The 2024 Scratch Competition will launch today, Friday the 10th
November, one week before Science Week. Run by the Irish Computer Society (ICS)
and supported by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland
Research Centre for Software, the Scratch Competition promotes computing
and software development at both primary and secondary school levels.
Since the inception of the Scratch competition in 2010,
coding has become one of the essential skills for the future. Scratch is a
visual programming language that encourages children to develop essential
coding skills through fun and interactive learning. It challenges students to create stories, games and
animations using software.
‘’It is key that we promote the adoption of
the computer sciences across all stages of our education system, to meet the
growing need for skilled, professional, and ethical IT and technology
specialists in our society. The Annual Scratch Competition encourages
innovation while giving young students a taste of a future career in the
technology sector.’’ Lucy
Hayes, Partnership Development Manager, ICS
Schools all over Ireland are now invited to register and
take part in the 2024 competition. The Scratch National Final will take place in
May of 2024 at the University of Limerick. The closing date for entries and
deadline for project submissions is 20th March 2024.
Last year’s Finals were also held at the University of
Limerick on May 10th 2023, bringing together the top scoring teams
from all over the country. School students aged six and up across five age
categories were invited to demonstrate their Scratch projects to the judges. In
the below video we look back at the amazing day that we had, hear from our
judges and the children taking part about their projects and how much the
Scratch Programme means to them.
-ENDS-
Press
Contact:
Lucy
Hayes, Partnership & Event Executive, ICS
Ph:
083 8360341 Email: lucy.hayes@ics.ie Web:
www.ics.ie
Notes to Editor:
For more information please see https://scratch.ics.ie/ or contact info@techweek.ie
About ICS
The Irish Computer Society (ICS), founded in 1967, is the body for
IT professionals in Ireland. The ICS advances, promotes and represents the
interests of ICT professionals in Ireland. In keeping with this work, the ICS advocates
for and promotes digital inclusion, ICT in education for teaching and learning,
research and developing policy on all aspects of ICT and supporting the ICT
profession in Ireland. Scratch supports the ICS goal of attracting more young
people into STEM fields and the IT profession.
About Lero – The
Irish Software Research Centre
Lero is the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for
Software. Since it was founded in 2005, Lero has become one of the best-known,
and most highly regarded, software research centres in the world. It brings
together expert software teams from universities and institutes of technology
across Ireland in a co-ordinated centre of research excellence with a strong
industry focus. Lero’s research spans a wide range of subjects including
software engineering, information systems and human-computer interaction in
areas such as driverless cars, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech,
govtech, smart communities, agtech and healthtech.
