The DVLA teamed up with Mobilise Cloud to put on The Third DVLA Code Challenge in Swansea.
The Third DVLA Code Challenge took place on the 3rd December 2019, at the Richard Ley Development Centre in Swansea.
It is an event that brought together pupils from schools and Community groups throughout Wales to battle it out in coding challenges that test their IT and problem-solving skills.
There were two age groups that the children could participate in, these are 7-11-year-olds and 11-14-year-olds.
With each year that passes, the event is gaining in popularity.
This year saw over 300 children and parents in attendance.
The waiting list had close to double this number.
There were 3000 pupils and teachers that watched the event via Live link from various parts of Wales.
This resulted in 4300 votes being cast when it came to the competition.
Notable persons involved in the event included BBC Wales’, Lucy Owen.
Key Highlights:
- 50 schools and community groups across Wales took part in this year’s event.
- Over 300 children and Adults were in attendance.
- Thousands of pounds worth of IT equipment was awarded as prizes.
- Over 4300 votes were cast during the 1.5 hour period of voting.
- 3000 pupils and teachers followed proceeding via the live link.
- Usk Church in Wales Primary School won the Primary School Category.
- Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg won the Secondary Schools Category.
After a day packed with fun activities and friendly rivalry, the winners of the Primary Schools’ category were as follows.
In first prize was Usk Church in Wales Primary School.
They walked away with £2000 worth of IT Equipment.
In second place was Willowtown Community Primary School who walked away with £1500 worth of IT equipment.
In third place was St Paul’s Community Centre who took home £1000 worth of IT equipment.
The runner up prize in this category went to Sketty Primary School to the tune of £750 worth of IT equipment.
In the Secondary school category, prizes were awarded as follows. Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg took the first prize of £2000 worth of IT equipment.
Cathedral Secondary School were second-placed, winning £1500 worth of IT equipment.
Caerleon Comprehensive School took home £1000 worth of IT equipment, having come third.
The runners up in this category were Pontarddulais Comprehensive School. They went home with £750 worth of IT equipment.
“The impact that we are all having has been tremendous…” – Mark Jones, Head of Ethical Hacking Services at DVLA.
Further prizes were awarded for Teamwork and Original Graphic design.
This one was awarded to the impressively creative pupils from Coed Hirwaun Primary School.
They received IT equipment worth £1000.
Other prizes that were given included Lego boost kits, Raspberry Pi, Codrones, Ohbots and so on.
These are geared to ensure that the skill level continues to be developed outside of the annual event.
If this is anything to go by, next year will likely be even better.
