RE Junior Cycle Coding Resource request

[Patrick Campbell]

Good evening, 

Looking for any resource to help in the delivery of a short course on Coding for 1st and 2nd Years. 

Thanks in advance. 

Kind regards,

Paddy Campbell 

Sent from Outlook for Android

[Aislinn Cullen]

I'm going to use the Alison Website this year - Can't give an opinion yet but it looks good!
Codeacademy or Scratch are good places to start too. 
I had no coding experience and was able to navigate both of them. 

Aislinn Cullen 

Digital Learning Co-Ordinator,
Irish & French Departments, 

St Mary's College, Arklow. 

T: 0402 32419

Roll No: 61780A

www.stmarysarklow.ie

 

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From: cesi...@googlegroups.com <cesi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Patrick Campbell <patrick....@tallaghtcs.ie>
Sent: 25 August 2025 20:42
To: cesi...@googlegroups.com <cesi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [CESI List] RE Junior Cycle Coding Resource request

 

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[Ben North]

Hi Paddy,

Pytch is a free online Python coding environment, where users create “Scratch-like” programs like games, animations, stories, or visual art projects.  Students work with concepts like sprites, scripts (written in Python), and costumes, which will be familiar if they have worked with Scratch, although Scratch experience is not necessary.

A set of Pytch-based lesson plans and related resources is also freely available, as is a suite of self-directed follow-along tutorials.

Links:

• Free web app https://pytch.org/ — the page of built-in tutorials is a good place to start exploring
• More info https://pytch.scss.tcd.ie/

Happy to have a call to discuss, if you have questions.  Good luck with the course!

Best wishes,

Ben.

Dr Ben North — Pytch — https://pytch.org/

Discipline of Software and Systems, School of Computer Science and Statistics

>>> Pytch is a bridge from Scratch to Python.

>>> It helps people to learn Python by building on skills they have developed in Scratch.

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ben....@tcd.ie   pytch.scss.tcd.ie
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From: cesi...@googlegroups.com <cesi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Aislinn Cullen <acu...@stmarysarklow.ie>
Sent: 26 August 2025 10:55
To: cesi...@googlegroups.com <cesi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [CESI List] Re: RE Junior Cycle Coding Resource request

 

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[Chris Reina]

Hi Paddy,

Yes to all those… 

Coding can [very] broadly be broken into 2 categories… block-based and text-based coding. (I know I’m oversimplifying)

Previously, Google CS was an excellent resource for coding beginners… however (as is Google’s wont, they have retired it)

It has now been taken over by Raspberry Pi (https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en)

Other examples are:

Block Based (not a comprehensive list)

Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/)

Makecode (https://makecode.microbit.org/}

Snap! (https://snap.berkeley.edu/)

Turtlestitch (https://www.turtlestitch.org/)

Text Based (again, not comprehensive)

Python / Java (https://trinket.io/)

SonicPi (https://sonic-pi.net/)

HTML (https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_editor.asp)

HTML (https://onecompiler.com/html)

HTML / CSS / JavaScript (https://www.programiz.com/html/online-compiler/)

HTML / CSS (https://www.codechef.com/html-online-compiler)

Python / Java (https://codingbat.com/java)

Python / Java / C / C++ (https://pythontutor.com/visualize.html#mode=edit)

Translators (can take code and translate to/from blocks)

Blocks  < >  Makecode / HTML / Python (https://edublocks.org/)

Scratch > Python (https://www.pytch.org/app/)

————————————

As Ben has said, their Pytch Project is a great addition when people are ready to move from Block to Text based code.

What Ben has altruistically not mentioned is that if you wanted a demo or more information, you can see Pytch in action at:

DublinMaker (30th/31st August) - https://dublinmaker.ie/makers/pytch-making-your-python-games-from-scratch/

ICT in Education Conference (18th October) - https://www.ictedu.ie (not “officially” announced yet!) ;-)

(full disclosure - I’ll be at both events - and on the organising committee of ICTEdu) - Call in and say “Hi”!

————————————

Happy to chat about guidance for teaching coding to different ages.

Many thanks!

Chris

> He / him - what’s this?

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On 26 Aug 2025, at 11:01, 'Ben North' via CESI-list <cesi...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hi Paddy,

Pytch is a free online Python coding environment, where users create “Scratch-like” programs like games, animations, stories, or visual art projects.  Students work with concepts like sprites, scripts (written in Python), and costumes, which will be familiar if they have worked with Scratch, although Scratch experience is not necessary.

A set of Pytch-based lesson plans and related resources is also freely available, as is a suite of self-directed follow-along tutorials.

Links:

• Free web app https://pytch.org/ — the page of built-in tutorials is a good place to start exploring
• More info https://pytch.scss.tcd.ie/

Happy to have a call to discuss, if you have questions.  Good luck with the course!

Best wishes,

Ben.

Dr Ben North — Pytch — https://pytch.org/

Discipline of Software and Systems, School of Computer Science and Statistics

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cesi-list/DB9PR02MB7260C2BF2CC4B05C4EB31E938339A%40DB9PR02MB7260.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com.

[Mags Amond]

All great resources from Chris, Ben, Darren.

I was reminded recently of my absolute go-to for introducing computational thinking and block based manoevres - Neil Frasers elegant original Blocky Games. It's been added to over the years, but the first suite, the Maze is a super way to get pairs of kids moving at their own pace. (It works on the phone too).

https://blockly.games/

Mags

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