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AWARD WINNING
FUZE CODING WORKSHOPS Learn to Code with FUZE4 Nintendo Switch |
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FUZE specializes in making real coding accessible and engaging for people of all ages and ability levels.
We focus on the fundamental concepts of coding, strengthening and broadening any understanding the students have acquired in their computing lessons.
Using our application “FUZE4 Nintendo Switch” – a program we designed to make coding accessible for beginners, we utilise Video Game mechanics to contextualise computer science learning in an engaging and exciting way. This is not to be confused as playing games. Students are shown real world video game examples of the techniques they learn in action, maximising enthusiasm and receptiveness to more complex concepts.
We focus on the fundamental concepts of coding, strengthening and broadening any understanding the students have acquired in their computing lessons.
Using our application “FUZE4 Nintendo Switch” – a program we designed to make coding accessible for beginners, we utilise Video Game mechanics to contextualise computer science learning in an engaging and exciting way. This is not to be confused as playing games. Students are shown real world video game examples of the techniques they learn in action, maximising enthusiasm and receptiveness to more complex concepts.
Ickford Academy- Y6
Each session can be tailored to the schools’ needs. We work to enhance your computing lessons and can easily relate to current topics being covered in other lessons, making the sessions cross-curricular.
Broadly, session content is different for each Key Stage, with the depth of explanation and complexity being tailored to the students’ ability level. Of course, with repeat bookings and longer sessions (for example over the course of a few days), project complexity can be pushed as far as the students are comfortable, even resulting in earlier years engaging with and understanding relatively advanced concepts.
Some projects are used throughout multiple Key Stages, but are delved into with more detail and complexity in the older year groups.
Broadly, session content is different for each Key Stage, with the depth of explanation and complexity being tailored to the students’ ability level. Of course, with repeat bookings and longer sessions (for example over the course of a few days), project complexity can be pushed as far as the students are comfortable, even resulting in earlier years engaging with and understanding relatively advanced concepts.
Some projects are used throughout multiple Key Stages, but are delved into with more detail and complexity in the older year groups.
KS1
1. Interactive presentation in which students build a program with the tutor, predicting its behaviour and changing how it works. (15-20 mins)
2. Students modify pre-prepared program code using FUZE on Nintendo Switch game consoles. (20-30 mins)
3. Interactive presentation at the end of the session demonstrating some of the exciting projects one can create with more advanced code, providing a fun reward for the hard work. Time permitting, students who were well-behaved or exceptional during the session are asked to participate in a friendly game. (5 mins)
Curriculum relevance
• Program structure and flow
• Writing and editing a simple program
• Using logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
• Fundamental coding concepts: Loops, Variables and If statements
KS2
1. Students build a simple project alongside the tutor, allowing for explanation of each line added to the program. Students are engaged with throughout and asked to predict the outcomes of program modifications. (20-30 mins)
2. Students build a second, more conceptually advanced project alongside the tutor. (20-30 mins)
3. Interactive presentation at the end of the session demonstrating some of the exciting projects one can create with more advanced code, providing a fun reward for the hard work. Time permitting, students who were well-behaved or exceptional during the session are asked to participate in a friendly game. (5 mins)
Curriculum relevance
• Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals
• Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs
• Work with variables and various forms of input and output
• Use logical reasoning to detect and correct errors in programs
• Fundamental coding concepts: Loops, Variables and If statements
• Understand basic Boolean logic: AND, OR, NOT
1. Students build a simple project alongside the tutor, allowing for explanation of each line added to the program. Students are engaged with throughout and asked to predict the outcomes of program modifications. (20-30 mins)
2. Students build a second, more conceptually advanced project alongside the tutor. (20-30 mins)
3. Interactive presentation at the end of the session demonstrating some of the exciting projects one can create with more advanced code, providing a fun reward for the hard work. Time permitting, students who were well-behaved or exceptional during the session are asked to participate in a friendly game. (5 mins)
Curriculum relevance
• Design, write and debug programs that accomplish specific goals
• Use sequence, selection, and repetition in programs
• Work with variables and various forms of input and output
• Use logical reasoning to detect and correct errors in programs
• Fundamental coding concepts: Loops, Variables and If statements
• Understand basic Boolean logic: AND, OR, NOT
KS3
1. Short, interactive demonstration of the basics of the FUZE language to ascertain the level of understanding of fundamental coding concepts. (10 mins)
2. Students build a simple game project alongside the tutor which involves real-world problems (for example using control inputs to mimic physical systems such as gravity in a jump mechanic) – project complexity is determined by class ability level to ensure no-one is left behind. (30-40 mins)
3. Interactive presentation at the end of the session to demonstrate more advanced implementations of the concepts understood in the lesson, with students modifying properties to achieve exciting results. (5 mins)
Curriculum relevance
• Design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems
• Understand several key algorithms that reflect computational thinking (for example, ones for sorting and searching); use logical reasoning to compare the utility of alternative algorithms for the same problem
• Make appropriate use of data structures (for example, lists, tables or arrays); design and develop modular programs that use procedures or functions
• Understand simple Boolean logic (for example, AND, OR and NOT) and some of its uses in circuits and programming; understand how numbers can be represented in binary
1. Short, interactive demonstration of the basics of the FUZE language to ascertain the level of understanding of fundamental coding concepts. (10 mins)
2. Students build a simple game project alongside the tutor which involves real-world problems (for example using control inputs to mimic physical systems such as gravity in a jump mechanic) – project complexity is determined by class ability level to ensure no-one is left behind. (30-40 mins)
3. Interactive presentation at the end of the session to demonstrate more advanced implementations of the concepts understood in the lesson, with students modifying properties to achieve exciting results. (5 mins)
Curriculum relevance
• Design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems
• Understand several key algorithms that reflect computational thinking (for example, ones for sorting and searching); use logical reasoning to compare the utility of alternative algorithms for the same problem
• Make appropriate use of data structures (for example, lists, tables or arrays); design and develop modular programs that use procedures or functions
• Understand simple Boolean logic (for example, AND, OR and NOT) and some of its uses in circuits and programming; understand how numbers can be represented in binary
KS4
1. Short, interactive demonstration of the basics of the FUZE language to ascertain the level of understanding of fundamental coding concepts. (10 mins)
2. Students engage with real examples of more complex video game programming, demonstrating more advanced coding problems and discussing solutions as a class. (20 mins)
3. Students are provided with a complex game program with several bugs and suboptimal areas. They must use logical reasoning and good debugging practice to fix and optimize the program to improve performance. (20 mins)
4. Interactive presentation at the end of the session to demonstrate more advanced implementations of the concepts understood in the lesson, with students modifying properties to achieve exciting results. (5 mins)
Curriculum Relevance
• Develop capability, creativity and knowledge in computer science, digital media and information technology
• Develop and apply analytic, problem-solving, design, and computational thinking skills
1. Short, interactive demonstration of the basics of the FUZE language to ascertain the level of understanding of fundamental coding concepts. (10 mins)
2. Students engage with real examples of more complex video game programming, demonstrating more advanced coding problems and discussing solutions as a class. (20 mins)
3. Students are provided with a complex game program with several bugs and suboptimal areas. They must use logical reasoning and good debugging practice to fix and optimize the program to improve performance. (20 mins)
4. Interactive presentation at the end of the session to demonstrate more advanced implementations of the concepts understood in the lesson, with students modifying properties to achieve exciting results. (5 mins)
Curriculum Relevance
• Develop capability, creativity and knowledge in computer science, digital media and information technology
• Develop and apply analytic, problem-solving, design, and computational thinking skills
Career Focused Workshop
FUZE offers career-focused workshop days aimed at students with some familiarity in coding and are comfortable with the fundamental concepts.
Targeting KS4 students who have expressed interest in careers in computing and software engineering, our Career Workshop reflects the environment of a software development team.
The class is split into small groups and given a task to create a simple game during the day. They are provided with templates and lots of support to facilitate progression, but they must plan their approach to the project and the roles of their group themselves.
Groups must consider time management, project planning, visual design, unique selling points and all aspects of the coding needed to complete the game. Naturally, the game itself must be very simple in order to complete the project in a single day, but given longer sessions over multiple days it would be possible to push the achievements further.
Students will encounter bugs and have to rework their plan – this is absolutely intended. During the session, as errors or bugs are found and addressed, these may be used as learning opportunities for the tutor to show good debugging practice.
FUZE offers career-focused workshop days aimed at students with some familiarity in coding and are comfortable with the fundamental concepts.
Targeting KS4 students who have expressed interest in careers in computing and software engineering, our Career Workshop reflects the environment of a software development team.
The class is split into small groups and given a task to create a simple game during the day. They are provided with templates and lots of support to facilitate progression, but they must plan their approach to the project and the roles of their group themselves.
Groups must consider time management, project planning, visual design, unique selling points and all aspects of the coding needed to complete the game. Naturally, the game itself must be very simple in order to complete the project in a single day, but given longer sessions over multiple days it would be possible to push the achievements further.
Students will encounter bugs and have to rework their plan – this is absolutely intended. During the session, as errors or bugs are found and addressed, these may be used as learning opportunities for the tutor to show good debugging practice.
To register your interest in our FUZE CODING Workshops for your school, STEM OR Career event please Enter your details below or Call 01844 239 432
School Testimonials
The following comments are from school heads, IT teachers, STEM event holders and the press.
The following comments are from school heads, IT teachers, STEM event holders and the press.
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Barrow Hills School
"Rarely have I witnessed lessons where the children were that engaged for that length of time. I went along to see what was going on and I could not have been happier." Matthew Unsworth – Head Teacher |
Dunmore Primary School
"The following day the children were still buzzing from the experience and haven't stopped talking about it. I wholeheartedly recommend." Toby West – Specialist Teacher |
Ickford Combined School
"The whole class, regardless of prior knowledge, experience or confidence, remained engaged throughout and each one left the venue having made progress and having developed further knowledge and understanding." John Ronane BA(Hons), MA, MBA, FCoT – Headteacher |
Bentley Wood High School for Girls
"With such an easy to pick up language, our students were controlling robot arms and interacting with analogue sensors in less than an hour!" Gavin Calnan, Head of Computing and ICT |
Student Testimonials
The following comments are from students that have attended workshops
The following comments are from students that have attended workshops
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Ickford Primary School (Ages 10 - 11):
“When we first heard that we were doing programming we thought it was going to be really hard, but now it’s really simple!” “It practically teaches us, like a teacher, cause it’s got everything that we need on it.” “This is more fun than Scratch, there is more to do and it is much easier.” “I thought it was going to be harder, but it’s pretty easy!” “There’s lots of different things you can do compared to the computer.” “I enjoy lighting up the lights, and love controlling it and making it!” “It makes you feel quite proud - that you’re actually able to do this!” “It’s built up my confidence.” |
Featherstone High School (Ages 14-15):
“It helped me a lot to understand computer science and now I like it!” “The workshop was fantastic. I wish they could do it again!" “I now know how to do some coding and how to control the robotic arm and LED. Overall I give it 5 Stars!” |