Virtual session for Farr High School pupils showcases coding career opportunities
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Pupils in Bettyhill are gaining an exciting insight into the future of careers without even leaving their classroom in the Far North.
Over the last three months, first to third year Farr High School pupils have been gaining a taste of the life of a game designer.
They have been able to join STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) engagement adviser Ash Healey for the virtual My World of Work Live sessions, beginning in October with one on game design.
This taught the pupils about how computers work, the jobs involved in making a video game, and they even created their own short video game, learning basic programming skills.
Skills Development Scotland’s My World of Work Live is a set of interactive activities designed to inspire young people’s interest in future careers that will be important to the Scottish economy. Using the latest technology, the activities help young people identify their own skills and learn about the world of work, key sectors and what jobs Scotland will need.
For Science and PSE teacher, Rosalind McQuaker, who registered the school for the sessions on My World of Work, it was the accessibility and exciting new learning opportunities that made the sessions stand out.
She said: “Because of where we are, it’s hard for us to access a lot of opportunities and many of our younger pupils have missed out on so much because of Covid. However, the virtual sessions provided a fun, exciting change to their usual classes without having to take hours out of the day on a bus trip, so it gave them an extra opportunity without letting them fall further behind.
“We don’t have computing as part of our curriculum, so it’s been really fun to see the pupils try something different and explore coding. When they reach S4, they can choose to do computing at Thurso college, but it can be daunting to choose that without much prior computing experience, so opportunities like this will hopefully generate more interest and uptake in that course.”
The pupils' second session, Game Design: The Floor is Lava, followed in November, putting the skills they had already learned into practice to build a more complex platform game. This session also expanded their understanding of what it takes to create a video game and what the gaming industry in Scotland looks like.
“A lot of the pupils felt, prior to the sessions, that this wasn’t an accessible route for them. They thought games were developed in places like America and didn’t know about the massive industry for computing and games design here in Scotland,” Ms McQuaker added.
“I think this session shows the importance of teaching children early about the opportunities out there for them and a few have expressed interest in exploring the industry.”
Adviser Ash Healey commented: “The sessions really help the pupils think more about how they can expand their horizons and shows what’s available not just in their area, but across the whole of Scotland, it opens up a whole new frontier of career opportunity that they hadn’t been aware of before.”
The final session in December, Game Design: Final Frontier, broadened the possibilities of STEM-based careers for the pupils as they took the skills used in previous sessions to learn about the problem of space junk.
Through creating a space themed game, the pupils looked at how we can target the issue of space junk and what’s being done to address this and in doing so learned about how the space industry is growing in Scotland with exciting careers to explore.
Using their own Chromebooks for the sessions, which all pupils were given through Highland Council, has meant the opportunities to explore new possibilities are extended past the classroom.
Ms McQuaker commented: “It’s great to have access to free resources like this, especially ones which pupils can continue to explore at home and keep learning. Many of their parents would never have been aware of the websites or technology used and it’s great that the conversation can continue at home and the children can teach their parents about the possibilities for their future careers.
“I would definitely recommend the sessions to other schools across Scotland, and in the North particularly as it’s easily accessible, and if it has inspired even one of the pupils to explore the possibility of a career in STEM it has been completely worth it.”
Anthony Standing, head of operations for the North at SDS, said: “SDS career staff work across all state secondary schools in Scotland and aim to help young people understand the exciting careers they can explore in the future.
“Our work continues with exciting activities like those delivered through the free My World of Work Live programme with many classroom-based activities and a host of virtual sessions which showcase where STEM careers could take pupils.”
If booking three separate sessions isn’t a strong enough indicator of the popularity of the sessions for Farr High pupils, Rosalind said:
Teachers can book a My World of Work Live session for their class on My World of Work.
