Code Smart was developed by AXA XL in partnership with autonomous vehicle software company Oxbotica, education programme provider Encounter Edu and stem robot producer, MakeBlock. A resource designed to make teaching coding engaging, Code Smart, relateslearning to latest development in technology.

What is Code Smart?

Code Smart is a step by step approach that makes coding accessible to everyone. It equips students with an understanding and appreciation of computer coding and digital literacy, so that they might one day be encouraged to pursue a range of possible Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers.

Using the mBot STEM robot and the mBlock scratch-based coding platform from Makeblock, the nine one-hour lessons take students on a journey from complete beginners to code creators – each develops students’ understanding of and ability to code as well as their design thinking as they tackle smart city challenges. It has been written to align with the Computing National Curriculum in England and the ISTE Standards for the USA.

Addressing a need

Computing education in England's schools is going currently through a revolution, as the old ICT GCSE qualification is scrapped in 2019 to make way for the more recent computer science exam. However, enrolment in the new qualification has so far been slow, with some viewing it as being for boys – just 20% of students were girls in 2016 – and/or “techies”. Code Smart purposely aims to dispel these myths. It is AXA XL's response to addressing a need with driverless software company Oxbotica.

“As a global (re)insurer, building future-focussed risk solutions that help business and society adapt to the ever-changing technologies evolving our world is part of our mission,” says Chip Cunliffe, Biodiversity Director, AXA XL. “Educational outreach through high-quality education programmes like Code Smart is a natural extension of that commitment.”