Festival of Tech; in Bude — Cognition Learning

One of the things that we’ve loved in 2024 has been growing our professional network and becoming part of more county-wide initiatives.

Collaborating withe established and knowledgeable groups from around the county has been an incredible experience; one which has let us practice what we preach in terms of collaboration, communication and knowledge sharing.

We were thrilled to be running 4 events as part of Software Cornwall’s (now Tech Cornwall) Festival of Tech. The larger programme of events saw a range of awesome opportunities arise for Cornwall’s tech industry and tech enthusiasts, including a huge Tech Showcase at Spaceport Cornwall and TEC Women’s groundbreaking inclusivity conference Ctrl Alt Del.

LEGO Lates (aka bricks and beers) Take 1
Our 1st LEGO Lates session on 12th February saw lots of rookie robot builders take on the Hopper Challenge. Tasked to race a robot the adults equipped themselves with a drink, an iPad, and a box of LEGO. There was one catch however; make it move quickly without wheels!
We love delivering to groups of grown ups; the hands-on skills developed and confidence growth is just as tangible as with a group of children.

2. Tech Jam

We were thrilled to host one of Software Cornwall’s Tech Jam on tour, and our Cognition Families snapped up the spaces, created fantastic vibes and coded their way through a dull February day. It was brilliant to work alongside the education outreach team from Software Cornwall (now Tech Cornwall), to learn from them and see local kids and their families take up something new.

3. Fantas-tech

We applied initially for funding for 30 children to come along to a Fantasy & Tech inspired holiday club day in February half term. We had a sell out event in 6 hours! We upped our capacity to 40 children, hired additional staff and volunteers and also managed to involve Katie Goode (BSTC Councillor and Creative Director at Bude based Video Game makers; Triangular Pixels). Katie took over the conference room with her incredibly engaging new VR game. This proved very popular with the kids who all got to have a turn completing a level!

In the main building we ran 2 rooms of activities; animating play-doh creatures via Scratch, designing mythical robots, making electronic dragons and much more!

We had an utterly brilliant day; the funding also covered lunch and spaces for children eligible for Free School Meals and we were thrilled to be able to offer and plan this bespoke set of workshops.

4. LEGo Lates (Bricks and Beers) Take 2

We ended the Festival of Tech fortnight on an absolute high with this sell-out Saturday night extravaganza! The wine was flowing and our group of adults absolutely adored their evening of robotics with many saying they hadn’t laughed (or learnt!) so much in a long time.

We saw great perseverance in the face of challenge, creativity and most of all… competitiveness.

We’ve had multiple requests for more adult only events so watch this space!