PEDMORE Technology College has celebrated becoming the first school in the Midlands to host a national computing festival.

On Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31, the school held three Jam Packed computing events in line with the national festival.

The aim of the weekend was to bring computing skills to pupils, teachers, families as well as the whole local community.

Headteacher, Gareth Lloyd, said the festival brought a “real buzz” to the school. “Jam Packed has been a fantastic success here at Pedmore Technology College,” he said.

“There was a real buzz in the school throughout Friday and Saturday as families, students, teachers, IT professionals and enthusiasts mixed together to share skills, ideas and fun.

“Everyone learnt something new, whether it was how to approach problem-solving and using code, to using a Raspberry Pi computer to make a computer game and more, to seeing and using a 3D printer, to trying out Google glass and much more.

“We were delighted with the number of people who flooded through our doors and this event’s success has given us ideas for hosting more community events at Pedmore in the future.”

On Friday evening, families from the community were invited to compete in a three-hour hackathon where, after a basic introduction to problem solving using computing tools, teams needed to collaborate to create solutions using their new skills.

While on Saturday, anyone with an interest in computing was invited to the school to join in with various workshops, demonstrations, talks and exhibitions.

Councillor Tim Crumpton, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “There has been fantastic feedback from the day.

“I’m so pleased it went well for them and I’d like to thank everyone involved for putting on such a great event.”