COMPUTER SCIENCE AT RGS IN CONVERSATION JIM RYAN

Spring 2023

ONA is the magazine for the Old Novocastrians’ Association

All correspondence should be addressed to:

The Development Office Royal Grammar School

Eskdale Terrace Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4DX

Telephone Development Office: 0191 212 8909 email: development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk

The Editor reserves the right to edit, alter or omit all submissions to the magazine. Copy may be carried over to the next edition. The Editor’s decision is final.

Contribute! We are always looking for articles and news from Old Novos to include in the magazine, so send your contributions, via email (if possible) to: development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk or by posting to the Development Office at the school.

Please include relevant pictures if possible. They will be returned as soon as the magazine has been printed.

The ONA Magazine is available online. Please note that the magazine is circulated in hard copy and is available on the RGS website shortly after circulation. By submitting an article or news for inclusion, the contributor is accepting that it will be available through both formats and will also be accessible beyond the Association membership through internet search engines or any member of the public viewing the RGS website. www.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk/ rgs-family/ON

PAUL HUDSPITH (92-99) ONA PRESIDENT

Please note that the ONA Magazine content does not necessarily reflect the views of the school or the ONA and is based on personal experiences, recollections and memories of its contributors.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Alister Cox, Headmaster 72-94, on 7 November last year. I had the privilege of attending Mr Cox’s memorial service along with many other ONs, both staff and pupils, at which John Armstrong (Staff 72-03) spoke warmly of Alister’s time both inside and outside school. An obituary and some of the many tributes we’ve received will be published in our next edition.

Working in IT myself I am particularly pleased to introduce this latest edition of the ONA Magazine, which focuses on the introduction of computer science to the curriculum at Eskdale Terrace, and provides some insight into multiple generations of ONs who have made their careers in the technology industry.

My predecessor Paul Haggie (60-67) mentioned in his introduction to our previous edition the inception of the Economics department when he was a pupil, and the talented economists who have emerged over its 60 year history. In Computer Science the school has a department less than five years old, but one which has already firmly established itself as an inspiring and popular subject thanks to the remarkable work of Chris Wilde (Staff 18-present) and his team: more on this in the coming pages.

I met many current Computer Science students at the school's recent careers fair. I enjoyed hearing about their passion for the subject, in particular the many opportunities they have to explore it way beyond the core curriculum. I was particularly pleased that the majority of students I spoke to were young women; engaging girls at a young age in this challenging and rewarding subject is a huge opportunity to address the industry’s gender imbalance, and reap the rewards of a diversified workforce I have seen in my own teams. I look forward to reading about the impactful technology careers of our future ON computer scientists, female and male, in these pages in the years to come.