Council rows in behind new TY Coding course in Offaly school

Offaly County Council’s Ray Bell (Broadband Officer) and Dean Hodge (STEM Engagement Officer) paid a visit to Banagher College’s famous STEAM room to present a full class set of state-of-the-art VEX IQ robot kits to the school.

The council has rowed in behind the school’s new TY Coding course, which has been launched in the school this year, by providing both expertise and equipment.

The robot kits will support the VEX Robotics module, a central part of the new course. VEX Robotics is a hugely engaging and very popular extra-curricular outlet for hundreds of students across Offaly, thanks to the pioneering work of Offaly County Council. The VEX programme is key to developing a range of 21st century skills.

The six robot sets will form a key part of the new TY Coding course, which also includes a module on First LEGO League coding. This is another international programme where students develop complex code to conquer different challenges, leading to both regional and national competitions.

The new Banagher College course also includes a module on Mobile App Development, where students learn to build their own mobile phone apps, with the potential to make their app available for other students in the school, or even commercially. As part of the course, the students also have the chance to work with both programmable Micro:bits and VR coding.

The new course is being led by experienced Banagher College teacher Mr Ian Coughlan and supported by the Digital Learning Team in the school. It’s part of a number of TY digital programmes at Banagher College, including the Dig Tech course, Microsoft Dream Space Ambassadors and the new LOETB Digital Arts Programme, which covers filmmaking, podcasting and Virtual Reality.

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