Newsletter Brighton & Hove High School GDSt
Issue 11 November 2015
Dear Parents and Girls, Next week we’ll be celebrating Computer Science Education Week, founded in 2009 in the US to raise awareness about the need to elevate computer science education at all levels and to underscore the critical role of computing in all careers. In 2013 the week was organised around a new idea and theme, the “Hour of Code” and was simultaneously launched in the UK. The idea was to grow the week from hundreds of events reaching thousands of students and instead aim for tens of thousands of events reaching millions of students. That year, the first “Hour of Code” themed CSEdWeek reached over 15 million students and over 35,000 events across 167 countries. By January this year, the Hour of Code reached 100 million “hours served,” making it the largest education campaign in history. England was the first G20 country to formally recognise the importance of teaching children computing. Since September 2014, children aged five and up have been learning the fundamentals of programming in schools around the country as part of the National Curriculum. At BHHS every girl studies computing at KS3 and we offer the subject at both GCSE and A Level. We know that computer science develops students’ computational and critical thinking skills and shows them how to create, not simply use, new technologies. This fundamental knowledge is needed to prepare students for the 21st century, regardless of their ultimate field of study or occupation. The knowledge and skills learned from studying computer science prepare students for careers in a variety of sectors. These might be: • In information technology—designing security software and hardware systems or developing mobile communication devices, networks and applications. • In manufacturing—designing and using simulations to improve products. • In healthcare—exploring the vast quantities of data produced by new DNA sequencing techniques, developing new remote monitoring systems for patients, or designing security and privacy for medical records. • In retail—analysing data to predict trends and improve inventory management. • In weather forecasting—developing and interpreting models that predict the behaviour of hurricanes. • In the arts—designing new special effects for films or composing digital music. • In financial services—designing and overseeing automated trading services. An understanding of the core principles of computer science is key even for jobs not directly focused on computing skills - a 2011 McKinsey Global Institute report predicted a shortfall of 1.5 million “datasavvy” managers and analysts by 2018 and a Tech Partnership survey in the UK found that currently 75% of ‘big data’ occupations are hard to fill. If, like mine, your daughter’s coding skills far outstrip yours, here’s the link to a Star Wars Build a Galaxy tutorial (for 6 year olds!): https://uk.code.org/starwars
diary
Have a good weekend.
Jennifer Smith
Monday 7th Possible extra School Musical rehearsal; Y8 Bouldering trip, 1-3:30pm; Tuesday 8th School Musical rehearsal; CRED Malawi meeting, 5pm; Wednesday 9th School Musical rehearsal, 7pm; Thursday 10th School Musical, 7pm; Friday 11th Guild Collection; School Musical, 7pm; Sunday 13th Hullabaloo Christmas Concert; Upcoming events... Monday 14th Senior Citizens’ entertainment rehearsal (p3-5); Tuesday 15th Carol Service rehearsal (All Saints’); School Christmas lunch; Senior Citizens’ Tea Party, 2-4pm; Carol Service, All Saints’ Hove, 6pm; Wednesday 16th Celebration Assembly; Early close for Christmas, 2:30pm 2015-16 Issue 11: 1