Celebrities learn to code with ��˿��’s Micro:bit – the next gen

��˿�� Teach > micro:bit - the next gen

YouTube sensation Dan TDM was one of four celebrities who surprised primary school children around the country as part of the launch of ��˿�� micro:bit – the next gen.

Dan TDM with two primary school pupils during a coding lesson at a primary school in Epping. — Image caption,
Dan TDM joined in with a coding lesson during the micro:bit launch at a primary school in Epping.

What is the micro:bit campaign?

Since mid-September, free micro:bits have been starting to arrive at primary schools who have signed up to the campaign and to mark this the micro:bit team visited schools in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for special assemblies and coding lessons.

DanTDM talks all things coding

DanTDM, who has almost 28m subscribers on social media, arrived to a rapturous welcome at a primary school in Epping where he described the micro:bit as “small, powerful and creative.”

Talking about the impact that learning to code can have on a young person’s future, he said: “It’s important to give kids the opportunity to code at a young age as it opens up lots of avenues no matter what career you want to get into.”

He also had some advice for anyone who might be reluctant about learning to code, saying: “If you want to get into coding but you might be a bit nervous try the micro:bit. It makes it very visual and I'm a visual person. It makes sense to have it all colour coded and mapped out rather than a wall of text.”

Gyasi Sheppy plays rock, paper, scissors using micro:bits with a primary school pupil. — Image caption,
Gyasi Sheppy challenged pupils to a game of rock, paper, scissors using micro:bits during the school visit in Lisburn.

Gyasi Sheppy returns to his primary school

In Northern Ireland, CBeebies presenter Gyasi Sheppy, said he was feeling nostalgic as he returned to his primary school in Lisburn where he got a warm welcome from both the pupils and his former teachers.

After a lively game of rock, paper, scissors – that he played with several pupils using the micro:bits – he took part in a coding lesson alongside children from the school that was facilitated by the Creative Learning Centres with trainers from the and .

Speaking after the lesson, he told us: “It’s really important that we have lessons like this in schools because tech and coding is the future. It wasn’t whenever I was in primary school - I won’t say how many years ago that was - but it is now so kids should be able to hone in on this and develop these skills that they can take all the way to university and beyond.”

Alex Humphreys shows a micro:bit to a primary school pupil. — Image caption,
Alex Humphreys joined in with the coding lesson during her visit to Cardiff.

Alex Humphreys enjoys a micro:bit coding lesson

Presenter and journalist Alex Humphreys said she loved taking part in the micro:bit lesson facilitated by during a visit to a school in Cardiff and said she supports children learning about coding from an early age.

She added: “We’re living in an ever-increasing digital world now. Almost everything we do involves a screen of some sort whether it’s gaming, watching TV, using our mobiles or in work or school. It’s great that kids are able to understand how those things actually work, the language behind your phones, behind your games. It’s going to be crucial to so many jobs in the future so this is the best place for them to learn, right now when they’re young.”

Abby Cook holds up micro:bit in front of primary school pupils in school assembly hall — Image caption,
Abby Cook demonstrated some of the micro:bit's features during the school assembly in Scotland.

Back to primary school for Abby Cook!

Meanwhile, in Scotland Blue Peter presenter Abby Cook caused huge excitement when she arrived for the assembly at her old primary school in Falkirk.

Afterwards she told us, “I was really excited to come back and to see what the kids would come up with on the micro:bits. I was really surprised at how simple it was to use and some of the kids had done some amazing things to help with their PE lessons. There were a lot of push-ups and a lot of star jumps going on and it was pretty awesome!”

Other launch week activities included a C��˿�� takeover with presenters including Evie Pickerill, Newsround’s De-Graft Menash and Hacker T Dog showcasing just some of the micro:bit’s many features. The micro:bit also featured in Blue Peter and Saturday Mash-Up, and will appear in some more C��˿�� shows over the coming months.

C��˿��'s Hacker T Dog wearing a micro:bit on his collar — Image caption,
Hacker T Dog is among the C��˿�� stars taking part in a special ��˿�� micro:bit takeover week.

The deadline for UK primary school teachers to sign up for a free classroom set of 30 micro:bits was Monday 18 December at 5pm. If you didn't register, micro:bits are available to borrow from some libraries - check with your local library for further information - and you can also purchase them for your school.

Teacher training on using the micro:bit and micro:bit classroom resources are available on the micro:bit website.

Please be aware that some of the links on this page will take you away from the ��˿��.