Ark Hack: Applying computer science skills to solve real world problems

Over 200 students gathered at Ark Bolingbroke and were tasked with designing an app to solve a climate-related problem. The annual event allows students to engage with computer science outside of the classroom and see how it works in real life.

“It’s taught me about making apps and the thought behind it, as well as making websites,” said one student.

Another added: “The hackathon is really interesting because you get to maximise all your computer science skills and use them to the best of your ability.”

The event was supported by Marshall Wace, who were judges for all the pitches and did a short Q&A about how they got into tech.

The winning team from Ark Isaac Newton impressed the judging panel with an innovative app for a school recycling reward system.

Tom Rye, Vice Principal at Ark Bolingbroke, said: “Ark Hack is such a good way to bring the computer science curriculum into the real world.

“It’s great to have all the schools coming together. We have a lot of fun, we learn more about coding, and we get the students to develop teamwork, leadership and creativity.

“Seeing young STEM students design and come up with an app idea to tackle the climate crisis was inspiring.”

Stuart Davison from Oak National Academy – who also supported the hackathon – said: “It was lovely to see our new programming resources being used by teachers and pupils in a non-classroom environment.”