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How to Start a Robotics Coding Club: A 2026-27 Guide for Middle Schools

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Short answer: A club called robotics or coding is not on the Ministry's club lists, but you can start one. The Sosyal Etkinlikler Yönetmeliği (Social Activities Regulation) says clubs that are not on the list can be set up by a decision of the teachers' board. The second way is to run the work inside your school's Science and Technology, Design and Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or Digital Skills club. Club plans are normally made in September. If it is already October, it is not too late: the regulation allows extra planning during the year and allows the principal to approve it.

Is a robotics club on the official list?

There are two lists, and it is on neither:

Which way you choose depends on your school:

The elective course and the club are not the same thing

Robotik Kodlama (Robotics Coding) elective Robotics coding club
What A course in the weekly course schedule A social activity
Who Students in grades 5-6 who choose the course Any student who chooses the club
Time 2 class periods a week No hours in the schedule, primarily outside class hours
Based on The curriculum and the yearly plan The club's yearly work plan
Assessment Written exam, participation and project grades No grades; participation, achievement and appreciation certificates can be given
Who runs it A teacher of the Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri (Computer and Instructional Technologies) or Bilişim Teknolojileri (Information Technologies) field An advisor teacher assigned by the teachers' board
Records e-Okul grade entry e-Okul Social Activity Module

The club also makes room for students who could not choose the course, or who are in grades 7-8 and interested in robotics. Rather than repeating topics covered in the course, it is more productive to do work that does not fit into class periods in the club, such as projects, competitions and exhibitions.

Setting it up step by step

According to the guide's school calendar and the Sosyal Etkinlikler Yönetmeliği, the order is:

  1. Teachers' board decision. The board decides the clubs and assigns the advisor teachers. In the calendar: September 1-25.
  2. Placing students in the club. Students choose based on their interests, and the homeroom guidance teacher enters it in the Social Activity Module. Every student must be a member of at least one club. Membership is limited to that school year.
  3. Club leadership. Students share roles such as president, vice president and secretary. The club representative keeps the decision book.
  4. Yearly work plan. Students prepare the plan with guidance from the advisor teacher. The advisor submits the plan for the principal's approval. In the calendar: September 1-25.
  5. Linking to the school's action plan. The social activities board reviews the activities the clubs propose, and suitable ones go into the school's action plan. In the calendar: September 15-25.
  6. Running and recording. The activities are carried out and entered in the Social Activity Module.
  7. Evaluation. A term evaluation is done in the last two weeks of the first term, and a year-end evaluation on June 20-30. The school's year-end report is sent to the district directorate of national education with the principal's approval.

It's October. Am I too late?

No. According to the regulation, the social activities board can make new plans during the year, in addition to the planning done in September, based on changing wishes and needs. The principal approves these extra plans. In practice there are two options:

A student's club membership is limited to that school year. To change clubs in the middle of the year, check with your school administration.

What paperwork is needed?

Document Basis Note
Teachers' board decision Regulation art. 8/1; Guide 3.6 Required for a club not on the list
Club yearly work plan (EK-7/b) Regulation art. 16/1-g The advisor submits it for the principal's approval
Decision book, document file, meeting minutes Regulation art. 17 and 20 The club representative keeps the decision book
Social Activity Module records Regulation art. 8/5 and 16/1-e Club membership, activities and certificates given
Parental permission form Regulation art. 16/1-ğ For taking part in activities
Parents' explicit consent for personal data Regulation art. 5/A Before sharing photos or videos
Trip paperwork Regulation art. 10 Only if there is a trip
Outside instructor documents The Ministry's letter dated 16.09.2024 Approval of the provincial directorate of national education if an outside instructor will come to the school

Most of the files going around online as "robotics club paperwork" are dated 2017-2020. They have no TYMM theme, no link to the action plan and no personal data line. If you use a ready-made file, add these three items.

A sample no-materials yearly club plan

The guide's sample yearly plans are laid out with the columns "Calendar, Theme, Goal/Sub-goal, Activities, Special days and weeks". The plan below follows this layout and needs no robot kit. Clubs usually meet weekly or every two weeks, and each row in the table covers that month's 2-4 meetings. The sub-goal codes are from the guide's science theme:

Month Sub-goal Activity Special days, weeks and notes
October B.4, B.1 Electing the club leadership. "Teacher robot": groups write commands on paper, a classmate carries them out exactly, and the mistake is debugged together. Then robotics and ethics: whose data could the club's year-end project collect, and whom could it harm? Write the club rules along with this discussion. EU Code Week, October 10-25, 2026. October 29, Republic Day. Deadline for the TÜBİTAK 4006 science fair application: November 13.
November B.4 Drawing a picture on graph paper with direction commands; then shortening the same picture with the repeat command. A sorting network game drawn with chalk in the schoolyard or with masking tape on the hallway floor November 16-20 mid-term break
December B.5 A first program in an online block-based environment (without creating an account); then a small game with repeat and condition blocks, a "find the bug" contest
January B.2 A first circuit in a simulation environment: LED and resistor, then an LED lit by a button Energy Saving Week (2nd week of January). Because of written exams and the end of term, January is short; in practice two meetings are left. Evaluation in the last two weeks of the term
February B.2 A night light that turns on in the dark with a light sensor in the simulation; measurement and discussion. Finding a small problem that can be solved at school, a project idea and a research question Second-term start teachers' board meeting
March B.5 Flowchart of the project idea; first prototype and first test in the simulation Science and Technology Week (March 8-14) falls on the March 8-12 mid-term break in 2027; move the activity to the week of March 15
April B.1, B.5 Testing and fixing the projects; returning to October's ethics questions with the project: does the project collect data, could it harm anyone, can everyone use it? April 23
May B.5 School science festival or project exhibition; as community service, an unplugged coding workshop for primary school students Eid al-Adha, May 17-19
June Year-end evaluation, club work report School year-end report, June 20-30

In the months that need the computer lab (December-March), book lab time at the start of the term. Since the club mostly meets outside class hours, also discuss the lab key and the person in charge in advance.

The club brings grades 5-8 together. Make students who took the elective or who are in higher grades group leaders or helpers. This both balances the age difference and is good practice for the workshop for primary school students in May. Having students under 13 create online accounts requires parental consent for most services. Saving projects as files and keeping them on the school computers removes this problem.

Community service

According to the Ministry's 2024 implementation guide, social responsibility and community service work is mandatory every year in primary, middle and high schools, and this work is run primarily through student clubs. In middle school it is called "Toplum Hizmeti Çalışmaları" (Community Service Work). A student's participation in an activity, however, is voluntary and depends on parental permission. The advisor teacher enters the work in e-Okul by choosing one of the categories in the guide.

A suitable community service example for a robotics club: club students running an unplugged coding workshop for primary school students or parents. Teaching also shows how well a student understands the topic.

The advisor teacher's extra pay hours

According to article 6, paragraph 5 of the Ders ve Ek Ders Saatlerine İlişkin Karar (Decision on Class Hours and Extra Class Hours), for a teacher assigned as an advisor teacher in social activities, 2 hours a week of this duty count as extra pay hours. It is shown in the course assignment schedule as "Öğrenci Sosyal ve Kişilik Hizmetleri" (Student Social and Personal Services). If the same teacher is both a club advisor and a homeroom guidance teacher, they are paid for only one duty. Preschool teachers and sınıf öğretmenleri (primary school class teachers) are outside this provision.

According to the regulation, club expenses can be covered by in-kind and cash donations from the school-parent association or from volunteer individuals and organizations. That is why it is healthier to plan the first year without materials, and to ask in the second year once you see what is needed.

Competitions and fairs

Competitions between schools require the permission of the provincial or district directorate of national education, and national competitions require a protocol or Ministry permission (Regulation art. 11).

Frequently asked questions

Which subject teachers can be the club's advisor? The teachers' board assigns the advisor. Unlike the Robotik Kodlama elective, we did not see a separate field requirement for club advising. Who can teach the course is a separate topic, which we covered in our post Who can teach the Robotics Coding course?.

Can club work happen during class periods? According to the regulation, social activities are primarily done outside class hours, and in necessary cases can also be done during class hours. The middle school weekly course schedule has no separate club period.

We have no robot kit. Does a club still make sense? Yes. Algorithms, flowcharts, block-based programming and building circuits in simulation do not need a kit. The whole plan above is kit-free.

Can I share photos of students on the school website? The regulation requires personal data to be processed in line with KVKK (Türkiye's Personal Data Protection Law) and requires the parent's explicit consent. Do not share photos showing the face of a student without consent.

Sources

Sources accessed: October 6, 2026.