Coding clubs for home educated children
clubs in the daytime!In the middle of the day, because your child is free at lunchtime and every other club starts at four.
- TUE1:30pm
- WED1:30pm
- THU1:30pm
Online · term time · ages 6 to 16 · six children maximum
"For the first time, they're excited to attend a club."
What the club actually is
An hour a week, live, in a group of no more than six children. The same day, the same mentor and the same five other children every week, so your child is not starting again with strangers each time.
For children aged 6 to 16, complete beginners included. They start in Scratch and move through to Python when they are ready. Mentors are STEM-certified, DBS-checked and trained in supporting neurodivergent children.
£65 a month. No joining fee, no minimum term, cancel any time.
Why home educating families pick it
- It is on in the day. Three afternoons a week, so it fits a home ed week instead of being bolted onto the end of it
- Other children who like the same thing. The bit that is hardest to replace, and usually the reason families stay
- Evidence as they go. A STEM-certified certificate at the end of every level
- Move days whenever you need. Tell us and we book your child into another slot that week
- Minecraft Mod Worlds. Their own worlds to mod with real code, included
children code with us
Our daytime clubs run every week of term, on the same projects, with the same mentors and the same six-child cap as the after-school groups. They usually have a bit more room in them too, so if the four o'clock clubs are full when you ask, the half one clubs often have a space.
Another day or time would suit you better? Tell us when you book. Daytime demand is what decides which slot we open next.
What your child does in the hour
They build a real game, every week, and they leave with something they made.
A live hour with their mentor
The same STEM-certified, DBS-checked mentor every week, who learns how your child likes to work and builds on it. Six children at most, so there is always time for their question, and support by text and video message between sessions too.
“The instructors are knowledgeable, patient, and always ready to help. My daughter truly enjoyed every session.”A new game every week
A featured build to hack about with, then make their own. Scratch to begin with, Python when they are ready. Their own Minecraft world to mod with real code, and seasonal Game Jams, come with it.
“My son has learnt so much and has progressed onto the Game Dev Mod level.”Five others who get it
The same small group each week, so by the second session it has stopped being a room of strangers. They play each other's games, borrow each other's ideas, and joining in by typing suits plenty just fine.
“My child finally feels accepted. For the first time, they’re excited to attend a club.”If your council asks about computing
the honest answerWhat there is to show
- A certificate at every level, from our own STEM-certified award scheme
- Levels with defined steps, Hacker, Modder and on, so progress has a shape you can describe rather than a vague "he does some coding"
- A dated record of every project your child has finished
- The games themselves. Your child can open one and talk somebody through how they built it, and that tends to land better than any paperwork
What the certificates are
They are our award scheme, and they are STEM certified. Each level your child completes earns one, and they are a genuine record of what that child can do.
They are not an internationally recognised qualification, and we are never going to dress them up as one. If you are after a GCSE, that is a different thing and this is not it.
Good for: showing progress, evidencing the computing you are doing, and giving your child something to be pleased about at the end of a level.
Or no timetable at all
Plenty of home educating families are keeping the week clear on purpose. That is exactly what the Academy is for.
£25 a month · self-paced · pick it up whenever suits
- Coding on the days that are good, and something else on the days that are not
- The same levels and the same certificates as the club, so it evidences the same way
- A new featured game every week, ready whenever your child opens it
- A message from their STEM-certified mentor every week, whether or not they ask
- Race ahead over a wet fortnight, or come back to it next month. Both are fine
Built for children who found a classroom hard
A lot of our families arrive that way, and it shapes how the clubs run. More than a third of our members are neurodivergent, which is what parents have told us, and every mentor is trained in supporting neurodivergent children.
Your child sets the pace of their own involvement. They can take part by typing, move down a level as easily as up, and the first fifteen minutes of a taster are one-to-one so they meet their mentor before they meet a group.
We hold the National Autistic Society’s Autism Inclusion Award, 2025. Our neurodivergent support page goes into it properly.
Book a free taster
no credit card required
No credit card needed. A mentor rings you first to place your child, and you can move sessions any week.
From home educating families
Our members rate us 'Excellent'!
FAQ
Yes. Our online clubs run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1:30pm in term time, and they are ordinary clubs rather than a leftover slot: one live hour, never more than six children, the same mentor every week, and the same projects the after-school groups are building. They run every week of term. If a different day or time would suit you better, say so when you book a taster, because daytime demand is what decides which slot we open next.
In a small online club with the same handful of children each week, which is the part of school that is hardest to replace. Our daytime clubs cap at six children, run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1:30pm, and keep the same group and the same mentor together week after week, so it stops being a room of strangers by about the second session. They play each other's games, borrow each other's ideas, and everyone plays everything at our seasonal Game Jams. Camera off and typing in the chat is completely fine.
Families use it as their computing and creative technology strand, and it gives you plenty to point at: levels with defined steps, a STEM-certified certificate at the end of each one, a dated record of every project your child has finished, and the games themselves, which your child can open and talk a reviewer through. That last one tends to do more than any paperwork. There is no formal qualification at the end of it, so if an accredited course is what you need, this is not that.
Six to sixteen. The Game Dev Academy and the Game Dev Club both run 6 to 16. Game Dev Advanced, which is text-based coding in Python, TypeScript and JavaScript, is 10 and over.
Game Dev Academy is £25 a month, self-paced with a mentor answering by text and video message. Game Dev Club is £65 a month for a live weekly hour in a group of six. Both cancel with 30 days notice, and there are discounts for paying in three, six or twelve month blocks on the live club memberships. The club starts with a free taster session and no card is needed. The Academy has no taster, because there is no session to sit in on.
Often, yes, and it is ordinary here rather than something your child has to be brave about. More than a third of our members are neurodivergent, which is what parents have told us rather than a figure we counted ourselves, and every mentor is trained in supporting neurodivergent children. Your child can take part entirely by typing, and plenty do. Cameras stay off if that suits. The first fifteen minutes of a taster are one-to-one, so they meet their mentor before they meet a group, and moving down a level is as ordinary as moving up. The self-paced Academy asks nothing of a child until they choose to open it, which matters for a PDA profile. We hold the National Autistic Society's Autism Inclusion Award, 2025.
Nothing that needs catching up. Tell us and we will move your child into another slot that week, and if you would rather just skip it, the projects are still there whenever they come back. Home ed weeks are not all the same shape and the club is built to survive that.