Intro Class
Ages 6-8
Focus
Basic structural design, the first logic structures, and controlling how a robot moves.
Skills developed
- Programming concepts
- Design and construction
- Operation of robots
- Digital concepts
Weekly classes · Century City campus, Cape Town
Coding & Robotics Curriculum
The Sheen Academy coding and robotics curriculum introduces learners to the foundational concepts of coding and robotics, emphasising hands-on learning and problem-solving. It aligns with the South African Department of Basic Education’s initiative to integrate coding and robotics into the national curriculum.
CAPS alignedDownload the PDF
Intro Class
Ages 6-8
Junior Class
Ages 9-11
Explorer Class
Ages 12-18
The curriculum is structured into three weekly classes, each tailored to an age group and skill level, with specialist modules layered on top. It draws its outcomes from the CAPS Coding and Robotics curriculum, focusing on computational thinking, the engineering design process and digital literacy.
Three classes, one learning path
A learner joins the class that matches their age and moves up as they master it. Every lesson is 60 minutes, once a week, in a group of no more than eight.
Junior Class
Ages 9-11
Focus
In-depth structural design, conditional logic, and real block coding on the sheenbot∞ board.
Skills developed
- Block-based coding
- Robotic design
- Sensors and actuators
- Problem-solving
Explorer Class
Ages 12-18
Focus
Advanced structural design, connected systems, AI program architecture, and automation through data.
Skills developed
- Advanced coding
- Connected systems
- Industrial design principles
- Project-based learning
Compare side by side
The same questions answered for each class, so the differences are clear at a glance.
Intro ClassAges 6-8
- How long they stay
- Until they are ready for Junior — usually around age 9
- How they code
- Coding cards and unplugged sequencing; simple on-screen blocks
- What they build on
- Plug-and-play bricks, beams, gears and levers
- Sensing & connectivity
- Buttons and buzzers — simple inputs they press and outputs they hear
- What they create
- A machine that moves, and the confidence to explain how it works
- How we assess
- Observation and show-and-tell
Junior ClassAges 9-11
- How long they stay
- Until they are ready for Explorer — usually around age 12
- How they code
- Block coding on the sheenbot Canvas platform
- What they build on
- sheenbot∞ controller with the Tinker Kit and LEGO parts
- Sensing & connectivity
- Light, temperature, humidity and distance sensors
- What they create
- A smart device of their own design
- How we assess
- End-of-term quiz and a build review
Explorer ClassAges 12-18
- How long they stay
- For as long as they wish, through to the end of high school
- How they code
- Blocks and typed code — MicroPython
- What they build on
- Multi-board projects, plus drones and the hydroponics system
- Sensing & connectivity
- Board-to-board radio, Wi-Fi and MQTT to a live dashboard
- What they create
- A connected system with a dashboard that other people can use
- How we assess
- End-of-term exam, plus a project defended to the class
Innovative curriculum
Our curriculum combines current robotics technology with foundational STEM principles, mapped onto the CAPS coding and robotics outcomes.
Hands-on learning
Children learn best by doing. Every lesson ends with something the learners have built, coded and tested.
Expert instructors
Our instructors are experienced educators with a background in STEM education and robotics. With no more than eight learners per session, every child receives individual attention.
Curriculum structure
Weekly classes follow the South African school terms. Each term closes with a short assessment and a project the learner presents to the class.
Intro Class
Ages 6-8
How we teach it
In the Intro class, children learn through hands-on projects — including unplugged activities away from a screen — that encourage exploration and discovery. Unplugged projects build coding and robotics concepts playfully, reinforcing learning through inquiry, experimentation and reflection.
Skills developed
- Programming concepts: An introduction to algorithms, loops, and spotting and fixing mistakes.
- Design and construction: Hands-on building with beams, gears and plug-and-play electronics.
- Operation of robots: Applying elementary maths — numbers, shapes, patterns — to make a model move.
- Digital concepts: Digital safety, and using a device with confidence.
This term · Machines that move
Sequencing away from a screen, then building a model and making it move — ending with a working machine the child explains to the class.
Junior Class
Ages 9-11
How we teach it
Children learn through a structured input → processing → output cycle, using sensors, controllers and actuators to grasp sequential logic. Lessons are interactive and multimodal, reinforcing coding concepts through hands-on exploration, problem-solving and real-world applications.
Skills developed
- Block-based coding: Building foundational coding concepts on the sheenbot Canvas platform.
- Robotic design: Building and programming robots to follow lines and control angles, using basic physics and maths.
- Sensors and actuators: Reading the world with light, temperature, humidity and distance sensors — then acting on it.
- Problem-solving: Applying physics and mathematics to real-world scenarios.
This term · Smart designs
Devices that react to the world — a fan that reads temperature, a light that waits for dusk, an alarm that catches a door opening — then one the child designs alone.
Explorer Class
Ages 12-18
How we teach it
Inquiry-based learning takes a learner-centred approach: learners actively explore complex problems through self-directed inquiry, building a deeper understanding of coding and robotics. It encourages critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving, preparing learners for advanced STEM challenges and real-world applications.
Skills developed
- Advanced coding: Using both block-based and contemporary programming languages, including MicroPython.
- Connected systems: Radio, Wi-Fi and MQTT — making boards talk to each other, and to a cloud dashboard.
- Industrial design principles: Replicating real-world scenarios, and designing for the needs of others.
- Project-based learning: An emphasis on problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration.
This term · Internet of Things
Boards that talk — over radio to each other, over MQTT to a cloud dashboard the learner builds — finishing on a design brief written for somebody else.
Specialist modules
Modules that complement the weekly classes, offered as a term theme, a holiday programme or a partnership with a school. Each one uses the same hardware your child already programs in class.
IoT & smart systems
Ages 12+8 lessons
Boards that talk — over radio to each other, and over MQTT to a cloud dashboard the learner builds themselves. The current Explorer term module, also delivered to schools and universities.
Market Makers — financial literacy
Ages 10-1512 lessons
Money, markets and risk built rather than explained: a wallet on one board, then a classroom trading floor where boards broadcast prices, then a live market feed with a class dashboard.
Cash Crop — running a business
Ages 10-1512 lessons
Run a small business on a board: cost a grow bench, price it, sell it — and meet the four numbers every owner lives by, which are not the same number.
Hydroponics & agritech
Ages 10+
A real automated grow unit — pumps, sensors and the dashboard that runs them. Installed at partner schools, with a five-session facilitator programme for their teachers.
Math in Motion — thinking with the turtle
Ages 7-1320 lessons
One big maths idea made visible at a time — angles, the 360° rule, symmetry, coordinates, scaling — by drawing it with a turtle on the board display.
Design thinking
Ages 10+8 lessons
Empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test. A repeatable way to attack a problem before writing a line of code, ending in a project the team defends.
Competition teams
Ages 6-18
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore and Challenge, and a FIRST® Tech Challenge squad. Teams train on separate days, so it is extra time rather than a clash with weekly class.
Coming soon
Drones & flight
Ages 14+
Flight control, laser and optical-flow sensors, stable hover and programmed flight paths. It has run as a holiday camp; a weekly module is in preparation.
Ignite your child’s imagination with robotics
Transforming young minds into innovators
Weekly classes run Tuesday to Saturday at our Century City campus, and we run hands-on workshops every school holiday. Start with a free trial lesson — there is no obligation, and you are welcome to sit in and watch.
Contact us
+27 65 900 8570Visit our website
www.sheen.bot/academy