A TEAM of local coding enthusiasts is proving that passion and drive are all that is needed to be the best.
The coding team from Swartkops Primary School has recently been announced as the top primary school team, following their participation along with 6 000 other learners from nine provinces in South Africa, as well as Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia, in a #Coding4Mandela event earlier this year.
The team was also announced as the primary school winner of the Nelson Mandela Bay leg of the event.
The school achieved the same score as the winning high school team from Arena Park Secondary School, with nine tokens and each winning school received a winning prize of R10 000 sponsored by #AWSInCommunities.
Learners who participated in the tournaments were introduced to coding concepts, through coding games, which are played without the use of computers.
“Learners play after school; they organise their own transport and share phones with each other. We have renovated a space for them to play, and I can honestly say that the coding club team has done so well because of the learners’ passion for coding and robotics,” said Olivier.
Olivier allowed one of the learners – Norman Msaka – to take the school’s coding kit home in the December 2021 holidays, and when he returned to school this year, he was all fired up to compete in tournaments.
Msaka, who is currently in Grade 7 at Swartkops Primary School, did so well during this year’s tournaments that his talents were recognised by Tangible Africa and, in May, he received a bursary from Amazon vice-president, David Brown, to go to Alexander Road High School next year.
“All we want to do is make our teacher proud because she has done so much for us. We don’t want to disappoint her. I enjoy being good at coding; it’s a scarce skill, and I can just be myself in coding,” said Msaka.
The team also participated in Tangible Africa’s Heritage Month Virtual Tournament, hosted recently and came first in the TANKS game.
“We are very happy that we won. As a team we support each other and coding has helped a lot with my self-confidence,” said coding club team member, Itumeleng Mashigo.
Coding club teammates, Chloë Siwisa and Mvuyisi Luvuno, said that one of the best parts about coding is teamwork and the supportive environment it creates. Indiphile Loli, another teammate, plans to open a computer business one day, with the skills he acquired in coding.
Tangible Africa facilitator, Trudie Didloff, is particularly proud of the school’s achievements following her first visit to the school for training in 2021.
“They have been amazing, and we really couldn’t be prouder. We have been training teachers all over the country in all nine provinces since the Mandela Day event, demystifying the idea that you need a lot of technology and infrastructure to start coding,” said Didloff.
