Straight answers to the questions parents actually ask: what Scratch is for, when to move to Python, and what to do when other clubs have not worked out.
Written by our mentors
73 guides for parents · 161 posts from the clubs
Here at The Code Zone, we have two distinct yet similar clubs for our members: Hacker and Modder. We thought we’d take a little bit of time this week to talk to you a little more about the latter of the two, our Modder clubs!
If you checked out our socials last week, you may have noticed that here at The Code Zone we were celebrating some really, REALLY exciting news; it was announced that we are the global winners of Xero’s Beautiful Business Fund in the Upskilling For The Future category!
at The Code Zone we love video games so we often talk about how learning to code is really useful for a career in gaming - but what if you don’t want to be a game dev? This week we wanted to take a closer look at some of these careers and the way that our clubs can be the first stepping stone for a child that is interested in...
Here at The Code Zone we offer one free session to give you a nice look at what you can expect from our online sessions!
As we turn our calendars over to September, you may be looking for some new after school clubs for your children to get involved in.
As we reach the end of July we know that everyone is getting excited for the summer holidays! The break means lots of fun is to be had, but it also means there’s a change in routine. You may be wondering - how can I keep up with my coding over the summer? That’s where we come in!
During June we had the pleasure of celebrating Pride Month by drawing attention to some great LGBT coders throughout history who have changed the world for the better. This week, we’ve decided to do a similar sort of thing, to focus on another group of coders who have contributed just as much through history – women!
At The Code Zone, we have a variety of unique online and in-person coding clubs for all ages to enjoy. Today, we want to highlight our Game Dev Club which focuses on learning the fundamentals of coding in Game Development.
At The Code Zone, we believe that anyone and everyone should have access to learning to code regardless of their gender or background. Which is why we want to discuss the research done by King's College in London in regards to female students studying computer science.
This month is Pride Month, and so here at The Code Zone we want to bring some attention to some amazing LGBTQ+ coders throughout history who have made our lives so much more amazing with their inventions and ideas. We believe coding is for all people, and the history of computer science shows that this works out in the world’s...
A question that we're asked at least 20 times a week, "Will AI make tech and coding jobs redundant?"
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and so here at The Code Zone we wanted to draw attention to some of the ways both our excellent mentors and club members support each other, to create a positive environment for coding.
Everything here is written by the mentors who run our coding clubs for children aged 6 to 16, which means it comes from people who spend their evenings watching children actually learn to code rather than from a marketing team.
The guides answer the questions parents send us. When a child is ready to move on from Scratch to Python. What to do when a coding-mad child has outgrown everything you can find for them. Whether coding clubs work for autistic and ADHD children, and what to ask any club before you pay for it. How to help with a bug when you cannot code yourself. None of them need you to be technical, and none of them assume you have already decided to join anything.
We try to be honest about the limits too. Several guides recommend platforms we do not teach and tools we do not sell, because a parent working out what comes next deserves the whole picture rather than the part that suits us. Where we do make the case for a mentor, it is because the thing no platform can do is notice that a child has gone quiet.
If you would rather see what a session is really like before reading advice about one, club news is the other half of the blog: game jams, Minecraft builds and weekly roundups written up by whoever ran them.
The Code Zone teaches children aged 6 to 16 to code by building their own games. Outside the UK that is the Game Dev Academy, which is self-paced: there is no fixed session time, so a child works at whatever hour suits them in any time zone.
A STEM-certified, background-checked mentor answers by text and video message during the week, so nobody is left on their own with it, and children build their own games rather than working through a set course. Creating an account is free and takes no card details, so you can see the platform before deciding anything.
Children start in Scratch, and the mentor sets harder work as soon as they are ready for it. Levels move down as readily as up so the work always fits, and staying where you are is a perfectly good outcome.
Mentors write a note on every child, which is how we know when somebody is ready to move on, and it is why a child who has gone quiet for three weeks does not simply go unnoticed.
More than a third of our members are autistic or have ADHD, based on what parents tell us when they join.
In 2025 we received the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading autism charity, and in 2026 we were ranked second in the UK in Club Hub UK’s Top 100 Children’s Activity Providers, scored by five independent judges on safeguarding, inclusivity and community impact.
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