A serious computer-science academy
for ages nine to sixteen.
Two evenings a week, in a 12-student cohort with a real engineer and an AI tutor built for the curriculum. A nine-year-old who joins us in Year 1 ships real software by Year 3.
Request the application formWhat Argo is.
Argo Academy is an after-school programme for children who want to learn computer science properly — not in a six-week summer camp, not in a drop-in club, but year-round, mastery-paced, with a real curriculum from Python fundamentals at nine through to machine learning and full-stack engineering by sixteen.
By sixteen, an Argo student has completed work roughly equivalent to a first-year undergraduate computer-science degree. Other after-school programmes teach kids to code. We teach computer science.
Helios — the AI tutor.
An AI companion built on Claude, trained on the Argo curriculum. Reads the student's actual code, the actual errors, the actual recent attempts. Helps them see why something works — never just hands them the answer.
Available throughout the session. Patient. Doesn't get tired. Treats nine-year-olds like intelligent adults.
The Guide — a real human.
An experienced engineer-teacher who runs the room. Watches the live cohort dashboard, intervenes when Helios isn't getting through, leads the Friday share, awards bounties, builds the cohort's culture. DBS-checked, hired before the cohort starts.
Helios scales the explaining. The Guide does the human bit.
Mastery, not time.
No student moves on until they've shown they can use a concept — explain it, apply it, retain it after three days. There is no "fell behind in week four." A child who moves fast starts the next year early. A child who needs longer takes it. No one is ever behind, because there is no cohort clock to fall behind.
An example week.
Two three-hour sessions per week, term-time only (~36 weeks per academic year). Exact days are set per cohort based on family schedules — below is the most likely shape.
| Day | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 4:30 – 7:30pm | New material + work on current concept. Helios + Guide. Light snack break at 6. |
| Thursday | 4:30 – 7:30pm | Project work. Pair sessions. Captain's Log + retention checks. |
| Friday | (optional) | The cohort share — students demo what they've shipped. Parents welcome the last Friday of each half-term. |
Six hours of cohort time per week. Most students do 15–30 minutes of home practice between sessions, but nothing is mandatory at home — we don't push screen time outside our walls.
The seven-year curriculum.
A continuous arc from "what is a computer" at nine to building real ML systems at sixteen. Each year ends in a capstone the student demos to the cohort.
- 1
- Python fundamentals. Variables → strings → decisions → loops → lists → dictionaries → functions → files → recursion. Seven shipped mini-projects.
- 2
- Real-world Python. Git, HTML/CSS, JSON APIs, SQLite, the first deployed web app.
- 3
- Web fundamentals. JavaScript, the DOM, React, full-stack apps with auth and a real database.
- 4
- Systems thinking. Linux, networking, Docker, CI/CD. First serious portfolio project.
- 5
- Algorithms and data structures. The classic CS undergraduate first year, taught properly.
- 6
- Machine learning. Linear regression up through transformers. PyTorch. Building things, not just reading about them.
- 7
- Capstone year. The student picks a serious project. Industrial mentorship. Open-source contribution. They graduate Argo as a working junior engineer.
Year 1 in detail.
A nine-year-old coming in cold writes their first print("hello") in week one. By the end of the year they have shipped seven small but real projects:
- Lesson 15Personal greeter
- Lesson 23Trivia quiz
- Lesson 28Calculator
- Lesson 34Number guessing game
- Lesson 39Saved to-do list
- Lesson 42Tic-tac-toe
- Lesson 48Caesar cipher
Plus a year-end capstone: a program the student chooses, plans, ships, and demos to the cohort.
Fees.
Term-time only. Pay monthly. No surprise fees, no add-ons, no fundraising.
- Two 3-hour sessions per week
- DBS-checked Guide for the full cohort
- Helios AI tutor (Claude-based) for cohort use
- All materials, equipment, snacks
- Weekly parent progress note
- Friday family demo share
Two guarantees.
1. Six-week refund. If Argo isn't the right fit for your child in the first half-term, we refund the fees in full. No questions, no fuss. We would rather you leave happy.
2. Cohort minimum. If we don't reach 8 students by 1 August 2026, the September cohort doesn't run, and every deposit is refunded within 7 days. You take no risk on the academy not opening.
Mastery awards.
Students earn small cash awards for genuinely mastering each concept (£12 per concept after a 3-day retention check) and for completing each course (£50). Paid monthly. Tracked in a wallet the student controls.
The point is not the cash. The point is that effort produces something visible, and that mastery — not attendance — is what's rewarded. Most students earn £40–£80 a month in practice. Argo doesn't bribe children to learn; we make their progress legible.
Who this is for.
Argo is right for your child if they:
- Are curious — they ask "how does that work?" about the world without being prompted
- Don't mind being challenged — frustration tolerance matters more than current skill
- Want to build things — games, websites, tools, anything
- Are between 9 and 16, with the maturity to take their own learning seriously
It is not right for:
- A child who needs to be entertained constantly — real learning is sometimes difficult
- A family looking for a babysitting service with a computer
- A child being pushed into "STEM" against their interests
We interview every family before accepting them. Fit matters more than the fee.
Why I'm building this.
"I cannot find what I want for my own family. So I am building it."
I'm Mark Lamb. I founded the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange CoinFLEX at 21, ran it through a real bull-and-bust cycle, and have spent the past decade building things in finance and software. The most useful skill I ever picked up was learning to program properly — not just enough to be dangerous, but enough to ship real systems.
I am building Argo because the existing options are either too soft (after-school clubs, summer camps, Scratch-and-stop) or too aimed at adults (Coursera, university). Nothing serious for a curious nine-year-old who wants to learn to think like a computer scientist.
So I am building it. The first cohort opens in Reading in September 2026. I'm not in a rush to expand; I'm in a rush to get the first twelve children right. Children deserve to be taken seriously.
— Mark Lamb, Founder
Practical questions.
When does it start and how do I apply?
The founding cohort starts September 2026. Submit the application form below — we'll respond within a week with next steps. Family interviews are scheduled for July 2026, with decisions communicated by 1 August.
Where is it?
Reading, UK. Final venue will be confirmed to accepted families. The venue will be in central Reading or just off the M4 corridor — easy from Caversham, Earley, Tilehurst, Woodley, and Wokingham.
How much does it cost, exactly?
£1,000 per month, term-time only (~9 months per year, so ~£9,000 per academic year). This covers two three-hour sessions per week, the Helios AI tutor for cohort use, the Guide, all materials, and snacks. There are no extra costs.
What if it's not right for my child?
If Argo isn't the right fit in the first half-term (six weeks), we refund the fees in full. No questions. We'd rather you leave happy than have a frustrated family in the cohort.
What if the cohort doesn't fill?
If we don't reach 8 students by 1 August 2026, the September cohort doesn't run, and every deposit is refunded in full within 7 days. You take no risk on us not opening.
Who is the Guide?
The Guide will be hired before the cohort starts. They will be a working software engineer or experienced computing teacher, DBS-checked, with both the technical credibility to teach the curriculum and the warmth to run a room of children. Their identity will be shared with accepted families before they're asked to commit.
Safeguarding, DBS, child protection?
All Argo staff (Guide, assistants, founder) are enhanced-DBS-checked before any contact with students. A written safeguarding policy and named designated safeguarding lead are in place from day one. We follow KCSIE guidance, and the policy is shared with every family at the application stage.
Do they need a computer at home?
Argo provides laptops during sessions. For home practice, any computer made in the last five years is fine — we run everything in a browser. We don't expect or encourage long home sessions; cohort time is what matters.
My child has never coded. Is that okay?
Yes — Year 1 starts from absolute zero. Lesson 1 is "what is a computer?". We don't assume any prior experience. We do assume curiosity and willingness to work.
My child already knows some Python. Where do they start?
We assess each child individually and place them at the right point in the curriculum. A child who already knows the basics might skip to Year 1 lesson 20 or to Year 2 entirely. Mastery is checked, not assumed.
What's the screen time profile?
Six hours per week in cohort, on laptops, with breaks. We discourage long unstructured screen time at home. The Friday share is partly off-screen — students present, discuss, sketch.
Why "Argo"?
From the ship in the Greek myth — the Argo carried the Argonauts on a long, deliberate voyage to a real prize. We liked the metaphor: a long, structured journey, in good company, toward something worth having. Our students are Argonauts. They track their progress on a Voyage Map.
Apply to the September 2026 cohort.
12 places. Family interviews in July 2026. Decisions by 1 August. Tell us a bit about your child below — we'll respond within a week with the full application form.