Junior School Code a Computer Game from Scratch

An interactive computer game produced by five St Mary's Junior School girls has been classified as a 'Top 20 Game' in the Young Coders Competition 2026 - a national initiative run by volunteers who are passionate about STEM.

Their challenge was to design and code an interactive computer game using 'Scratch' programming. This year's theme, 'Neighbourhood Navigators' encouraged participants to develop games that teach other children about their local area.

Our team of five, the 'CCoders' worked on their game independently, in their own time during weekends and evenings, communicating and collaborating via Microsoft Teams. To come in the top 20, out of almost 600 entries, is a remarkable achievement and we congratulate Theodora A., Sunwoo C., Charlotte H., and Yan Ki Y. for their creativity, maturity, teamwork and, not least, their impressive coding skills.

This success highlights the impressive coding skills and confidence our Junior girls develop by beginning their coding journey alongside learning to read and write.

Judges feedback included these encouraging comments:

"This game is really amazing! Well done! I like that the player can choose their sprite and that each section clearly explains a fact about Cambridge and then involves a minigame to keep the player engaged. All the minigames worked as expected and were fun to play. The game looks great and is clear to navigate."

"There were lots of facts about Cambridge, and it's age appropriate so it addresses the theme. It was imaginative and the sprites and backgrounds looked good. It all works as intended although the maze level took me a while. Well done."

"Lots of information in the Instructions & Notes and Credit sections. Loved the fact you could choose and name your tour guide. I liked that the three minigames were different and had different interactions. The graphics are nice and I enjoyed the Cambridge facts as part of the minigames."

In addition to receiving personalised certificates, their project will be featured on the Young Coders Scratch Examples Page, giving their game the opportunity to inspire other young coders around the world!

You can try out their game here.

July 2026