Government praises QMUL’s support for school computing teachers

QMUL has become one of ten university regional centres in the UK which is helping to prepare teachers for the Government’s new computing curriculum. With two years between the curriculum’s announcement and its introduction in classrooms, QMUL’s Dr William Marsh, Professor Paul Curzon and Professor Peter McOwan recognized that teachers needed help in making the transition and in preparing for the new computing syllabus.

They developed ‘Teaching London Computing’ initially to deliver professional development for teachers delivering GCSE computing in 2013. Since then, with support from the Mayor of London and Department for Education, and in collaboration with King’s College London, it has expanded to cover A-Levels, Primary and KS3 education. As part of the Computing at School group, the team now run ‘Computing at School London’ (CAS London) with funding from the Department for Education.

In his letter to Professor Gaskell, Mr Gibb said, “On behalf of the Department for Education I would like to express my sincere thanks to you and to Queen Mary University of London for supporting the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science (NoE).” He particularly pointed to the contributions of Dr Marsh, Professor Curzon and Professor McOwan who through QMUL’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science have been working for many years to improve computing in schools through initiatives like Computer Science for Fun and Teaching London Computing.

Paul Curzon said, ‘It’s really important that teachers get the support they need to deliver the new curriculum and we are glad that we can help. Through CAS London we will be able to have a much bigger impact by helping London’s computing teachers support each other.’

In just three years the NoE has already helped over 40,000 teachers gain expertise and confidence teaching the new curriculum and QMUL’s role as regional leader for the programme is part of a plan to expand and continue to improve the quality of computing teaching, preparing the next generation of computer scientists for the future.