Year 3 Astro Pi Programming

Dr Trudy Coleman from Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form visited to bring a computing workshop to us at Charles Darwin Primary.

Supported by three Year 12 students during a 90-minute workshop to help twenty Year 3 students write a Python program. The program will take a reading from the colour and luminosity sensor of an Astro Pi computer on board the International Space Station, and use it to set the background colour in a personalised image for the astronauts to see as they go about their daily tasks.

Dr Coleman said,

“It was great to see such young students coding in a high-level programming language and sharing their successes with each other.”

The Year 12 students commented on how impressed they were that Year 3 students could pick up Python so easily, a language not usually taught until Year 9. These sessions aim to encourage and inspire younger students to try new things and see different options for their futures, technology can be very powerful and encouraging more students into STEM subjects and careers can lead to brighter futures.