The fact that is it summer and school holidays does not mean there are no children interested in learning. The Summer School of Programming gathered students who completed their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth year of primary school from across the country in Sremska Mitrovica in early August. They spent seven days learning programming in Python and its 2D graphics lab – Pygame. Or, in their own words – they made computer games. “I believe you can learn best by playing” – Filip Kilibarda, attending the Mathematical Grammar School programme for primary education seventh- and eighth-graders talented in mathematics, was frank. “By making these games, I learned at least ten new things about Python that I was unaware of, even though I actively compete in coding and have been dealing with it intensively since fifth grade. I believe that is the case for everyone here – everyone has learned something new, some new structures, new styles of coding” – he answered to the question whether games were more suitable for leisure time than learning. “Essentially, it’s very interesting because we do tasks on our own” - Teodora Pavlović, Belgrade-based Miroslav Antić primary school student, continued. She also socialised with peers with whom she shared common interests. “There is no homework here, we have quizzes in general knowledge and geography, history, musical education, programming, we had some lectures on Micro:bit and online safety” – says Teodora.

Alek Isaković of Svetozar Marković primary school from Belgrade was also determined to make the most of his summer holidays. There is plenty of enthusiasm and interest, regardless of whether he is working on an idea of his own or a task that needs to be solved: “The most interesting bit is when the programme is complete and then you feel relieved somehow, you’re really happy when you try it out and see it’s good, then that’s it; that’s the point of programming fun.” Sofija Kljukovnica from Belgrade-based Borislav Pekić primary school has been attending the summer school for two consecutive years: “In school we did some basic stuff, and here we build on that.” As most children, she discovered programming at an early age, before school. The interest among girls for the Summer School of Programming has been notably higher year after year. And like the other girls, she does not take issue if an older person asks about how she ended up in a discipline that is considered the realm of boys: “I’m used to it, since I also play chess. Many boys play it. I learned to fit in and so did they, so it’s completely fine.”

Psychologist Nataša Mak followed through the three years that the Summer School of Programming has been in operation. She meets new children from one generation to the next, but also tracks the progress of those who came from novices to the advanced level: “The fact that they set aside some of their holidays for learning is indicative of their intrinsic motivation. The value of this school is that intrinsic motivation is primary. There are no grades, no competitions, we don’t have mutual comparisons, we only compare what you bring into the school and what you take away from it” – Nataša explains. She recognises children who tried to study in addition to their school curriculum: “Those are the children who will find what they need; they will not wait for their schools to hand it to them, they will keep looking and, luckily, they have where to find it.”