{"id":615,"date":"2026-06-03T15:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/?p=615"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:15:21","slug":"celebrating-creativity-coding-at-howden-st-andrews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/2026\/06\/03\/celebrating-creativity-coding-at-howden-st-andrews\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Creativity &amp; Coding at Howden St Andrew\u2019s!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"848\" height=\"244\" data-id=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/03\/12104628\/Banners-25-2-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-619\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/03\/12104628\/Banners-25-2-2.png 848w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/03\/12104628\/Banners-25-2-2-300x86.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/03\/12104628\/Banners-25-2-2-768x221.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pupils at Howden St Andrew\u2019s recently explored the LEGO SPIKE Essential kits, using sensors, motors and block coding to design and create a range of carnival-themed games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>P4\u20136 pupils were excited to get started and quickly began exploring how the kits worked. Over the course of six weeks, they used the LEGO kits to design creations that could solve a problem, then used block coding to bring them to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They showed creativity and curiosity as they developed their ideas further, adapting and improving their projects to make them more interesting, unique and, in some cases, more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"650\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5-1200x1200.png 1200w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120538\/Banners-25-26-5.png 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"651\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4-1200x1200.png 1200w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02120539\/Banners-25-26-4.png 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As they became more confident, pupils started to experiment more with their code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of just following instructions, they have been taking ownership of their projects by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>adding their own triggers and movements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>experimenting with sound effects<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>trying out more complex \u201cif\/then\u201d style programming<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfa1 <strong>Designing Their Own Carnival Games<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This block\u2019s big challenge has been building <strong>carnival\u2011themed games<\/strong>, and learners have risen to it with enthusiasm. Using what they\u2019ve learned about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>motor rotations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sensors<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>speed control<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>angles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>cause &amp; effect in coding<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026they\u2019ve turned their LEGO kits into exciting, playable creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"452\" data-id=\"654\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150507.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150507.png 790w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150507-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150507-768x439.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"785\" height=\"483\" data-id=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150630.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-655\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150630.png 785w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150630-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151431\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150630-768x473.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfc0 <strong>A Highlight: The LEGO Basketball Game<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One standout project came from a pupil who designed a basketball\u2011throwing gam<strong>e<\/strong> entirely from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He coded the LEGO motor to throw the ball toward a hoop.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He used a sensor to detect when a goal was scored.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He added sound effects to celebrate successful shots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He built his own reset mechanism so the motor rotated back into position.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>He deepened his understanding of angles, discovering what a <em>90\u2011degree turn<\/em> truly looks like in practice &#8211; how far the motor rotates, whether that angle generates enough force to throw the ball, and how to adjust it when it didn\u2019t. This was maths\u2011in\u2011action at its best: experimenting, testing, refining, and making connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd0d <strong>More Brilliant Thinking from the Groups<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Other groups showed fantastic STEM thinking too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One team explored motor rotations, discussing how far their mechanism needed to turn to make their game work smoothly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Another group experimented with speed settings, predicting and testing how increasing speed affects the distance a ball would travel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These moments captured the essence of the club: pupils thinking critically, applying real\u2011world STEM concepts, and discovering answers through hands\u2011on testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"418\" data-id=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151406\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150620.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-653\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151406\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150620.png 790w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151406\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150620-300x159.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/03151406\/Screenshot-2026-06-03-150620-768x406.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf1f <strong>A Celebration of Skills, Curiosity &amp; Teamwork<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Across the block, learners have shown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Resilience<\/strong> by trying again when things didn\u2019t work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Collaboration<\/strong> by helping each other debug and improve<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Leadership<\/strong> by taking ownership of their designs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Creativity<\/strong> by turning technical components into imaginative games<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"648\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2-1200x1200.png 1200w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-2.png 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"649\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-649\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1-1200x1200.png 1200w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/public\/digitallearningteam\/uploads\/sites\/7490\/2026\/06\/02115218\/Banners-25-26-3-1.png 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Well done to all! You&#8217;ve been superstars. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pupils at Howden St Andrew\u2019s recently explored the LEGO SPIKE Essential kits, using sensors, motors and block coding to design and create a range of carnival-themed games. P4\u20136 pupils were excited to get started and quickly began exploring how the kits worked. Over the course of six weeks, they used the LEGO kits to design &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/2026\/06\/03\/celebrating-creativity-coding-at-howden-st-andrews\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Celebrating Creativity &amp; Coding at Howden St Andrew\u2019s!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15029,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,61,1],"tags":[20,13],"class_list":["post-615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-and-teaching","category-sharing-learning","category-uncategorized","tag-creativity","tag-digital-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15029"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/wl\/digitallearningteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}