Programming for Primaries One of the hottest topics in education today is computing in schools. In England the Education Secretary Michael Gove has set out the new curriculum for 2014 whilst in Wales the ICT Steering Group has just presented its recommendations to the Assembly. Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence leads the way in the UK but a shortage of teachers with associated skills remains an issue throughout. The UK Government’s revised national computing curriculum for 2014 puts significant emphasis on teaching children how to write code. Pupils aged five to seven will be expected to “understand what algorithms are” and to “create and debug simple programs”. By the age of 11, pupils will have to “design, use and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems”. Most experts agree that learning to code or program is a vital ingredient for future success. Programming skills are rapidly changing our world, but more importantly learning to program teaches a child to think differently, express creativity and feel empowered. Blogger Emma Mulqueeny’s catch phrase ‘year 8 is too late’ is the clear message when it comes to inspiring and encouraging children to learn programming and coding skills, which is why ICT education specialist ComputerXplorers has earmarked 24 – 28 March 2014 to be the date for the first Programming for Primaries week to raise awareness of the issue. Programming for Primaries has been borne out of an altruistic desire to raise the profile of programming at primary level and encourage other organisations to join in. Support to engage children in all facets of computing, including coding and programming, needs to come from all aspects of the community – from teachers and schools to volunteers and industry professionals alike. An open, inclusive and collaborative approach is the best way forward. The recent International Hour of Code initiative run as part of the USA’s Computer Science Education Week in December demonstrated how a co-ordinated approach to making resources available can be successful. Although very few UK
schools held an Hour of Code, over eight million people worldwide accessed the csedweek.org website to take part in the online tutorial ‘write your first computer programme’, 1.5m looked at ‘Introduction to Java Script’ and 70,000 made a festive greetings card using scratch. Explained Nigel Toplis, managing director of ComputerXplorers: “By the time they arrive at secondary school too many children have already decided that computing is not for them. Whether that self-selection is as a result of gender, economics, interest level or lack of exposure to inspiring opportunities, they miss out. “It is vital to engage and inspire children at a much younger age. In spite of some progress in recent years too many children never grasp those vital skills that enable them to become creators and not just consumers of technology and set them on a path of great career options. Those children will forever be on the wrong side of the digital divide. “We share the belief that computer skills are central to economic progress at an individual level as well as at a national level. Those skills are just as valuable to children who go on to work outside of the technology sector as 24
they are to children aspiring to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.” Introducing children to programming at primary level requires age specific curriculum and all classes need to include an element of fun otherwise attention will be quickly lost and hard to regain. Computing innovations such as Raspberry Pi and Makey Makey are very child friendly but if teachers aren’t aware of the resources out there to help with lesson planning then these excellent aids will lie un-opened in their boxes. It may be a challenge for non specialist teachers in the Primary sector to deliver curriculum for computing and to know where to go to find resources. The aim of the week is to shine the spotlight on programming and coding support available to children and teachers in primary schools. The ComputerXplorers Programming for Primaries Week will provide a platform for like minded organisations to communicate the benefits of programming for younger children and help make teachers more aware of the rich seam of resources that are available for primary and pre-schools. Microsoft Partners in Learning is one of the continues overleaf u Education Magazine