Northern Territory - Innovations in Middle Years

Our Middle Years team continues to find innovative ways to cover the whole curriculum with just three teachers. During 2016, the Year 7-9 students have participated in an Australia wide on-line coding competition, conducted over 5 weeks by Grok Learning (https://groklearning.com). This approach matches each new concept with a problem so the students are learning by doing. The students then complete a one-week Digital Technologies intensive to extend and develop their Python coding skills. The intensive units allow students and a teacher to focus on one area only, such as Civics sand Citizenship. In 2017, the students will attend an interstate Residential with a focus on Digital Literacy, including visits to universities and schools to see first-hand applications of technology. 

Student feedback: 'In Term 3, I had the opportunity to compete in a coding competition called the NCSS challenge. I had to work really hard at it because it wasn’t easy at all. I had to spend practically all my free time to get it done. At the same time, I found it interesting and fun and I’m happy that I got a perfect score as well. Later in the year, I asked my teachers if I could do another competition called Grok Code Quest which I am doing now. I know I’m going to need this learning later in life to understand computers and other things. I’m glad I did the coding this year'. Ryan Year 7