Start Here

These tasks should be completed before attempting anything else.

Complete the start survey 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1000 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

Complete the ITP starting survey

Follow this link to the survey: https://forms.gle/X7sNHNskQ8Rwget57

This is an anonymous survey that should take a maximum of 4 minutes to complete.

What is this survey for?

This survey helps you reflect on your skills, Slack engagement and community engagement at the start of your ITP journey. It also helps us understand how these things change as you progress through the ITP.

Submission & Review

Finish the survey and click submit, thank you!

Read and watch How This Works 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1014 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

Link to the coursework

https://curriculum.codeyourfuture.io/how-this-works/

Learning Objectives

Why are we doing this?

Onboarding to CYF is overwhelming. There are so many new concepts, so many tasks to complete, and so many people to meet. It’s so much! And it’s so different!

Everyone feels a bit like this in the beginning. Read through the How This Works module, which tries to create a general onboarding module for all new community members, whether you are a learner or a mentor. Read the prep pages. Test your understanding on the success pages. Explore the backlogs and try out some of the activities. Watch the videos where we speak about CYF in our own words. You will be an alumni one day. What will you say to new starters?

You are not expected to understand or remember everything right away. We all remember what it was like being new, don’t worry! But it’s useful to start finding out some of this stuff, and to begin your journey as a member of this community. Get a notebook and start writing down your thoughts.

Welcome to CYF. We’re so glad you’re here and we can’t wait to get to know you. :heart:

Maximum time in hours

How to get help

Search the curriculum
Practice asking questions
Share your blockers in your class channel

Join Slack channels for your region and cohort 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1002 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

You should already have been invited to the ITP Slack Workspace.

Make sure you have joined one channel for your region. These end in -community, like “london-community” or “scotland-community”.

Make sure you have joined one channel for your cohort. These are months and years, like “september-2025” or “january-2026”.

Recurring Tasks

These tasks need to be completed in every sprint.

Do the Prep 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1011 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

Link to the coursework

https://curriculum.codeyourfuture.io/itp/onboarding/sprints/1/prep

Why are we doing this?

https://curriculum.codeyourfuture.io/how-this-works/sprints/self-educate/prep/#importance-of-prep

The first thing you should do every week is the prep. The prep will help you do everything else. The prep teaches you the main concepts of the week and then the coursework provides projects and exercises to help you consolidate and practice that learning.

If you have gone straight to the coursework or straight to class and you haven’t done the prep first, then go back and do the prep.

Maximum time in hours

How to get help

Share your blockers in #cyf-questions-support. Take the opportunity to practice asking your question like a developer: https://curriculum.codeyourfuture.io/guides/asking-questions
Book a pair programming session with a mentor in the #cyf-pair-programming channel
Attend a mid-week study session online
Write down your questions and bring them to class

You should do the prep every week.

Mandatory Tasks

These tasks will help consolidate your learning for this sprint. You should complete as many of these as possible before class on Saturday.

Naming accounts consistently 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1006 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

Link to the coursework

Your own accounts!

Why are we doing this?

Consistency in online account names

During the CYF course you will make accounts online. (Such as Slack, GitHub, Google, LinkedIn…)

You should always use your real name. It must always be the same name. Don’t use any other words apart from your name. Do not ever put your birth year or age in your user name. These things can harm your job prospects so start as you mean to go on.

Trainees use the same name everywhere in their work with CYF.

📝Note

CYF recognises you may need to keep your birth name private. When we say real name, we mean the name you go by. It does not have to match your birth certificate or any other legal document.

Your profile picture does not have to be a picture of you. It must be safe for work, consistent and unique, so you don’t get mixed up with other people. If you need to keep your photo private, you can use Robohash to make a unique profile picture.

Summary

Don’t use cute handles or put the year of your birth in your username.

Use the same username and picture across all CYF accounts. This also means professional profiles like Linkedin and GitHub.

Maximum time in hours

How to get help

Swap with a classmate and check their profile. Ask yourself:

If you didn’t know them, would you know this was their Slack account? If you didn’t know them, would you know this was their LInkedIn? If you were a recruiter reading their GitHub, could you find their LinkedIn within six seconds? If you wanted to invite them to an opportunity, could you do that without asking them first?

Help me with my kid's homework 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1005 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

Link to the coursework

https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/GitHomeworkFixErrors

Why are we doing this?

Practice the Git workflow you’ll need for submitting your coursework. Try to complete this task before the first class. Write down any questions you have and bring them to class.

Maximum time in hours

How to get help

Ask for help with your blocker in the class channel.

As always, you can use this guide if you need to refresh your memory 👉 https://curriculum.codeyourfuture.io/guides/reviewing/trainee-pr-guide/

How to submit

Follow the instructions on the repository’s README.md to submit this piece of coursework.

Tell us about yourself using GitHub 🔗 Clone

Task code

CYF-1008 - make sure to include this in your PR title or description.

Link to the coursework

https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/GitHomeworkTest

Why are we doing this?

Follow the instructions in this repository to submit a description about yourself.

This is how you’ll be submitting your coursework for the rest of this course, so if you hit a problem, you must speak up.

Maximum time in hours

How to get help

Ask for help with your blocker in the class channel.

How to submit

Follow the instructions on the readme to work out how to submit this piece of coursework.