48 Students from Sir Robert Pattinson Academy in Lincoln descended upon the Frog offices in Halifax on Thursday 7 July to learn about Frog and how what they learn in the classroom is relevant in a real workplace.
The pupils started off with a welcome from Gareth Davies, the Managing Director of Frog, leading to a grilling Q&A session with the students asking about everything Frog and everything Gareth. They also got a chance to meet a range of different members of the team to find out about the varied jobs available in the tech industry.
Year 8 pupil from Sir Robert Pattinson Academy
There were three workshops throughout the day, the first was based around the software design process where the pupils worked with our Product Development Team to design a homework tool. The second workshop focused on the execution of software design where the students learnt and implemented code in HTML and Java Script. Finally, the last workshop was one where ideas on how to improve the platform were discussed, particularly the games and features in FrogPlay.
Year 10 pupil from Sir Robert Pattinson Academy
Rachel Rogers, Head of School Partnerships for Frog said "It was a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to have their say about the developments they would like to see in Frog. It gave us some real insight from the kid's perspective as to how we can improve solutions to meet their needs. It's also wonderful to work with so many enthusiastic young people and teach them about working in tech."
Year 9 Pupil from Sir Robert Pattinson Academy
The students finished of their day with a Q&A with a selection of the Frog Team where they got to ask about their jobs. Questions ranged from day to day responsibilities, to what education and training people need for their roles, and even why they chose their particular field.
John Lavelle, FROG technical lead for Sir Robert Pattinson Academy said "I was involved in the coding sessions all day and I'll be honest, they enjoyed every minute of it! We are organising a coding club in September to code in Frog because of this! After speaking with my other colleagues on the journey back they too said the students enjoyed it all and had wished some of the activities lasted longer! The students left Frog feeling they had made a difference to the platform and this has made them get into Frog even more!"
"On the Tuesday following the event we had an open evening for Year 5 parents. Two students who attended Frog helped me show what Frog can offer students and parents if they joined our school. The pupils were explaining how they had attended this trip and the activities they covered whilst they were there. It really helped the Year 5's and their parents see what this platform has to offer!"
The Frog team had a brilliant day working with so many intelligent and enthusiastic young people. Some of the ideas that came from the day will certainly be used to make our product better, and we hope all the students found the day as rewarding as we did.
If you want to see what really went on, click here to see our short video of the day.