Computing – learning to code
During the Spring term in Year 6, the pupils continued to build on their coding knowledge and develop their confidence in creating programs and games. At the start of the unit, they revised key coding vocabulary before designing a game called Splatty Bug. In this game, the player must click on bugs before the time runs out. This activity helped reinforce important coding concepts learnt in earlier years, such as using variables, alerts, and if/else statements.
The pupils then moved on to learning about cloning. Cloning allows multiple exact copies of an object to be created, which is particularly useful when designing games and programs. They quickly understood how this could save time and make programs more efficient. This new skill was applied in a task called Clean the Ocean, where multiple objects were needed on screen at the same time.
Next, the pupils explored the use of hotspots. Hotspots are areas of the screen that react when objects enter or leave them. This feature adds more interaction to a program and is commonly used in games. The pupils combined their knowledge of hotspots and cloning to create a beehive program, where bees moved around the screen and disappeared when they entered the hive.
Towards the end of the unit, pupils learnt how to include user input to make programs more interactive. They practised using concatenation to link commands together, allowing programs to respond to different user answers. This skill was used to create question‑and‑answer programs and later applied to a more complex project called Post Office.
Overall, this unit helped pupils develop problem‑solving skills, logical thinking, and a stronger understanding of how coding can be used to design interactive and engaging programs.
