For the past 18 months St Malachy’s College in Belfast, like many other schools in Northern Ireland, have been reinventing the approach to engaging and educating students in Computer Science. Led by Mrs Clare McGrath, Creative Digital Technology Leader in St Malachys’s, Key Stage 3 students are learning how to code while immersed inside the popular game of Minecraft Education.
In January 2023 Prodigy Learning partnered with the Education Authority Northern Ireland and Microsoft to deliver a showcase project to explore how Coding in Minecraft, a computer science credential program with supporting curriculum, delivered through Minecraft Education, could help support the Northern Ireland Computer Science Curriculum in Schools across Northern Ireland.
The showcase started with educators invited to participate in the Coding in Minecraft Certified Educator professional development course to provide them with the skills to successfully deliver computer science in their classrooms. During delivery the project helped narrow the skills gap that exists in computer science curriculum for schools at KS3 as we looked to explore innovative ways to engage a diverse student audience in the areas of computer science and coding, with Coding in Minecraft also aligned with the NI Curriculum for Digital Progression Pathways this was the perfect fit.
Clare, a newly appointed Creative Digital Leader in St Malachy’s College, had a goal of creating a new Key Stage 3 Digital Skills Curriculum, She saw the opportunity to learn about a solution that she could use with her students.
“Coding in Minecraft was a perfectly packaged curriculum addition that I was able to start implementing very quickly due to the usefulness of the content the students would be learning, the fact that it was game-based learning and fun, that I was able to get training on it and learn as I implemented and that I was able to see the soft skills that our students could learn whilst using it.”
She introduced the program initially to her year 8’s who began learning to code with the Introduction to Coding using MakeCode credential and found that most students were already very familiar with Minecraft Education and were really enjoying it. The programme is well structured and fun with all the resources available, allowing students to work at their own pace throughout the lessons.
Since its’ introduction in 2023 the programme has been a massive success with Coding in Minecraft now incorporated into a new creative digital curriculum for KS3 in the school with over 800 students engaged to date, the showcase in 2023 with Year 8’s became a continuation with Year 9’s who progressed to the Intermediate credential and the plans for this term is for Year 10’s to progress on to the Advanced credential in Coding in Minecraft. Plans are already being worked on for students to use the programme after Year 10 through enrichment time at sixth form.
When discussing the goals of the programme for the school. Clare advised
“Coding in Minecraft is part of a bigger programme in the School aimed at improving Digital Skills and Skills, in general, through Digital. Coding in Minecraft in particular provides young people with the chance to understand and learn about coding, which includes providing opportunities for them to take responsibility for their learning, problem solving, learning from their mistakes and understanding that it’s ok and normal to make mistakes, as well as following instructions and helping each other. The School is very aware of the current gap in Digital Skills for the employment market as outlined by the Dept for the Economy and the Skills Barometer in Northern Ireland and St Malachy’s College are focused on preparing young people for the world of work and life that is currently out there and for the future. Digital Skills are more important now than ever and the School is focused on providing a platform for our students to excel in the digital age.”
When discussing the impact Coding in Minecraft is having for both students and teachers, Clare highlighted how the school is working with students aged 11-14 and they are seeing improved confidence from students in following instructions, learning by themselves, being able to fix errors, gaining problem solving and computational thinking skills and helping others.
When asking Clare about any tips she would share for other schools looking to introduce Coding in Minecraft into the schools KS3 curriculum she stated:
• Ensure someone oversees and drives it.
• Build an enthusiastic team of teachers to help
• Take it slow and don’t expect to be smooth sailing until you have gone through the entire programme once and understand the little quirks that can be overcome.
For what started out as one teacher delivering the programme, Clare has moved on to training her colleagues and has found the teacher training and resources very useful in supporting the school with this. There will be 7 trained teachers in the school next year to deliver Coding in Minecraft as they continue to have an impactful innovative computer science curriculum to equip the students of St Malachy’s College and the young people of North Belfast with the digital and creative skills they need to open new doors, career paths and opportunities.
