and building a robot. The aim of the day was to encourage more girls to consider computing as an option by introducing them to stimulating areas of computing that they may not experience at school.
The day began with a talk from Engineer and maker Dr Lucy Rogers, who is also a judge on BBC Robot Wars. Dr Rogers shared her experiences of computing with the girls as well as her current interests in hacking robot dinosaurs and calculating the probability of spacecraft being hit by space debris! Dr Rogers studied Mechanical Engineering at Lancaster University, and was also awarded her PhD from the same department. This was followed by 11 year old Elise, who gave an inspiring talk about her interest in computing and her aspiration to get more girls interested in the subject.
Students created a variety of imaginative projects, including clothing with LEDs sewn in and programmed, a BBC micro:bit robot, a USB stick with their music on it and a canvas decorated with their digital artwork. The students were able to take their creations home with them at the end of the day.
The event was an inspirational day of making, coding and creativity. Feedback from students and teachers was that the day had been fun and inspiring. Ms Bowe from Cockermouth School said, “It was a really good day and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves…all of the sessions were great and the girls learned a lot from the day”. A student from Cockermouth School said, “I learned about lots of different ways of programming that we can’t really do in school” and others enthused about the workshops they had attended; “I really enjoyed creating art then programming the micro:bit to light up!”; “I got to create something cool then take it home to show my parents”.
You can read reviews of the day from Queen Elizabeth School here and Lytham St Annes Technology and Performing Arts College here.