On 5th July 2017, seventeen teachers – from both Primary and Secondary schools across South Wales – became the second cohort of learners to successfully achieve the (QCF) Level 3 Certificate of Computing for Teachers as part of a year-long Technoteach CPD programme. This Technoteach CPD programme is supported by the National Science Academy through the Welsh Government to up-skill teachers to become competent and confident in their ability to deliver the computer science curriculum as well as support the introduction of the Digital Competence Framework.
The course is accredited by VTCT and is delivered throughout the academic year (18 full-day sessions) with teachers meeting once a fortnight to develop their understanding of a range of computer science topics from robotics to Python programming. A strong focus of the course involves preparing schemes of work and accompanying resources so that teachers can use them immediately in their classrooms.
The course has again had a high impact on the teachers involved, their schools and particularly their pupils. One Secondary teacher, Helen Clement from Ysgol Bro Dinefŵr commented
“My confidence in teaching the subject is much greater. I am also more organised with my resources for delivery to students” Helen goes on to say that “The different units covered a broad spectrum of the subject enabling different topics and learning methods to be explored. I have been teaching Python programming and algorithms to Year 10 and 11, used Raspberry Pis with Year 12, and have begun teaching the Little Man Computer to Year 12.”
Carolyn Munro-Morris, a Primary school teacher from Sully Primary School, commented
“[the course] was progressive. Each topic led onto the next. Good subject content covering all work required for Primary Schools at the moment.” She added, “I had no prior experience and I now feel confident delivering computer science lessons in Primary school.”
Additionally, the impact of the course has been noted by senior management in many of the teachers’ schools. Mrs Sandra Joy, Deputy Headteacher at Morriston Comprehensive, said
“A member of our staff has studied on your VTCT Certificate in Computing this year and already it has had a resounding impact on some of the learners in our school. Of course, it has provided an excellent CPD opportunity and developed the staff member’s skills in Computing, but with this, her confidence has also flourished. This has translated, in a relatively short space of time, into a clear and positive impact on the digital skills of our learners.
On a daily basis, she is now more willing to be innovative in the classroom, but she also has had the confidence to lead a team in the Robotics Competition held recently. I saw first-hand how quickly the young people in the team became absorbed with their project and how motivated they were to spend their own time developing their prototype and, of course, their programming skills.“
“The fact that they came second in the competition was just the icing on the cake (pun intended as they produced a cake slicer!)”
We’re currently accepting applications for next year’s cohort, to find out more please visit here.