After school · Ages 10–14 · Gold Coast
They build the circuit. Then they write the code that runs it.
Eight weeks of real electronics — not blocks on a screen, not clicking through a kit. Your child builds working circuits with their hands, programs them in Python, and learns the thing most courses skip: how to find the fault when it doesn't work.
No soldering. No mains power. Every student keeps the full kit.
- 8weekly sessions
- 10–14age range
- 12students maximum
- 100%keep their kit
What your child actually builds
Every week ends with something that works, and something small comes home every single week. It starts with a light and finishes with a device that looks after a plant.
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1
What electricity actually is
Voltage is pressure, current is flow, a resistor is a thin tube. Then they build an LED and a button on a board they take home the same night.
“I made a light turn on.”
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2
Balloons and valves
Capacitors store water like a balloon. Diodes are one-way valves. And yes — we find out what happens when you inflate a balloon backwards.
“I made a capacitor pop.”
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3
The computer takes over
A Raspberry Pi Pico joins the circuit. First lines of real Python.
“My code controls it.”
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4
A dial that mixes any colour
Turn it to sweep the spectrum. Press it to switch to brightness control.
“I can dial any colour I want.”
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5
An eight-note synthesizer
Eight buttons, eight notes, one octave — an instrument they wired themselves, and can play a tune on.
“Listen, I can play a song.”
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6–7
Sensing the world, then a plant monitor
Light and moisture sensors, then a real device: it beeps and glows red when the plant needs watering. Tested on three actual plants.
“It tells you when to water it.”
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8
Their own invention — and the kit
They design and build something of their own, demonstrate it to you, and take home the complete electronics kit.
“I invented this.”
Why this isn't another robotics club
Most kids' electronics is a kit with instructions: wire it like the picture, watch it light up. Children finish twenty projects having learned to copy diagrams.
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They learn to find faults
A working circuit is easy. We teach the method for when it doesn't work — check the middle, halve the problem, keep going. It transfers to code, cars and plumbing.
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Real Python, not blocks
They type real code in a real editor — the same language they'll meet again in high school and university. Short programs, printed for copying, edited until they own them.
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They keep everything
Breadboard, microcontroller, components, storage box and a printed manual. The course ends; the building doesn't have to.
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Bench discipline
Every week starts by kitting their own parts onto a tray — reading resistor colours, counting components. It's what technicians actually do.
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Everything is water
Voltage is pressure, current is flow, a capacitor is a balloon. One analogy, used consistently — which means even the failures make sense before they happen.
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Something home every week
A working circuit on night one, and a small piece to keep after every session. The full kit is the graduation prize in week 8.
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Twelve students, maximum
Fault-finding is one-to-one work. Beyond twelve, children spend the hour queueing for help instead of building.
The kit they take home
Not a loan, not shared class equipment. On the last day your child walks out with everything they've been building on, in a labelled box.
| Raspberry Pi Pico 2 | the microcontroller they programmed |
|---|---|
| Breadboard | professional grade, not the cheap kind |
| Components | LEDs, resistors, buttons, buzzer, dial, RGB LED, transistor, motor |
| Prep tray | 3D-printed, with their name on it |
| Storage box | compartmented, so nothing gets lost |
| Printed manual | all eight weeks, including the fault-finding checklist |
Why it matters: a child who can keep building at home is a child who might still be doing this in five years. That's the actual point.
Safety, plainly
The two questions every parent asks, answered before you have to ask them.
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No soldering
Nothing hot, no fumes, no burns. Everything is push-fit on a breadboard, which is also the point — it can be pulled apart and rebuilt endlessly. Soldering is a later course, for older students.
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No mains power — ever
Everything runs from a battery pack at the same voltage as a torch. Nothing in the room plugs into a wall socket. This is a hard rule, not a preference.
The instructor holds a current Queensland Blue Card and public liability insurance. Class sizes are capped at twelve.
Price
One payment, everything included. No extras to buy later.
$320
for the full 8-week term
Kit included — theirs to keep
- 8 × one-hour weekly sessions
- All components and equipment
- A complete take-home kit (~$50 value)
- Printed student manual
- Maximum 12 students
- Nothing else to buy
That's $40 a session, including the hardware they keep. Courses run only with a minimum of 10 students — if we don't reach it, you don't pay.
Questions
- Does my child need any experience?
- None. Week 1 assumes nothing at all. What they do need is to be able to read and to manage small parts with their fingers, which is why the course starts at age 10.
- My child is 8. Can they join?
- Honestly, not this one — it needs reading and fine motor control that most 8-year-olds haven't got yet, and being the youngest in a class like this is no fun. Get in touch anyway; I'm planning a version for younger children.
- Is $320 a lot for a school activity?
- It's $40 a session, and about $50 of it is hardware your child keeps. For comparison, chess coaching runs around $35 a session and nothing goes home.
- What if they miss a week?
- Each week's build is self-contained and the manual has every step, so they can catch up at home. Tell me in advance and I'll set them up.
- Do they need a computer?
- No. Laptops are provided for the sessions. If they want to keep coding at home they'll need any computer with a USB port — the software is free.
- What actually happens in the last week?
- Your child demonstrates the device they designed, to you, and explains how it works and what went wrong along the way. Bring a phone for photos.
Enquire about a place
Tell me your child's age and which school they're at, and I'll let you know when a course is running nearby.
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