Here comes the science bit...

Demonstrating a micro-bit arcade machine and coding a drone were among two of many activities undertaken by students from St Patrick’s College as part of the first national Computer Science Week.

It saw students at the Cavan Town secondary school participate in an array of workshops and professional talks. The events ran from Monday to Friday, October 10-14 and were a huge hit with the school community.

Teacher Bronte Fitzmaurice described it as “an extremely busy week”.

“We have first year computer classes, TY computers and coding workshops. Our sixth year students also have done various workshops and talks with junior classes in our school, letting them know the opportunities that we offer here,” she elaborated.

Students from all years were invited to participate in the various talks and workshops to pique their interest in the subject.

Fifth year student, Franek Górski, was delighted to be able to take part in Computer Science Week, as the subject is one of his favorites in school.

“In general I have a large interest in computers, hardware and software. Even outside of computers, I like to know how things are made and the process of how to get to the finished product.

“With Computer Science Week, I got to learn more about commands. I didn’t know a lot of the commands but, when I started learning computer science, I got more insights into what commands to actually use and how they work,” he explained.

Franek is delighted with the steps the schools is taking to further his knowledge in the subject.

“I think they’re doing a very good job. They’re making the subject very interesting. I also think it’s great the way teachers are learning with us as well because it’s quite a new subject so not everybody knows everything about it. It’s nice to know we’re not the only ones learning it.”

As part of Computer Science Week, eight student and accompanying teachers attended the National Conference in Athlone

“They asked loads of questions and got to take part in workshops about Artificial Intelligence with Keith Quille,” outlined Ms Fitzmaurice. “They did a workshop on coding drones and being able to move them. One of our students, Ahmed, won it with the best code that day.”

Arslan Akhtar was one of the eight students who attended the event.

“We had a blast, it was so fun.

“We had two stands with the Mannok stand and our school’s computer science stand. We displayed our CV2 code, similar to what was displayed by the presenter on image recognition. We also showed a micro bit arcade machine we made. I would recommend other years to go if they get a chance.”

The week closed with a visit from Mannok employees who has partnered with the school on an educational programme in the area of computer science, a move that seeks to further emphasise the subject in the school.