Teaching Python Turtle Programming using EduBlocks

A Brief History of EduBlocks

The fifth anniversary in March 2025 of the measures taken in the United Kingdom “to slow the spread of the coronavirus” (source: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9068/, last accessed 2 April 2025) provided a personal reminder that it was that late June and early July I decided during those weeks of homeworking to sign up for the Computing at School’s #CASVirtual20 series of webinars where I got to hear Joshua Lowe talk about EduBlocks:

I will be honest that being appointed in 2020 to the role of subject specialist in Primary Computing, I never really gave EduBlocks a second thought – simply because aside from the National Centre for Computing Education’s curriculum map listing some html text based programming in Year 4 (aged 8 to 9 year olds), teaching or learning Python in Primary is unheard of until perhaps now…

Teaching Programming

My direct experience of teaching Python and earnestly using EduBlocks started in Autumn 2024 when a neighbour asked if I would be able to privately tutor their offspring for the GCSE Summer 2025 Examinations. Although I’ve had experience of supporting A-Level students since 2020, all of my previous students made use of other programming platforms for their Non-Examined Assessment projects. In providing the tutoring service to my neighbour’s family, I realised that so many of the examination examples and programming challenges were just too abstract – business-oriented and uninspiring to Secondary aged students.

Programming with Purpose

It was thinking about recreating those wow! moments from my Primary classroom experience which made me decide that making the connection between mathematics and art through programming in Python Turtle might be more fruitful. The scripts can be relatively short and enable students to focus on the functions of each line of code, removing any feelings of ‘learning overload’ if the program is expected to perform some arithmetic or statistical operation. The visual artefact created potentially provides a visually appealing tangible output from individual programming efforts. There is also enough scope for students to apply their ‘thinkering’ skills to remix the lines of Python programming to alter or adjust the patterns created to exercise their creativity.

Max Wainewright’s 2022 book “Coding with Python: Create Amazing Graphics” is a beautiful collection of over 30 examples that can be easily tried from the first few pages.  Like many published introductory guides for teaching or learning Python, reference to downloading and installing Python can be quite daunting – especially for those who are using Operating Systems which are not Windows or Mac.  Dedicated Python aficionados may be prepared to enable Linux on their Chromebooks.  However, Google Workspace for Education schools may not easily permit this – and for a good reason- for maintaining systems security and integrity.

Evidence of Impact

Referring to the Department for Education-funded National Centre for Computing Education curriculum map, the expectation is that Python is introduced to 12 and 13-year-olds.  However, the ease with which EduBlocks enables schools to have the tools to teach programming in Python means that the expectation to introduce text-based programming to children as young as age 8 could be using Python instead of html as has been recommended since 2020.

I’m sure critics will lambast such suggestions for teaching text-based programming to such a young age.  “What’s the purpose of teaching programming when many are unlikely to ever have careers involving coding?” As well as suspicions that text-based programming is no more than just copy typing is already the common cry by keyboard warriors on social media.  Whilst it might be true that for time-poor schools who struggle with recruiting staff who have sufficient subject knowledge to be able to teach programming, learning Python Turtle with EduBlocks provides perfect opportunities for learners of all ages to exercise the full range of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s ‘habits of an engineering mind’ (source: University of Winchester and Royal Academy of Engineering, 2014).  Furthermore, being able to tessellate simple shapes into artistic patterns connects coding to geometry, enabling primary-aged children to visualise the application of four quadrant coordinates as well as interior angles.  Python Turtle with EduBlocks exercises creativity as well as opportunities to explore how the elegance of mathematics is everywhere.  So, turtle.penup(), turtle.goto() and turtle.pendown() to EduBlocks today!

The author

Allen Tsui

Allen Tsui is the subject specialist for Computing at Willow Brook Primary School Academy in North East London where he has held the role since Summer 2020. Since becoming a specialist Computing teacher, Allen works with other schools within the Multi Academy Trust Willow Brook is part of, supporting KS3 as well as GCSE and A-Level Computer Science.