Computing At School (CAS) & curriculum change in the UK

Dr Sue SentanceNational Academic Coordinator, Computing At School

24th October 2014

… started in 2008 with 5 members

… in 2014 almost at 10,000 members …

There is no THEM, only US!

Simply a group of individuals, concerned about the state of computing education in our schools

Including: Teachers Industry (eg. Google, Microsoft) University academics (incl. CPHC, UKCRC) Members of exam board (eg. AQA) Members of professional societies (eg. BCS) Parents Local educational advisers Teacher trainers

Varied backgrounds, with common concerns

Computer science is a proper, rigorous school subject discipline, on a par with mathematics or chemistry, that every child should learn from primary school onwards.

NB. It is not about computers, nor is it about programming

CAS believes that …

The role of CAS?

Computing: a curriculum for schools

Influencing national policy

Directly support teachers “on the ground”

The Royal Society recommendations– from ICT to Computing

7

•Computer Science at heart of new curriculum

• Schoolchildren from age 5 to be taught computer science

• Still includes digital literacy as major component

• September 2013 Final Programme of Study for Computing published – effective from 1st September 2014

Curriculum change (in England)

New national curriculum for Computing

CAS Membership

CAS Regional Hubs

Peer-to-peer support

Master teachers

Run low-cost training events for teachers

Speak at events Visit teachers in

schools Active members

of CAS Community

SummaryComputing At School started as a vehicle for advocacy to promote CS in school.

CAS is a true “community of practice”

Curriculum change has happened (in England) and growth is very rapid!

CAS : “There is no THEM, only US”

Our professional development model (NoE) is holistic – a local, peer-to-peer, face-to-face model… empowering enthusiastic teachers

Questions for discussion

CAS teachers will be asked to volunteer to test the materials. Questions they will ask…What level of commitment is needed from the participating teachers?What level of skill/background will they (teachers) need to have to participate in the project?At what age group (students) are the materials to be aimed?What are the benefits for the participating teachers?