It is just over three years since the Raspberry Pi was launched Inspired partly
by the success of the BBC Micro in bringing computing to a mass audience the
aim was simple - to put an affordable computer into the hands of enthusiastic
youngsters Five million sales later itrsquos probably no exaggeration to say that the
Pi is driving a revolution Itrsquos not just that the Pi has begun to find a home in
classrooms as well as bedrooms nor the multitude of innovative uses to which
it is being put The real legacy lies in the proliferation of very cheap program-
mable devices that are now finding their way to market
Using lsquocontrol technologyrsquo in schools is not newmdashit was part of the IT curriculum
from its inception However circumstances conspired to push it off the curricu-
lum in many schools Now all that may be changing It is widely recognised
that physical computing is hugely motivational Hands
on challenges with a real world feel help bring
Computing to life Physical computing pro-
vides natural links with other curriculum are-
as in particular Science and Design and
Technology Many creative minds are now
engaged in producing a raft of devic-
es including the BBC and part-
ners Engaging contexts real
outputs and the immediate
feedback inherent in flashing
lights beeping buzzers and whir-
ring motors is the sort of stuff that stimu-
lates young brains Exciting times are ahead
ISSN 2050 -1277 (online) 2050 -1269 (print)
The ldquoComputing At Schoolrdquo group (CAS) is a membership association in partnership with BCS The Chartered Institute for IT
and supported by Microsoft Google and others It aims to support and promote the teaching of computing in UK schools
p3-7
Ideas to teach control
for primary teachers
by primary teachers
p8-13
Physical computing
ideas for secondary
teachers inquiry
based learning using
magic and more
p14-17
Developing re-
sources Hubs the
Network of Excel-
lence Building com-
munities of practice
p18-19
Getting to grips with
GCSE Making the
most of QuickStart
CPD materials
p20-22
Higher level apprentice-
ships industrial place-
ment schemes and find-
ing visiting speakers
p22-23
Female pioneers and
the fascinating ori-
gins of algorithms
BBC MicroBit prototype
The details of the plans announced
by the BBC to equip all Year 7 pupils
with a rsquoMicro Bitrsquo were just emerging
as this issue of SwitchedON was be-
ing prepared Teachers will obviously
be clamouring for more information
and will look to the latter stages of the
summer term as a time to think about
ways the initiative can support their
emerging Computing curriculum A
flurry of questions were raised on the
CAS forums and elsewhere
The BBC responded by launching a
blog at bbcin1CxXhx6 The first post
written by Cerys Griffiths Executive
Producer for BBC Learning emphasiz-
es two points Firstly the devices de-
signed to enthuse excite and empow-
er will be owned by children Second
that the distribution will be through
schools with a view to them being
used in lessons as well The logistics
are huge but Cerys writes ldquoWe also
realise how important it is for teachers
to get a chance to see and use the
Micro Bit in advance We are working
through the detail but we aim to en-
sure that IT teachers get their hands
on the device before the summer holi-
days We also want to give them the
opportunity to explore ways of using
the Micro Bits in lessons so there will
be some curriculum resources made
available at the same timerdquo
An initiative on this scale sends a very
important message to schools about
the importance of Computing Putting
the kit in the hands of the children will
help engage parents too Keep an eye
on the blog for more news as it emerg-
es and ensure your school leadership
is aware of the plans afoot
Joe Finney Senior Lecturer at Lancaster
University provides a heads up on plans
to give a million lsquoMicro Bitsrsquo to Year 7 pu-
pils next academic year
In a move that will no doubt bring a nostalgic smile to anyone of my genera-
tion the BBC recently announced the launch of the Micro Bit (a working
name that may change) a small lightweight computer designed solely for
one purposehellip to encourage children to become digital creators rather than
digital consumers Although initially conceived by the BBC the Micro Bit has
developed into a collaborative project bringing together industry including
the likes of ARM Barclays Microsoft Samsung and ScienceScope as well
as universities and charitable organizations with a single shared aim to cre-
ate one million of these devices by this autumn and deliver one free of
charge to every year 7 child in the country
Itrsquos difficult to avoid drawing parallels to the BBC Model B of the 1980s ndash a
device for which I personally have very fond memories Admittedly this may
in part be due to me holding the top score in my class at Chuckie Egg but
also because it provided my first taste of coding Drawing those geometric
patterns on the screen Writing guess-the-number puzzles for my sister to
play Creating my own simple computer games I was hooked Before I knew
it computing was my hobby my passion my specialist subject and my ca-
reer Now I look at my own kids and wonder ndash where do they start
The Micro Bit is still under development so confirmed details remain scarce
but it is being designed to be a standalone programmable device that is
small enough to wear It also aims to provide a programming environment to
suit a range of abilities It reduces the amount of technical setup and installa-
tion required from teachers or parents at home to the absolute minimum It
will contain an integrated LED matrix display and be extensible enough to
allow interfacing with other devices such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi
There will no doubt be teachers reading this short article who have perfectly
understandable concerns that this initiative might bring new challenges into
their classroom I know that producing a wide range of resources for teach-
ers well ahead of the autumn is a priority for the BBC and their partners so I
would say this fear the Micro Bit as much as you would fear Fuzzy Felt It
provides the material through which children can explore digital creativity
The very best computer scientists seamlessly blend creativity with computa-
tional thinking In 1967 Seymour Papert famously created the Logo language
with its ubiquitous robot lsquoturtlersquo that inspired children to write programs that
create geometric lines and shapes Yet forty five years later so many teach-
ing examples I still see create robots to follow lines not create them My fear
is that we create a generation of line followers not line creators
I for one am very proud to be part of the core team designing and develop-
ing this device and working alongside companies such as ARM Microsoft
Research and Samsung to develop something that blends technology and
creativity and bring that into the hands of the next generation As Arthur C
Clarke famously stated ndash ldquoAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistin-
guishable from magicrdquo So borrowing the immortal lines from Disneyrsquos Fro-
zenhellip Do you wanna build a snowman
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 2
A lot of the computing coordinators I
talk to are not feeling confident
enough to be the mentor for others
that they feel they should be I was so
glad then that the CAS
Barefoot Computing materi-
als (barefootcasorguk)
were created I have shown
the website in a number of
schools and used some of
the videos and off-line activi-
ties with staff The explana-
tions of terminology lesson
ideas extensions and differentiation
were always well received Staff were
pleased because they had things they
could use in class with very little prep-
aration They could find out what
terms like algorithm and decomposi-
tion mean and quickly feel more confi-
dent This leads to productive discus-
sions and staff begin to see that a lot
of what they need does not have to
involve kit as such Limited kit can be
used more purposefully with time for
discussion planning and preparation
before children try things out for real
I was just getting used to the materials
when along came Quickstart Compu-
ting (primaryquickstartcomputingorg)
Quickstart Computing is a CPD pack-
age aimed at helping staff develop
their own knowledge and skills in rela-
tion to the computing curriculum It
draws upon materials produced previ-
ously such as Barefoot Computing
and Phil Bagges httpwwwcode-
itcouk website
and ties it all
together with
new material
The CPD
package is set
out in such a
way that if
you were the
computer
coordinator you could up-skill yourself
before using the materials to train your
other staff through short sessions tak-
ing place during staff meetings It in-
cludes videos skills audits
a useful glossary Power-
Points and suggested CPD
outlines The materials are
designed to be chopped
and changed to suit your
particular needs Hard copy
versions are distributed via
CAS Hubs but all materials
can be downloaded from the website
More details in the review on page 19
I originally left a copy of the complete
handbook in the staffroom to read
before delivering a session for staff
Im not sure how many people actually
picked it up so I printed a copy for all
staff as a reference as we worked
through our training In our first ses-
sion we only managed to get through
what an algorithm is there was lots of
discussion over what things meant
and how these linked to other sub-
jects Everyone left feeling more posi-
tive finding the handbook a useful
document Someone even asked me
when the next session would be
Do take the time to have staff com-
plete the skills audit prior to delivering
training Completing the audit gives
you an idea of where to focus your
sessions and then revisiting the audit
after the sessions later in the year
staff can see how far they have come
Another resource that I have found to
be of use is the BBCs Primary Com-
puting website There are lots of vide-
os and guides there to help both staff
and children Knowing how to get to
grips with the new computing curricu-
lum can be quite difficult so I hope you
find the materials as useful as I have
It is computing co-ordinators that other pri-
mary teachers turn to in their hour of need
Andrew Shields from Leicestershire flags
up resources to give them a quick start
3 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
How time flies when
yoursquore teaching mark-
ing planning chasing
wi-fi installation oh
and having an Ofsted
inspection We now
have the technology ndash
well some of it and
more is on the way
Like many schools change has
not been as quick as we hoped
yet this helps focus our determina-
tion and enable us to make the
most of other opportunities Our
programming understanding is
developing and will continue to
use the amazing un-plugged re-
sources available The children
enjoy their practical nature and it
helps understanding of sequence
and consequently algorithms
Our learning platform lsquoFrogrsquo has
now been created and some of
the pupils and staff are piloting it
to become our Champions as we
roll it out to the rest of the school
community This cloud-based
technology will enable us reduce
our paper footprint and have more
integrated home school learning
It will also help us to meet some of
the IT elements of the new curric-
ulum requirements ndash storage ma-
nipulation and utilising digital con-
tent In conjunction we have invest-
ed in the some online resources
which will help less confident staff
with ideas and resources
Throughout all of this ndash I cannot
thank the great team at CAS who
have gently supported reminded
and cajoled me to organise CPD
sessions An email from Mark
and phone calls with Dave White
my regional coordinator have real-
ly helped me to stay focused on
the new computing curriculum and
ensure we donrsquot lose sight of what
we still need to do
The availability of low cost micro-
controllers can help cement the links be-
tween Computing and Design and Tech-
nology The iterative process of designing
and making lies at the heart of D amp T
Computational Thinking skills are often
best realised through designing imple-
menting and debugging a solution to a
known problem The new subject require-
ments for D amp T make reference to pro-
gramming monitoring and controlling prod-
ucts at KS2 The guidance becomes even
more explicit making specific reference to
the use of micro-controllers at KS3 Creat-
ing programs in order to control products
that pupils have designed and made them-
selves is a highly motivating tangible ex-
perience enabling them to test out and
develop their capability in computer sci-
ence within a range of real-life contexts
Last term col-
leagues from
CAS and the De-
sign and Technol-
ogy Association
(DATA) met to
discuss joint guid-
ance for teach-
ers drawing links
between the two
subjects with a
view to promoting cross curricular projects
The day was hosted by The Royal Acade-
my of Engineering
Alongside the discussions attendees ex-
plored the capabilities of an easy to use
programmable controller the Crumble
(bitly1IBOSOE) It can drive two high cur-
rent motors and has 4 low current IO con-
nectors to which a range of sensors
switches or LEDs can be attached Digital-
ly controlled full colour LEDs called Spar-
kles provided simple output with immediate
feedback The controller is programmed
via USB using a simple visual language
providing a low floor of entry with minimal
setup time allowing children to tinker and
experiment With other similar devices now
coming to market and a BBC Micro Bit
heading to all Year 7 pupils therersquos now a
real opportunity to start developing joint
projects Roger Davies
A makey-makey board may seem like a toy
but Ben Davies a CAS Master Teacher at St
Paulrsquos Primary School Manchester highlights
its wider educational potential
After letting my class play with a Makey-Makey board I soon realised it
had more educational value than it was letting on providing a great tool
for engagement and motivation My first use came while trying to extend
some high achievers when using Scratch The children were making
games with an Olympic theme (think Daley Thompsonrsquos Decathlon) and
creating a controller with the Makey-Makey was a suitable extension
The problem was it was an extension that everyone wanted to access
By the end of the unit I had bought four more and all of the class had
programmed a Scratch game controlled by the board
For the uninitiated a Makey-Makey board connects to a computer via a
USB lead Once connected certain computer inputs can be mimicked by
connecting the device to electrical conductors and completing the circuit
with an earth connection The unit that I now teach developed as a result
of our tinkering
We watch the Makey-Makey promotional video before giving several
boards out with the instruction to connect them Once pupils are able to
type something into a text editor we move on to playing games on Friv
The challenge is for children to find games that could be controlled by
the board and design a controller to play the game The next activity
combines elements of science and computing as children test a range of
materials to see if they act as electrical conductors The children create
Scratch programs that identify when an object completes an electrical
circuit By the end of these two sessions children have a sound under-
standing of how
the boards work
and how they
could be used as
input The next
step is designing
input based pro-
grams in Scratch
with the Makey-
Makey board in
mind
Their programs
range from maze games to two-player racing and keepie-uppie games
My favourite so far is an on-screen piano that was controlled by a play-
doh keyboard (an idea taken from the video) Three children worked
collaboratively to program a piano simulation The lure of being able to
play this piano gave them renewed resilience and ensured that they
stuck at it until completion Having used these boards for a few years I
am still surprised by the ideas that children come up with and the perse-
verance they show Long may this continue If youre looking to extend
children in their use of Scratch introducing a Makey-Makey board could
be just the challenge your class needs
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 4
In Scratch 20 there are
new blocks to sense the
video input from a
webcam and this can be
used as a simple control-
ler for a game ndash for ex-
ample trying to balance a
ball on your head How-
ever these blocks will
sense any movement
within the webcamrsquos view
and as such can be quite
limiting in what can be
controlled Whilst using it with my
students I recalled seeing a demon-
stration at the 2013 CAS conference
of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360
This sensor was used to recognise
multiple body joints and even two sep-
arate players ndash which would mean that
we could create more flexible pro-
grams
The Software Development Kit (SDK)
for the Kinect sensor has code exam-
ples in C C++ and Visual Basic but I
work in a special school and my stu-
dents struggle with text based lan-
guages I then remembered some
software called Kinect2Scratch devel-
oped by Stephen Howell It is availa-
ble at scratchsaorogcom (as are
links to the relevant software from
Microsoft to access the data from the
Kinect sensor) The Kinect2Scratch
website also has example scripts such
as a Space Invaders game where you
control your missile launcher by step-
ping left or right and fire missiles by
clapping your hands above your head
There is also a version of Pong for
one and two players (paddles con-
trolled by using your hands) and a
Hungry Ant Maths Game in which you
guide an ant using your right hand to
eat as many numbers as possible in
one minute After playing these
games studying the scripts and inves-
tigating the new sensing blocks that
Kinect2Scratch inserted I challenged
my KS4 students to design education-
al games for our Primary class This
gave them a focus and directed them
away from first person shooter games
Here are some examples of their de-
signs
ldquoNumber Bubblesrdquo - pop all of the
bubbles in the 2 times table as quickly
as possible
ldquoBall Catchrdquo - different balls fall from
the sky and you have to catch only the
red ones
A racing game ndash drive a car to col-
lect even numbers if you run over odd
numbers they slow you down
A penalty football game where you
take the kick and then use your hands
to curl the ball into the net
ldquoKeepy-Uppyrdquo football game ndash try to
keep the ball in the air for as long as
possible by using head and shoulders
The whole process was also extreme-
ly useful for the students to see how a
game might get developed They
found out that they had to revisit and
change their scripts as they went
along in response to user feedback It
was more difficult than they initially
thought but overall my students en-
joyed creating the games as did the
younger students when they came to
play them
Matthew Parry a CAS Master Teacher at Stanwick
School and Sports College Derbyshire outlines how
easy it is to get started developing games in Scratch
that use pupils body movement as the control
5 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
The introduction of Computing to
the National Curriculum may have
come as a surprise to many
teachers particularly those who
havenrsquot followed the debates in
CAS in the years before The new
orders spell out in a limited way
what should be covered by the
new subject but say little about
why To teach a subject well
knowing why wersquore teaching it is
important CAS has long made the
case for the broad educational
importance of Computing and the
need for all children to have some
exposure to the ideas of Comput-
er Science
Last year the
Chair of CAS
Simon Pey-
ton-Jones
was asked to
speak at a
local TED
conference in
Exeter In it
he makes a
compelling case for the primacy of
the discipline and the emergence
of a lsquofourth sciencersquo If you have
15 minutes spare let Simon con-
vince you about why the change is
so important See bitly1DSoYpY
for some very convincing reasons
why all pupils should engage with
creative Computer Science
CAS Chair Simon Peyton-Jones
The UK Schools Computer Anima-
tion Competition is now in its 8th year
involving large numbers of pupils
across the full age range Anima-
ton15 closed in March with 420
schools registered and over 800 en-
tries from 127 schools Prizes will be
awarded in May and Animation16
launches in September 2015 More
information at bitly1ABX2Uq
In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-
gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s
an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in
English primary schools from 2008ndash11
repeatedly expressed concerns with re-
gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted
reports suggest that it had at best been
patchy and in many schools non existent
Why if the subject is so engaging have
many UK schools been deficient in this
regard The following reasons have been
identified
A perception that the subject is conceptu-
ally hard
Logistical difficulties involved in setting up
and maintaining the hardware to teach
computer control
The cost of specialist resources hard-
ware and software and the requirement to
upgrade this at frequent intervals
The cyclical requirement to upgrade
brings a need to offer additional training to
keep teachers up to date
More recently particularly in primary
schools tablets with no means of connect-
ing control interfaces are replacing desktop
computers Schools that did make the sub-
stantial financial investment to resource
control in years gone by may have been
forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-
ware on more than one occasion as early
versions cease to be supported by new
operating systems or hardware This is the
tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on
schools by for-profit companies wishing to
sell the next version of their software or
hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a
gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle
Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-
station in primary school makes a lot of
sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College
School in Cambridge puts a compelling case
When teaching young children to program context is king The context
must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-
standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-
gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition
it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and
correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first
heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-
ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap
and sustainable platform for control technology
A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to
meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager
to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language
I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious
that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary
classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-
late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-
tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant
I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO
interface (see picture)
The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials
have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-
station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO
interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a
wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The
advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-
dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a
complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can
be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly
teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-
grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression
pathway and extension activities for the more able children
This is a sustainable solution ndash schools
will not be required to endlessly up-
grade their hardware and software
Moreover schools that already have a
range of legacy components connected
to 4mm plugs can use these with the
gPiO Cheap generic components can
also be used with it And the real beauty
of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-
dren are able to create complete control
systems that consider human factors
and the needs of the user Please take
a look at the project on the page oppo-
site as an example
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 6
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
The details of the plans announced
by the BBC to equip all Year 7 pupils
with a rsquoMicro Bitrsquo were just emerging
as this issue of SwitchedON was be-
ing prepared Teachers will obviously
be clamouring for more information
and will look to the latter stages of the
summer term as a time to think about
ways the initiative can support their
emerging Computing curriculum A
flurry of questions were raised on the
CAS forums and elsewhere
The BBC responded by launching a
blog at bbcin1CxXhx6 The first post
written by Cerys Griffiths Executive
Producer for BBC Learning emphasiz-
es two points Firstly the devices de-
signed to enthuse excite and empow-
er will be owned by children Second
that the distribution will be through
schools with a view to them being
used in lessons as well The logistics
are huge but Cerys writes ldquoWe also
realise how important it is for teachers
to get a chance to see and use the
Micro Bit in advance We are working
through the detail but we aim to en-
sure that IT teachers get their hands
on the device before the summer holi-
days We also want to give them the
opportunity to explore ways of using
the Micro Bits in lessons so there will
be some curriculum resources made
available at the same timerdquo
An initiative on this scale sends a very
important message to schools about
the importance of Computing Putting
the kit in the hands of the children will
help engage parents too Keep an eye
on the blog for more news as it emerg-
es and ensure your school leadership
is aware of the plans afoot
Joe Finney Senior Lecturer at Lancaster
University provides a heads up on plans
to give a million lsquoMicro Bitsrsquo to Year 7 pu-
pils next academic year
In a move that will no doubt bring a nostalgic smile to anyone of my genera-
tion the BBC recently announced the launch of the Micro Bit (a working
name that may change) a small lightweight computer designed solely for
one purposehellip to encourage children to become digital creators rather than
digital consumers Although initially conceived by the BBC the Micro Bit has
developed into a collaborative project bringing together industry including
the likes of ARM Barclays Microsoft Samsung and ScienceScope as well
as universities and charitable organizations with a single shared aim to cre-
ate one million of these devices by this autumn and deliver one free of
charge to every year 7 child in the country
Itrsquos difficult to avoid drawing parallels to the BBC Model B of the 1980s ndash a
device for which I personally have very fond memories Admittedly this may
in part be due to me holding the top score in my class at Chuckie Egg but
also because it provided my first taste of coding Drawing those geometric
patterns on the screen Writing guess-the-number puzzles for my sister to
play Creating my own simple computer games I was hooked Before I knew
it computing was my hobby my passion my specialist subject and my ca-
reer Now I look at my own kids and wonder ndash where do they start
The Micro Bit is still under development so confirmed details remain scarce
but it is being designed to be a standalone programmable device that is
small enough to wear It also aims to provide a programming environment to
suit a range of abilities It reduces the amount of technical setup and installa-
tion required from teachers or parents at home to the absolute minimum It
will contain an integrated LED matrix display and be extensible enough to
allow interfacing with other devices such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi
There will no doubt be teachers reading this short article who have perfectly
understandable concerns that this initiative might bring new challenges into
their classroom I know that producing a wide range of resources for teach-
ers well ahead of the autumn is a priority for the BBC and their partners so I
would say this fear the Micro Bit as much as you would fear Fuzzy Felt It
provides the material through which children can explore digital creativity
The very best computer scientists seamlessly blend creativity with computa-
tional thinking In 1967 Seymour Papert famously created the Logo language
with its ubiquitous robot lsquoturtlersquo that inspired children to write programs that
create geometric lines and shapes Yet forty five years later so many teach-
ing examples I still see create robots to follow lines not create them My fear
is that we create a generation of line followers not line creators
I for one am very proud to be part of the core team designing and develop-
ing this device and working alongside companies such as ARM Microsoft
Research and Samsung to develop something that blends technology and
creativity and bring that into the hands of the next generation As Arthur C
Clarke famously stated ndash ldquoAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistin-
guishable from magicrdquo So borrowing the immortal lines from Disneyrsquos Fro-
zenhellip Do you wanna build a snowman
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 2
A lot of the computing coordinators I
talk to are not feeling confident
enough to be the mentor for others
that they feel they should be I was so
glad then that the CAS
Barefoot Computing materi-
als (barefootcasorguk)
were created I have shown
the website in a number of
schools and used some of
the videos and off-line activi-
ties with staff The explana-
tions of terminology lesson
ideas extensions and differentiation
were always well received Staff were
pleased because they had things they
could use in class with very little prep-
aration They could find out what
terms like algorithm and decomposi-
tion mean and quickly feel more confi-
dent This leads to productive discus-
sions and staff begin to see that a lot
of what they need does not have to
involve kit as such Limited kit can be
used more purposefully with time for
discussion planning and preparation
before children try things out for real
I was just getting used to the materials
when along came Quickstart Compu-
ting (primaryquickstartcomputingorg)
Quickstart Computing is a CPD pack-
age aimed at helping staff develop
their own knowledge and skills in rela-
tion to the computing curriculum It
draws upon materials produced previ-
ously such as Barefoot Computing
and Phil Bagges httpwwwcode-
itcouk website
and ties it all
together with
new material
The CPD
package is set
out in such a
way that if
you were the
computer
coordinator you could up-skill yourself
before using the materials to train your
other staff through short sessions tak-
ing place during staff meetings It in-
cludes videos skills audits
a useful glossary Power-
Points and suggested CPD
outlines The materials are
designed to be chopped
and changed to suit your
particular needs Hard copy
versions are distributed via
CAS Hubs but all materials
can be downloaded from the website
More details in the review on page 19
I originally left a copy of the complete
handbook in the staffroom to read
before delivering a session for staff
Im not sure how many people actually
picked it up so I printed a copy for all
staff as a reference as we worked
through our training In our first ses-
sion we only managed to get through
what an algorithm is there was lots of
discussion over what things meant
and how these linked to other sub-
jects Everyone left feeling more posi-
tive finding the handbook a useful
document Someone even asked me
when the next session would be
Do take the time to have staff com-
plete the skills audit prior to delivering
training Completing the audit gives
you an idea of where to focus your
sessions and then revisiting the audit
after the sessions later in the year
staff can see how far they have come
Another resource that I have found to
be of use is the BBCs Primary Com-
puting website There are lots of vide-
os and guides there to help both staff
and children Knowing how to get to
grips with the new computing curricu-
lum can be quite difficult so I hope you
find the materials as useful as I have
It is computing co-ordinators that other pri-
mary teachers turn to in their hour of need
Andrew Shields from Leicestershire flags
up resources to give them a quick start
3 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
How time flies when
yoursquore teaching mark-
ing planning chasing
wi-fi installation oh
and having an Ofsted
inspection We now
have the technology ndash
well some of it and
more is on the way
Like many schools change has
not been as quick as we hoped
yet this helps focus our determina-
tion and enable us to make the
most of other opportunities Our
programming understanding is
developing and will continue to
use the amazing un-plugged re-
sources available The children
enjoy their practical nature and it
helps understanding of sequence
and consequently algorithms
Our learning platform lsquoFrogrsquo has
now been created and some of
the pupils and staff are piloting it
to become our Champions as we
roll it out to the rest of the school
community This cloud-based
technology will enable us reduce
our paper footprint and have more
integrated home school learning
It will also help us to meet some of
the IT elements of the new curric-
ulum requirements ndash storage ma-
nipulation and utilising digital con-
tent In conjunction we have invest-
ed in the some online resources
which will help less confident staff
with ideas and resources
Throughout all of this ndash I cannot
thank the great team at CAS who
have gently supported reminded
and cajoled me to organise CPD
sessions An email from Mark
and phone calls with Dave White
my regional coordinator have real-
ly helped me to stay focused on
the new computing curriculum and
ensure we donrsquot lose sight of what
we still need to do
The availability of low cost micro-
controllers can help cement the links be-
tween Computing and Design and Tech-
nology The iterative process of designing
and making lies at the heart of D amp T
Computational Thinking skills are often
best realised through designing imple-
menting and debugging a solution to a
known problem The new subject require-
ments for D amp T make reference to pro-
gramming monitoring and controlling prod-
ucts at KS2 The guidance becomes even
more explicit making specific reference to
the use of micro-controllers at KS3 Creat-
ing programs in order to control products
that pupils have designed and made them-
selves is a highly motivating tangible ex-
perience enabling them to test out and
develop their capability in computer sci-
ence within a range of real-life contexts
Last term col-
leagues from
CAS and the De-
sign and Technol-
ogy Association
(DATA) met to
discuss joint guid-
ance for teach-
ers drawing links
between the two
subjects with a
view to promoting cross curricular projects
The day was hosted by The Royal Acade-
my of Engineering
Alongside the discussions attendees ex-
plored the capabilities of an easy to use
programmable controller the Crumble
(bitly1IBOSOE) It can drive two high cur-
rent motors and has 4 low current IO con-
nectors to which a range of sensors
switches or LEDs can be attached Digital-
ly controlled full colour LEDs called Spar-
kles provided simple output with immediate
feedback The controller is programmed
via USB using a simple visual language
providing a low floor of entry with minimal
setup time allowing children to tinker and
experiment With other similar devices now
coming to market and a BBC Micro Bit
heading to all Year 7 pupils therersquos now a
real opportunity to start developing joint
projects Roger Davies
A makey-makey board may seem like a toy
but Ben Davies a CAS Master Teacher at St
Paulrsquos Primary School Manchester highlights
its wider educational potential
After letting my class play with a Makey-Makey board I soon realised it
had more educational value than it was letting on providing a great tool
for engagement and motivation My first use came while trying to extend
some high achievers when using Scratch The children were making
games with an Olympic theme (think Daley Thompsonrsquos Decathlon) and
creating a controller with the Makey-Makey was a suitable extension
The problem was it was an extension that everyone wanted to access
By the end of the unit I had bought four more and all of the class had
programmed a Scratch game controlled by the board
For the uninitiated a Makey-Makey board connects to a computer via a
USB lead Once connected certain computer inputs can be mimicked by
connecting the device to electrical conductors and completing the circuit
with an earth connection The unit that I now teach developed as a result
of our tinkering
We watch the Makey-Makey promotional video before giving several
boards out with the instruction to connect them Once pupils are able to
type something into a text editor we move on to playing games on Friv
The challenge is for children to find games that could be controlled by
the board and design a controller to play the game The next activity
combines elements of science and computing as children test a range of
materials to see if they act as electrical conductors The children create
Scratch programs that identify when an object completes an electrical
circuit By the end of these two sessions children have a sound under-
standing of how
the boards work
and how they
could be used as
input The next
step is designing
input based pro-
grams in Scratch
with the Makey-
Makey board in
mind
Their programs
range from maze games to two-player racing and keepie-uppie games
My favourite so far is an on-screen piano that was controlled by a play-
doh keyboard (an idea taken from the video) Three children worked
collaboratively to program a piano simulation The lure of being able to
play this piano gave them renewed resilience and ensured that they
stuck at it until completion Having used these boards for a few years I
am still surprised by the ideas that children come up with and the perse-
verance they show Long may this continue If youre looking to extend
children in their use of Scratch introducing a Makey-Makey board could
be just the challenge your class needs
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 4
In Scratch 20 there are
new blocks to sense the
video input from a
webcam and this can be
used as a simple control-
ler for a game ndash for ex-
ample trying to balance a
ball on your head How-
ever these blocks will
sense any movement
within the webcamrsquos view
and as such can be quite
limiting in what can be
controlled Whilst using it with my
students I recalled seeing a demon-
stration at the 2013 CAS conference
of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360
This sensor was used to recognise
multiple body joints and even two sep-
arate players ndash which would mean that
we could create more flexible pro-
grams
The Software Development Kit (SDK)
for the Kinect sensor has code exam-
ples in C C++ and Visual Basic but I
work in a special school and my stu-
dents struggle with text based lan-
guages I then remembered some
software called Kinect2Scratch devel-
oped by Stephen Howell It is availa-
ble at scratchsaorogcom (as are
links to the relevant software from
Microsoft to access the data from the
Kinect sensor) The Kinect2Scratch
website also has example scripts such
as a Space Invaders game where you
control your missile launcher by step-
ping left or right and fire missiles by
clapping your hands above your head
There is also a version of Pong for
one and two players (paddles con-
trolled by using your hands) and a
Hungry Ant Maths Game in which you
guide an ant using your right hand to
eat as many numbers as possible in
one minute After playing these
games studying the scripts and inves-
tigating the new sensing blocks that
Kinect2Scratch inserted I challenged
my KS4 students to design education-
al games for our Primary class This
gave them a focus and directed them
away from first person shooter games
Here are some examples of their de-
signs
ldquoNumber Bubblesrdquo - pop all of the
bubbles in the 2 times table as quickly
as possible
ldquoBall Catchrdquo - different balls fall from
the sky and you have to catch only the
red ones
A racing game ndash drive a car to col-
lect even numbers if you run over odd
numbers they slow you down
A penalty football game where you
take the kick and then use your hands
to curl the ball into the net
ldquoKeepy-Uppyrdquo football game ndash try to
keep the ball in the air for as long as
possible by using head and shoulders
The whole process was also extreme-
ly useful for the students to see how a
game might get developed They
found out that they had to revisit and
change their scripts as they went
along in response to user feedback It
was more difficult than they initially
thought but overall my students en-
joyed creating the games as did the
younger students when they came to
play them
Matthew Parry a CAS Master Teacher at Stanwick
School and Sports College Derbyshire outlines how
easy it is to get started developing games in Scratch
that use pupils body movement as the control
5 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
The introduction of Computing to
the National Curriculum may have
come as a surprise to many
teachers particularly those who
havenrsquot followed the debates in
CAS in the years before The new
orders spell out in a limited way
what should be covered by the
new subject but say little about
why To teach a subject well
knowing why wersquore teaching it is
important CAS has long made the
case for the broad educational
importance of Computing and the
need for all children to have some
exposure to the ideas of Comput-
er Science
Last year the
Chair of CAS
Simon Pey-
ton-Jones
was asked to
speak at a
local TED
conference in
Exeter In it
he makes a
compelling case for the primacy of
the discipline and the emergence
of a lsquofourth sciencersquo If you have
15 minutes spare let Simon con-
vince you about why the change is
so important See bitly1DSoYpY
for some very convincing reasons
why all pupils should engage with
creative Computer Science
CAS Chair Simon Peyton-Jones
The UK Schools Computer Anima-
tion Competition is now in its 8th year
involving large numbers of pupils
across the full age range Anima-
ton15 closed in March with 420
schools registered and over 800 en-
tries from 127 schools Prizes will be
awarded in May and Animation16
launches in September 2015 More
information at bitly1ABX2Uq
In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-
gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s
an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in
English primary schools from 2008ndash11
repeatedly expressed concerns with re-
gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted
reports suggest that it had at best been
patchy and in many schools non existent
Why if the subject is so engaging have
many UK schools been deficient in this
regard The following reasons have been
identified
A perception that the subject is conceptu-
ally hard
Logistical difficulties involved in setting up
and maintaining the hardware to teach
computer control
The cost of specialist resources hard-
ware and software and the requirement to
upgrade this at frequent intervals
The cyclical requirement to upgrade
brings a need to offer additional training to
keep teachers up to date
More recently particularly in primary
schools tablets with no means of connect-
ing control interfaces are replacing desktop
computers Schools that did make the sub-
stantial financial investment to resource
control in years gone by may have been
forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-
ware on more than one occasion as early
versions cease to be supported by new
operating systems or hardware This is the
tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on
schools by for-profit companies wishing to
sell the next version of their software or
hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a
gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle
Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-
station in primary school makes a lot of
sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College
School in Cambridge puts a compelling case
When teaching young children to program context is king The context
must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-
standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-
gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition
it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and
correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first
heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-
ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap
and sustainable platform for control technology
A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to
meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager
to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language
I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious
that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary
classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-
late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-
tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant
I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO
interface (see picture)
The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials
have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-
station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO
interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a
wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The
advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-
dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a
complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can
be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly
teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-
grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression
pathway and extension activities for the more able children
This is a sustainable solution ndash schools
will not be required to endlessly up-
grade their hardware and software
Moreover schools that already have a
range of legacy components connected
to 4mm plugs can use these with the
gPiO Cheap generic components can
also be used with it And the real beauty
of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-
dren are able to create complete control
systems that consider human factors
and the needs of the user Please take
a look at the project on the page oppo-
site as an example
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 6
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
A lot of the computing coordinators I
talk to are not feeling confident
enough to be the mentor for others
that they feel they should be I was so
glad then that the CAS
Barefoot Computing materi-
als (barefootcasorguk)
were created I have shown
the website in a number of
schools and used some of
the videos and off-line activi-
ties with staff The explana-
tions of terminology lesson
ideas extensions and differentiation
were always well received Staff were
pleased because they had things they
could use in class with very little prep-
aration They could find out what
terms like algorithm and decomposi-
tion mean and quickly feel more confi-
dent This leads to productive discus-
sions and staff begin to see that a lot
of what they need does not have to
involve kit as such Limited kit can be
used more purposefully with time for
discussion planning and preparation
before children try things out for real
I was just getting used to the materials
when along came Quickstart Compu-
ting (primaryquickstartcomputingorg)
Quickstart Computing is a CPD pack-
age aimed at helping staff develop
their own knowledge and skills in rela-
tion to the computing curriculum It
draws upon materials produced previ-
ously such as Barefoot Computing
and Phil Bagges httpwwwcode-
itcouk website
and ties it all
together with
new material
The CPD
package is set
out in such a
way that if
you were the
computer
coordinator you could up-skill yourself
before using the materials to train your
other staff through short sessions tak-
ing place during staff meetings It in-
cludes videos skills audits
a useful glossary Power-
Points and suggested CPD
outlines The materials are
designed to be chopped
and changed to suit your
particular needs Hard copy
versions are distributed via
CAS Hubs but all materials
can be downloaded from the website
More details in the review on page 19
I originally left a copy of the complete
handbook in the staffroom to read
before delivering a session for staff
Im not sure how many people actually
picked it up so I printed a copy for all
staff as a reference as we worked
through our training In our first ses-
sion we only managed to get through
what an algorithm is there was lots of
discussion over what things meant
and how these linked to other sub-
jects Everyone left feeling more posi-
tive finding the handbook a useful
document Someone even asked me
when the next session would be
Do take the time to have staff com-
plete the skills audit prior to delivering
training Completing the audit gives
you an idea of where to focus your
sessions and then revisiting the audit
after the sessions later in the year
staff can see how far they have come
Another resource that I have found to
be of use is the BBCs Primary Com-
puting website There are lots of vide-
os and guides there to help both staff
and children Knowing how to get to
grips with the new computing curricu-
lum can be quite difficult so I hope you
find the materials as useful as I have
It is computing co-ordinators that other pri-
mary teachers turn to in their hour of need
Andrew Shields from Leicestershire flags
up resources to give them a quick start
3 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
How time flies when
yoursquore teaching mark-
ing planning chasing
wi-fi installation oh
and having an Ofsted
inspection We now
have the technology ndash
well some of it and
more is on the way
Like many schools change has
not been as quick as we hoped
yet this helps focus our determina-
tion and enable us to make the
most of other opportunities Our
programming understanding is
developing and will continue to
use the amazing un-plugged re-
sources available The children
enjoy their practical nature and it
helps understanding of sequence
and consequently algorithms
Our learning platform lsquoFrogrsquo has
now been created and some of
the pupils and staff are piloting it
to become our Champions as we
roll it out to the rest of the school
community This cloud-based
technology will enable us reduce
our paper footprint and have more
integrated home school learning
It will also help us to meet some of
the IT elements of the new curric-
ulum requirements ndash storage ma-
nipulation and utilising digital con-
tent In conjunction we have invest-
ed in the some online resources
which will help less confident staff
with ideas and resources
Throughout all of this ndash I cannot
thank the great team at CAS who
have gently supported reminded
and cajoled me to organise CPD
sessions An email from Mark
and phone calls with Dave White
my regional coordinator have real-
ly helped me to stay focused on
the new computing curriculum and
ensure we donrsquot lose sight of what
we still need to do
The availability of low cost micro-
controllers can help cement the links be-
tween Computing and Design and Tech-
nology The iterative process of designing
and making lies at the heart of D amp T
Computational Thinking skills are often
best realised through designing imple-
menting and debugging a solution to a
known problem The new subject require-
ments for D amp T make reference to pro-
gramming monitoring and controlling prod-
ucts at KS2 The guidance becomes even
more explicit making specific reference to
the use of micro-controllers at KS3 Creat-
ing programs in order to control products
that pupils have designed and made them-
selves is a highly motivating tangible ex-
perience enabling them to test out and
develop their capability in computer sci-
ence within a range of real-life contexts
Last term col-
leagues from
CAS and the De-
sign and Technol-
ogy Association
(DATA) met to
discuss joint guid-
ance for teach-
ers drawing links
between the two
subjects with a
view to promoting cross curricular projects
The day was hosted by The Royal Acade-
my of Engineering
Alongside the discussions attendees ex-
plored the capabilities of an easy to use
programmable controller the Crumble
(bitly1IBOSOE) It can drive two high cur-
rent motors and has 4 low current IO con-
nectors to which a range of sensors
switches or LEDs can be attached Digital-
ly controlled full colour LEDs called Spar-
kles provided simple output with immediate
feedback The controller is programmed
via USB using a simple visual language
providing a low floor of entry with minimal
setup time allowing children to tinker and
experiment With other similar devices now
coming to market and a BBC Micro Bit
heading to all Year 7 pupils therersquos now a
real opportunity to start developing joint
projects Roger Davies
A makey-makey board may seem like a toy
but Ben Davies a CAS Master Teacher at St
Paulrsquos Primary School Manchester highlights
its wider educational potential
After letting my class play with a Makey-Makey board I soon realised it
had more educational value than it was letting on providing a great tool
for engagement and motivation My first use came while trying to extend
some high achievers when using Scratch The children were making
games with an Olympic theme (think Daley Thompsonrsquos Decathlon) and
creating a controller with the Makey-Makey was a suitable extension
The problem was it was an extension that everyone wanted to access
By the end of the unit I had bought four more and all of the class had
programmed a Scratch game controlled by the board
For the uninitiated a Makey-Makey board connects to a computer via a
USB lead Once connected certain computer inputs can be mimicked by
connecting the device to electrical conductors and completing the circuit
with an earth connection The unit that I now teach developed as a result
of our tinkering
We watch the Makey-Makey promotional video before giving several
boards out with the instruction to connect them Once pupils are able to
type something into a text editor we move on to playing games on Friv
The challenge is for children to find games that could be controlled by
the board and design a controller to play the game The next activity
combines elements of science and computing as children test a range of
materials to see if they act as electrical conductors The children create
Scratch programs that identify when an object completes an electrical
circuit By the end of these two sessions children have a sound under-
standing of how
the boards work
and how they
could be used as
input The next
step is designing
input based pro-
grams in Scratch
with the Makey-
Makey board in
mind
Their programs
range from maze games to two-player racing and keepie-uppie games
My favourite so far is an on-screen piano that was controlled by a play-
doh keyboard (an idea taken from the video) Three children worked
collaboratively to program a piano simulation The lure of being able to
play this piano gave them renewed resilience and ensured that they
stuck at it until completion Having used these boards for a few years I
am still surprised by the ideas that children come up with and the perse-
verance they show Long may this continue If youre looking to extend
children in their use of Scratch introducing a Makey-Makey board could
be just the challenge your class needs
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 4
In Scratch 20 there are
new blocks to sense the
video input from a
webcam and this can be
used as a simple control-
ler for a game ndash for ex-
ample trying to balance a
ball on your head How-
ever these blocks will
sense any movement
within the webcamrsquos view
and as such can be quite
limiting in what can be
controlled Whilst using it with my
students I recalled seeing a demon-
stration at the 2013 CAS conference
of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360
This sensor was used to recognise
multiple body joints and even two sep-
arate players ndash which would mean that
we could create more flexible pro-
grams
The Software Development Kit (SDK)
for the Kinect sensor has code exam-
ples in C C++ and Visual Basic but I
work in a special school and my stu-
dents struggle with text based lan-
guages I then remembered some
software called Kinect2Scratch devel-
oped by Stephen Howell It is availa-
ble at scratchsaorogcom (as are
links to the relevant software from
Microsoft to access the data from the
Kinect sensor) The Kinect2Scratch
website also has example scripts such
as a Space Invaders game where you
control your missile launcher by step-
ping left or right and fire missiles by
clapping your hands above your head
There is also a version of Pong for
one and two players (paddles con-
trolled by using your hands) and a
Hungry Ant Maths Game in which you
guide an ant using your right hand to
eat as many numbers as possible in
one minute After playing these
games studying the scripts and inves-
tigating the new sensing blocks that
Kinect2Scratch inserted I challenged
my KS4 students to design education-
al games for our Primary class This
gave them a focus and directed them
away from first person shooter games
Here are some examples of their de-
signs
ldquoNumber Bubblesrdquo - pop all of the
bubbles in the 2 times table as quickly
as possible
ldquoBall Catchrdquo - different balls fall from
the sky and you have to catch only the
red ones
A racing game ndash drive a car to col-
lect even numbers if you run over odd
numbers they slow you down
A penalty football game where you
take the kick and then use your hands
to curl the ball into the net
ldquoKeepy-Uppyrdquo football game ndash try to
keep the ball in the air for as long as
possible by using head and shoulders
The whole process was also extreme-
ly useful for the students to see how a
game might get developed They
found out that they had to revisit and
change their scripts as they went
along in response to user feedback It
was more difficult than they initially
thought but overall my students en-
joyed creating the games as did the
younger students when they came to
play them
Matthew Parry a CAS Master Teacher at Stanwick
School and Sports College Derbyshire outlines how
easy it is to get started developing games in Scratch
that use pupils body movement as the control
5 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
The introduction of Computing to
the National Curriculum may have
come as a surprise to many
teachers particularly those who
havenrsquot followed the debates in
CAS in the years before The new
orders spell out in a limited way
what should be covered by the
new subject but say little about
why To teach a subject well
knowing why wersquore teaching it is
important CAS has long made the
case for the broad educational
importance of Computing and the
need for all children to have some
exposure to the ideas of Comput-
er Science
Last year the
Chair of CAS
Simon Pey-
ton-Jones
was asked to
speak at a
local TED
conference in
Exeter In it
he makes a
compelling case for the primacy of
the discipline and the emergence
of a lsquofourth sciencersquo If you have
15 minutes spare let Simon con-
vince you about why the change is
so important See bitly1DSoYpY
for some very convincing reasons
why all pupils should engage with
creative Computer Science
CAS Chair Simon Peyton-Jones
The UK Schools Computer Anima-
tion Competition is now in its 8th year
involving large numbers of pupils
across the full age range Anima-
ton15 closed in March with 420
schools registered and over 800 en-
tries from 127 schools Prizes will be
awarded in May and Animation16
launches in September 2015 More
information at bitly1ABX2Uq
In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-
gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s
an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in
English primary schools from 2008ndash11
repeatedly expressed concerns with re-
gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted
reports suggest that it had at best been
patchy and in many schools non existent
Why if the subject is so engaging have
many UK schools been deficient in this
regard The following reasons have been
identified
A perception that the subject is conceptu-
ally hard
Logistical difficulties involved in setting up
and maintaining the hardware to teach
computer control
The cost of specialist resources hard-
ware and software and the requirement to
upgrade this at frequent intervals
The cyclical requirement to upgrade
brings a need to offer additional training to
keep teachers up to date
More recently particularly in primary
schools tablets with no means of connect-
ing control interfaces are replacing desktop
computers Schools that did make the sub-
stantial financial investment to resource
control in years gone by may have been
forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-
ware on more than one occasion as early
versions cease to be supported by new
operating systems or hardware This is the
tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on
schools by for-profit companies wishing to
sell the next version of their software or
hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a
gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle
Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-
station in primary school makes a lot of
sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College
School in Cambridge puts a compelling case
When teaching young children to program context is king The context
must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-
standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-
gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition
it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and
correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first
heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-
ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap
and sustainable platform for control technology
A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to
meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager
to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language
I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious
that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary
classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-
late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-
tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant
I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO
interface (see picture)
The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials
have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-
station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO
interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a
wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The
advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-
dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a
complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can
be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly
teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-
grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression
pathway and extension activities for the more able children
This is a sustainable solution ndash schools
will not be required to endlessly up-
grade their hardware and software
Moreover schools that already have a
range of legacy components connected
to 4mm plugs can use these with the
gPiO Cheap generic components can
also be used with it And the real beauty
of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-
dren are able to create complete control
systems that consider human factors
and the needs of the user Please take
a look at the project on the page oppo-
site as an example
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 6
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
The availability of low cost micro-
controllers can help cement the links be-
tween Computing and Design and Tech-
nology The iterative process of designing
and making lies at the heart of D amp T
Computational Thinking skills are often
best realised through designing imple-
menting and debugging a solution to a
known problem The new subject require-
ments for D amp T make reference to pro-
gramming monitoring and controlling prod-
ucts at KS2 The guidance becomes even
more explicit making specific reference to
the use of micro-controllers at KS3 Creat-
ing programs in order to control products
that pupils have designed and made them-
selves is a highly motivating tangible ex-
perience enabling them to test out and
develop their capability in computer sci-
ence within a range of real-life contexts
Last term col-
leagues from
CAS and the De-
sign and Technol-
ogy Association
(DATA) met to
discuss joint guid-
ance for teach-
ers drawing links
between the two
subjects with a
view to promoting cross curricular projects
The day was hosted by The Royal Acade-
my of Engineering
Alongside the discussions attendees ex-
plored the capabilities of an easy to use
programmable controller the Crumble
(bitly1IBOSOE) It can drive two high cur-
rent motors and has 4 low current IO con-
nectors to which a range of sensors
switches or LEDs can be attached Digital-
ly controlled full colour LEDs called Spar-
kles provided simple output with immediate
feedback The controller is programmed
via USB using a simple visual language
providing a low floor of entry with minimal
setup time allowing children to tinker and
experiment With other similar devices now
coming to market and a BBC Micro Bit
heading to all Year 7 pupils therersquos now a
real opportunity to start developing joint
projects Roger Davies
A makey-makey board may seem like a toy
but Ben Davies a CAS Master Teacher at St
Paulrsquos Primary School Manchester highlights
its wider educational potential
After letting my class play with a Makey-Makey board I soon realised it
had more educational value than it was letting on providing a great tool
for engagement and motivation My first use came while trying to extend
some high achievers when using Scratch The children were making
games with an Olympic theme (think Daley Thompsonrsquos Decathlon) and
creating a controller with the Makey-Makey was a suitable extension
The problem was it was an extension that everyone wanted to access
By the end of the unit I had bought four more and all of the class had
programmed a Scratch game controlled by the board
For the uninitiated a Makey-Makey board connects to a computer via a
USB lead Once connected certain computer inputs can be mimicked by
connecting the device to electrical conductors and completing the circuit
with an earth connection The unit that I now teach developed as a result
of our tinkering
We watch the Makey-Makey promotional video before giving several
boards out with the instruction to connect them Once pupils are able to
type something into a text editor we move on to playing games on Friv
The challenge is for children to find games that could be controlled by
the board and design a controller to play the game The next activity
combines elements of science and computing as children test a range of
materials to see if they act as electrical conductors The children create
Scratch programs that identify when an object completes an electrical
circuit By the end of these two sessions children have a sound under-
standing of how
the boards work
and how they
could be used as
input The next
step is designing
input based pro-
grams in Scratch
with the Makey-
Makey board in
mind
Their programs
range from maze games to two-player racing and keepie-uppie games
My favourite so far is an on-screen piano that was controlled by a play-
doh keyboard (an idea taken from the video) Three children worked
collaboratively to program a piano simulation The lure of being able to
play this piano gave them renewed resilience and ensured that they
stuck at it until completion Having used these boards for a few years I
am still surprised by the ideas that children come up with and the perse-
verance they show Long may this continue If youre looking to extend
children in their use of Scratch introducing a Makey-Makey board could
be just the challenge your class needs
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 4
In Scratch 20 there are
new blocks to sense the
video input from a
webcam and this can be
used as a simple control-
ler for a game ndash for ex-
ample trying to balance a
ball on your head How-
ever these blocks will
sense any movement
within the webcamrsquos view
and as such can be quite
limiting in what can be
controlled Whilst using it with my
students I recalled seeing a demon-
stration at the 2013 CAS conference
of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360
This sensor was used to recognise
multiple body joints and even two sep-
arate players ndash which would mean that
we could create more flexible pro-
grams
The Software Development Kit (SDK)
for the Kinect sensor has code exam-
ples in C C++ and Visual Basic but I
work in a special school and my stu-
dents struggle with text based lan-
guages I then remembered some
software called Kinect2Scratch devel-
oped by Stephen Howell It is availa-
ble at scratchsaorogcom (as are
links to the relevant software from
Microsoft to access the data from the
Kinect sensor) The Kinect2Scratch
website also has example scripts such
as a Space Invaders game where you
control your missile launcher by step-
ping left or right and fire missiles by
clapping your hands above your head
There is also a version of Pong for
one and two players (paddles con-
trolled by using your hands) and a
Hungry Ant Maths Game in which you
guide an ant using your right hand to
eat as many numbers as possible in
one minute After playing these
games studying the scripts and inves-
tigating the new sensing blocks that
Kinect2Scratch inserted I challenged
my KS4 students to design education-
al games for our Primary class This
gave them a focus and directed them
away from first person shooter games
Here are some examples of their de-
signs
ldquoNumber Bubblesrdquo - pop all of the
bubbles in the 2 times table as quickly
as possible
ldquoBall Catchrdquo - different balls fall from
the sky and you have to catch only the
red ones
A racing game ndash drive a car to col-
lect even numbers if you run over odd
numbers they slow you down
A penalty football game where you
take the kick and then use your hands
to curl the ball into the net
ldquoKeepy-Uppyrdquo football game ndash try to
keep the ball in the air for as long as
possible by using head and shoulders
The whole process was also extreme-
ly useful for the students to see how a
game might get developed They
found out that they had to revisit and
change their scripts as they went
along in response to user feedback It
was more difficult than they initially
thought but overall my students en-
joyed creating the games as did the
younger students when they came to
play them
Matthew Parry a CAS Master Teacher at Stanwick
School and Sports College Derbyshire outlines how
easy it is to get started developing games in Scratch
that use pupils body movement as the control
5 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
The introduction of Computing to
the National Curriculum may have
come as a surprise to many
teachers particularly those who
havenrsquot followed the debates in
CAS in the years before The new
orders spell out in a limited way
what should be covered by the
new subject but say little about
why To teach a subject well
knowing why wersquore teaching it is
important CAS has long made the
case for the broad educational
importance of Computing and the
need for all children to have some
exposure to the ideas of Comput-
er Science
Last year the
Chair of CAS
Simon Pey-
ton-Jones
was asked to
speak at a
local TED
conference in
Exeter In it
he makes a
compelling case for the primacy of
the discipline and the emergence
of a lsquofourth sciencersquo If you have
15 minutes spare let Simon con-
vince you about why the change is
so important See bitly1DSoYpY
for some very convincing reasons
why all pupils should engage with
creative Computer Science
CAS Chair Simon Peyton-Jones
The UK Schools Computer Anima-
tion Competition is now in its 8th year
involving large numbers of pupils
across the full age range Anima-
ton15 closed in March with 420
schools registered and over 800 en-
tries from 127 schools Prizes will be
awarded in May and Animation16
launches in September 2015 More
information at bitly1ABX2Uq
In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-
gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s
an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in
English primary schools from 2008ndash11
repeatedly expressed concerns with re-
gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted
reports suggest that it had at best been
patchy and in many schools non existent
Why if the subject is so engaging have
many UK schools been deficient in this
regard The following reasons have been
identified
A perception that the subject is conceptu-
ally hard
Logistical difficulties involved in setting up
and maintaining the hardware to teach
computer control
The cost of specialist resources hard-
ware and software and the requirement to
upgrade this at frequent intervals
The cyclical requirement to upgrade
brings a need to offer additional training to
keep teachers up to date
More recently particularly in primary
schools tablets with no means of connect-
ing control interfaces are replacing desktop
computers Schools that did make the sub-
stantial financial investment to resource
control in years gone by may have been
forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-
ware on more than one occasion as early
versions cease to be supported by new
operating systems or hardware This is the
tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on
schools by for-profit companies wishing to
sell the next version of their software or
hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a
gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle
Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-
station in primary school makes a lot of
sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College
School in Cambridge puts a compelling case
When teaching young children to program context is king The context
must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-
standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-
gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition
it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and
correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first
heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-
ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap
and sustainable platform for control technology
A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to
meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager
to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language
I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious
that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary
classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-
late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-
tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant
I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO
interface (see picture)
The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials
have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-
station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO
interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a
wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The
advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-
dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a
complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can
be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly
teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-
grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression
pathway and extension activities for the more able children
This is a sustainable solution ndash schools
will not be required to endlessly up-
grade their hardware and software
Moreover schools that already have a
range of legacy components connected
to 4mm plugs can use these with the
gPiO Cheap generic components can
also be used with it And the real beauty
of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-
dren are able to create complete control
systems that consider human factors
and the needs of the user Please take
a look at the project on the page oppo-
site as an example
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 6
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
In Scratch 20 there are
new blocks to sense the
video input from a
webcam and this can be
used as a simple control-
ler for a game ndash for ex-
ample trying to balance a
ball on your head How-
ever these blocks will
sense any movement
within the webcamrsquos view
and as such can be quite
limiting in what can be
controlled Whilst using it with my
students I recalled seeing a demon-
stration at the 2013 CAS conference
of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360
This sensor was used to recognise
multiple body joints and even two sep-
arate players ndash which would mean that
we could create more flexible pro-
grams
The Software Development Kit (SDK)
for the Kinect sensor has code exam-
ples in C C++ and Visual Basic but I
work in a special school and my stu-
dents struggle with text based lan-
guages I then remembered some
software called Kinect2Scratch devel-
oped by Stephen Howell It is availa-
ble at scratchsaorogcom (as are
links to the relevant software from
Microsoft to access the data from the
Kinect sensor) The Kinect2Scratch
website also has example scripts such
as a Space Invaders game where you
control your missile launcher by step-
ping left or right and fire missiles by
clapping your hands above your head
There is also a version of Pong for
one and two players (paddles con-
trolled by using your hands) and a
Hungry Ant Maths Game in which you
guide an ant using your right hand to
eat as many numbers as possible in
one minute After playing these
games studying the scripts and inves-
tigating the new sensing blocks that
Kinect2Scratch inserted I challenged
my KS4 students to design education-
al games for our Primary class This
gave them a focus and directed them
away from first person shooter games
Here are some examples of their de-
signs
ldquoNumber Bubblesrdquo - pop all of the
bubbles in the 2 times table as quickly
as possible
ldquoBall Catchrdquo - different balls fall from
the sky and you have to catch only the
red ones
A racing game ndash drive a car to col-
lect even numbers if you run over odd
numbers they slow you down
A penalty football game where you
take the kick and then use your hands
to curl the ball into the net
ldquoKeepy-Uppyrdquo football game ndash try to
keep the ball in the air for as long as
possible by using head and shoulders
The whole process was also extreme-
ly useful for the students to see how a
game might get developed They
found out that they had to revisit and
change their scripts as they went
along in response to user feedback It
was more difficult than they initially
thought but overall my students en-
joyed creating the games as did the
younger students when they came to
play them
Matthew Parry a CAS Master Teacher at Stanwick
School and Sports College Derbyshire outlines how
easy it is to get started developing games in Scratch
that use pupils body movement as the control
5 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
The introduction of Computing to
the National Curriculum may have
come as a surprise to many
teachers particularly those who
havenrsquot followed the debates in
CAS in the years before The new
orders spell out in a limited way
what should be covered by the
new subject but say little about
why To teach a subject well
knowing why wersquore teaching it is
important CAS has long made the
case for the broad educational
importance of Computing and the
need for all children to have some
exposure to the ideas of Comput-
er Science
Last year the
Chair of CAS
Simon Pey-
ton-Jones
was asked to
speak at a
local TED
conference in
Exeter In it
he makes a
compelling case for the primacy of
the discipline and the emergence
of a lsquofourth sciencersquo If you have
15 minutes spare let Simon con-
vince you about why the change is
so important See bitly1DSoYpY
for some very convincing reasons
why all pupils should engage with
creative Computer Science
CAS Chair Simon Peyton-Jones
The UK Schools Computer Anima-
tion Competition is now in its 8th year
involving large numbers of pupils
across the full age range Anima-
ton15 closed in March with 420
schools registered and over 800 en-
tries from 127 schools Prizes will be
awarded in May and Animation16
launches in September 2015 More
information at bitly1ABX2Uq
In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-
gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s
an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in
English primary schools from 2008ndash11
repeatedly expressed concerns with re-
gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted
reports suggest that it had at best been
patchy and in many schools non existent
Why if the subject is so engaging have
many UK schools been deficient in this
regard The following reasons have been
identified
A perception that the subject is conceptu-
ally hard
Logistical difficulties involved in setting up
and maintaining the hardware to teach
computer control
The cost of specialist resources hard-
ware and software and the requirement to
upgrade this at frequent intervals
The cyclical requirement to upgrade
brings a need to offer additional training to
keep teachers up to date
More recently particularly in primary
schools tablets with no means of connect-
ing control interfaces are replacing desktop
computers Schools that did make the sub-
stantial financial investment to resource
control in years gone by may have been
forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-
ware on more than one occasion as early
versions cease to be supported by new
operating systems or hardware This is the
tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on
schools by for-profit companies wishing to
sell the next version of their software or
hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a
gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle
Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-
station in primary school makes a lot of
sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College
School in Cambridge puts a compelling case
When teaching young children to program context is king The context
must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-
standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-
gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition
it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and
correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first
heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-
ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap
and sustainable platform for control technology
A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to
meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager
to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language
I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious
that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary
classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-
late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-
tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant
I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO
interface (see picture)
The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials
have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-
station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO
interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a
wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The
advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-
dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a
complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can
be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly
teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-
grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression
pathway and extension activities for the more able children
This is a sustainable solution ndash schools
will not be required to endlessly up-
grade their hardware and software
Moreover schools that already have a
range of legacy components connected
to 4mm plugs can use these with the
gPiO Cheap generic components can
also be used with it And the real beauty
of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-
dren are able to create complete control
systems that consider human factors
and the needs of the user Please take
a look at the project on the page oppo-
site as an example
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 6
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
In spite of the inclusion of control technolo-
gy on the curriculum since the early 1980s
an Ofsted evaluation of ICT teaching in
English primary schools from 2008ndash11
repeatedly expressed concerns with re-
gard to the teaching of lsquocontrolrsquo Ofsted
reports suggest that it had at best been
patchy and in many schools non existent
Why if the subject is so engaging have
many UK schools been deficient in this
regard The following reasons have been
identified
A perception that the subject is conceptu-
ally hard
Logistical difficulties involved in setting up
and maintaining the hardware to teach
computer control
The cost of specialist resources hard-
ware and software and the requirement to
upgrade this at frequent intervals
The cyclical requirement to upgrade
brings a need to offer additional training to
keep teachers up to date
More recently particularly in primary
schools tablets with no means of connect-
ing control interfaces are replacing desktop
computers Schools that did make the sub-
stantial financial investment to resource
control in years gone by may have been
forced to upgrade their hardware and soft-
ware on more than one occasion as early
versions cease to be supported by new
operating systems or hardware This is the
tyranny of the upgrade cycle imposed on
schools by for-profit companies wishing to
sell the next version of their software or
hardware Raspberry Pi computers using a
gPiO offer a way out of this vicious circle
Using the Raspberry Pi as a lsquocontrolrsquo work-
station in primary school makes a lot of
sense Graham Hastings St Johnrsquos College
School in Cambridge puts a compelling case
When teaching young children to program context is king The context
must be both rooted in their personal experience and completely under-
standable Physical computing is an excellent way of providing an en-
gaging context that is meaningful to primary school children In addition
it gives children immediate feedback This motivates them to find and
correct bugs helping build determination and resilience When I first
heard about the Raspberry Pi it occurred to me that with Linux and soft-
ware such as Scratch and Python the device might represent a cheap
and sustainable platform for control technology
A bewildering array of lsquobreakout boardsrsquo have been rushed to market to
meet the opportunity presented by the new Computing curriculum Eager
to explore the potential of the Pi running Scratch as a control language
I began trials using many of these add-ons It quickly became obvious
that small pins jumper leads and breadboards do not work in a primary
classroom Young children simply lack the manual dexterity to manipu-
late the components Because my school was beginning to replace tradi-
tional PCs with tablets making my existing control interfaces redundant
I persevered with the Pi but with much frustration until I obtained a gPiO
interface (see picture)
The gPiO was designed for use in Key Stages 2 and 3 Extensive trials
have convinced me that there is a role for the Pi as a control work-
station I now have a class set left permanently connected to their gPiO
interface In KS2 the children have made rapid progress completing a
wide range of control projects programmed in Scratch and Python The
advantages of this Pi gPiO combination go a long way towards ad-
dressing the barriers previously noted The Pi gPiO is affordable a
complete control workstation including screen mouse and keyboard can
be purchased for under pound200 Many children and more importantly
teachers are already familiar with Scratch The ease with which pro-
grammers can move from Scratch to Python offers a clear progression
pathway and extension activities for the more able children
This is a sustainable solution ndash schools
will not be required to endlessly up-
grade their hardware and software
Moreover schools that already have a
range of legacy components connected
to 4mm plugs can use these with the
gPiO Cheap generic components can
also be used with it And the real beauty
of the Pi gPiO combination is that chil-
dren are able to create complete control
systems that consider human factors
and the needs of the user Please take
a look at the project on the page oppo-
site as an example
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 6
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Computing attainment targets
Design write and debug programs
that accomplish specific goals in-
cluding controlling or simulating
physical systems solve problems by
decomposing them into smaller parts
use sequence selection and repeti-
tion in programs work with variables
and various forms of input and output
Project aims
The project links science (simple
circuits forces and friction) design
and technology (design and make a
moving model with a pulley) and
computing Using models children
have built for themselves as a con-
text for computer control immediately
engages them in the activity Their
desire to see their models brought to
life motivates children to complete
the control task with determination
and resilience The design brief asks
the children to consider safety as an
important aspect of the task They
should also aim to explore ways of
making their ride more enticing to the
public through considering the use of
lighting and music
Task
To build a rotating fairground ride
with motor and lights Program it with
a safe start button so that it will only
rotate when the button is pressed If
the button is released the ride must
immediately stop and an alarm sound
The ride must have flashing lights to
attract peoplersquos attention Add music
to your control program so that your
ride plays a tune as it turns Exten-
sion could program a range of rides -
perhaps slow and simple for young
children and faster with frequent
changes of direction for older people
Resources
A fairground model that rotates
Raspberry-Pi SD card with Scratch
GPIO and suitable music files in-
stalled gPiO interface push button
range of coloured LEDs geared mo-
tor (2001) 6v buzzer
Solution
Using a pulley wheel glued to the
motorrsquos stub axle and a rubber band
the motor is linked to the model The
motor is wired to motor output B on
the gPiO (pin11 ON will rotate the
motor forwards and pin12 ON will
rotate the motor in reverse) It is up
to the children to decide the number
of changes in direction and how long
the ride should last A push button is
attached to the model and wired to
input 7 as the start and safety button
which should act as a lsquodead manrsquos
handlersquo if the button is released the
ride stops and a buzzer sounds
Three coloured LEDs are attached to
the model and wired to outputs 15
16 and 18 Children can decide the
sequence and the music they want
7 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
For those who are accustomed to
Windows PCs the Pi represents a
steep learning curve However
there is plenty of good advice on
how to setup an SD card and in-
stall Scratch GPIO (see links be-
low) If you then make a copy of
the complete image you can clone
it to your remaining cards via a PC
using a free utility Alternatively
purchase cards with the NOOBS
software already installed from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Class management needs some
planning I have children working
in pairs each with a numbered SD
card Once they learn how to con-
nect the cables it takes about five
minutes to wire up and start their
Pi Their first task is to create a
directory to save their project files
There is no need to network the
workstations It takes about three
minutes to pack away at the end
of a session The setup time could
be avoided if you can leave them
permanently set up Keyboards
with a built in USB port for the
mouse leave one port on the Pi
free for a memory stick so children
can save their programs and hand
in for marking
Despite teething troubles children
can now manage the setup with
confidence learning the skills of
fault finding and correcting prob-
lems as they arise
Raspberry Pi SD card NOOBS setup
instructions bitly1BAvQnc
Scratch GPIO installation
bitly1CURy9T
gPiO interface wwwgpiocouk
How to clone SD cards
bitly1GxvK5q Camera Trap Project - short video of
a Pi gPiO Python project for Year
67 bitly1HZD8ER
A frequently asked question is what can a Pi do that cannot be done on a desk-
top computer The niche for the Pi as I see it stems from the fact that Scratch
and Python can be used as languages to program physical systems This brings
the scope to not only program simple feedback control routines but also the
ability to create complete solutions to control problems This has been difficult to
do with languages written specifically for control technology Add to this the like-
lihood that desktop computers will all but disappear from primary schools in the
next five years and that the Pi gPiO Scratch combination is a much cheaper
alternative then it becomes a very attractive proposition
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Last June I was lucky enough to be
part of the second cohort of Picademy
lsquograduatesrsquo or Pi Certified Educators
(PCEs) For two very intense days we
learned about ways to use the Raspberry
Pi in our teaching and it was pretty cool
stuff too (See article right) On returning to
work we looked for inspired ways to har-
ness the Pi With Sports Day looming it
seemed an ideal opportunity to try out the
Picamera First we had to address the is-
sue of getting them out onto the field and
where to set them up We decided to put
one Pi on the finishing line for the relay
races and one Pi on the top bend into the
home straight
We borrowed some high-jump
posts from the PE department
and my colleague provided a cou-
ple of portable battery chargers to
power the computers As we donrsquot
(yet) have a cute 28 inch TFT
screen for the Pi I persuaded a
couple of Year 9 pupils to carry
out a monitor so that we could set
them up They were very patient
as we strapped each Pi and power source
to the high-jump posts and tested them
One of my very talented Year 10 pupils
had created a script for the camera that
would begin running as soon as the Pi was
turned on This saved us having to mess
around too much with typing in commands
and meant that we could just start up each
Pi and check via the screen that images
were being captured then leave it running
Lots of pupils and visiting parents were
curious about the strange gadgets ndash it cer-
tainly made an interesting talking point and
gave an opportunity to highlight our use of
the Pi and Computing in school
It was fun checking our photos at the end
We discovered the majority of races had
finished in the 29 seconds between shots
We did manage to capture a couple of rac-
es though so all was not lost We now
need to add a TFT screen plus a motion
sensor to our shopping list You can see
the edited highlights of the captured imag-
es in Sports Day in 30 Seconds here
youtubeqm14Daiaveo Sue Gray
The word is out about the Picademy
training courses Kim Sayers from
Landau Forte College Derby gives an
insight into whatrsquos involved
Good CPD is often hard to come by and expensive unless that CPD is
run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation Last June I was part of Picademy 2
held at Raspberry Pi Towers in Cambridge and run by the award win-
ning secondary Computing amp ICT Teacher author and Education Pio-
neer at the Raspberry Pi Foundation Carrie Anne Philbin Picademy is a
two day training course that doesnt sleep and best of all Raspberry Pi
are offering this training to teachers across the country for free
Day 1 sees everyone excitedly meeting up before completing a series of
workshops designed to inspire whilst quickly demonstrating how con-
cepts could be taught within the classroom We had some people form-
ing electric circuits for one demonstration whilst others made music by
being notes and
sounds in another When
I was on the course we
did some Python coding
in Minecraft used a Pi
camera for stop frame
animation made music
with the amazing Sonic
Pi and so much more all
using kit included in the
best swag bag ever
Official training finished around 5pm when the whole group including
Raspberry Pi staff and trainers continued with the discussions over din-
ner (again provided for free) Napkins became notepads whilst ideas
were scribbled down and the creative juices flowed freely Later that
night I struggled to sleep as my head was so full of exciting things to try
out and ask the next day
This is where Picademy stands out from other CPD courses - Day 2 is
all about taking the knowledge from Day 1 and the spark from the even-
ing and mixing it up Those ideas started to take shape and become re-
ality as we started to put into practice the skills from the first day I
worked with three others including Dan Arnold to create a glove that
controlled a character in the GPIO Scratch application Dan has since
taken this idea further and was recently in Linux User magazine showing
off the completed glove
One of the great things about Picademy is that it does not stop after the
two days Everyone shares contact details meaning a constant stream of
ideas through social media continues after the event This contact also
means that a readily available support network seamlessly forms keen to
help spread the Raspberry Pi love The two days round off with the offi-
cial cohort picture and the official presentation of our Raspberry Pi Certi-
fied Educator badges given to us by Eben Upton himself This badge is
worn with pride by all who have it and I often find others trying to steal it
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 8
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Clifford French a CAS Master Teacher at
Camden CLC sings the praises of a self con-
tained programmable board designed at
UCL to introduce physical computing
What do traffic lights a mobile phone
and a bank cash machine have in
common An obvious answer is that
we depend on these in our everyday
lives A more technical answer might
be that they all run programs that use
iteration ndash looping through the same
steps every minute of every hour of
every day Iteration is one of those
essential concepts in computer sci-
ence that many students find difficult
to understand Thatrsquos where physical
computing can come into its own
helping students to see the concept in
action and moving it off the screen or
the printed page
In my work in schools and at Camden
City Learning Centre I have found that
the Engduino a small self-contained
programmable board with LEDs and a
range of sensors never fails to en-
gage students across a wide age
range and in doing so helps nurture
an understanding of a wide range of
CS concepts
Originally developed as a simple com-
puter science teaching tool at UCL
(University College London) the Eng-
duino is now in its third incarnation
with 16 LEDs a thermistor a light
sensor an accelerometer a magne-
tometer an IR transceiver a button
and micro SD card storage all in a
compact Arduino based board that
connects to a computer (Windows
Mac or Linux) via USB and requires
no additional peripherals
I believe that it is really important to
relate learning in CS to our everyday
lives and my personal preference is to
start with the Engduino as an example
of a ldquowearablerdquo Students can program
it to flash its lights to reflect or alter
their moods or feelings and if they
wish wear it Helpfully it comes with a
small battery to make it portable and a
hole for a lanyard
Students readily relate to situations
where temperature is important for
example looking after a young child
or someone who is ill these provide
scope for exploring the thermistor and
while loops GCSE Science students
can use the device to plot cooling
curves importing data into a spread-
sheet either directly from the console
or via an SD card
The Engduino is for sale at pound4650
with a range of free learning resources
covering variables arrays for and
while loops Appreciating that schools
may find a class set of 16 (one be-
tween two plus a device for the teach-
er) to be a considerable investment
particularly for an unfamiliar resource
UCL has a limited num-
ber of Engduino class
sets available for leas-
ing for a notional fee on
a full or half-term basis
as part of a UK-wide
pilot scheme Technical
support and learning
materials are provided
If you are interested
feel free to get in touch
sooner rather than later
as supplies are limited
9 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Since the report in the last issue
of SwitchedOn Oxford Universi-
tyrsquos Turtle System has acquired
another language a ldquobarebonesrdquo
version of BBC BASIC so that
programs in Turtle BASIC Turtle
Java and Turtle Pascal can now
all be seen and run online at
httpwwwturtleoxacukturtlejs
The project has produced a portable
compiler that can run on Mac and
Linux machines (and Windows) to
generate code ndash from BASIC Ja-
va or Pascal ndash that can be run on
the same online system Work is
now underway on a Python com-
piler which in due course will be
integrated with all these new facili-
ties within a comprehensive down-
loadable and online system
With the addition of these new
languages as well as further facil-
ities (including those for reading
and writing files) we are actively
seeking more volunteers to con-
tribute lesson plans and related
resources ldquoGetting startedrdquo les-
sons in BASIC would be particu-
larly welcome as would more ad-
vanced lessons ndash in any of the
languages ndash that take pupils be-
yond the introductory stages (eg
through further work on algo-
rithms graphics or cryptography)
We can offer up to pound100 per les-
son for suitable material If you
are interested please email pe-
termillicanhertfordoxacuk
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Competitions abound just now inspiring
children to create with code and giving
opportunities for stretching challenging
and supporting Some are local events
while others are national or global many
give a chance to interact with others with
different skills helping broaden the oppor-
tunities available to children and taking
the pressure off teachers who simply can-
not become Jedi Masters in every lan-
guage and paradigm
Young Rewired State runs hack events for
under 18s culminating in a Festival of
Code at the end of July each year Teams
meet in local centres for four days of ideas
design coding and testing solutions using
open source data At the weekend teams
meet at a central location for the finals ndash
three days of code pizza and presenta-
tion Itrsquos a hugely exciting event for stu-
dents and is largely free so accessible to
all Regular Hyperlocal events run in some
centres keeping the festival spirit going all
year round
First Lego League is a global competition
with more than 250000 children from 9 to
16 taking part Using Lego Mindstorms
robots the competition is based on chal-
lenges that encourage the children to solve
problems from a scientificengineering per-
spective Registration opens in May 2015
with tournaments running from November
to January with UK finals in February
Google CodeJam targets older students
ages 13 and up may compete but they
must be 18 to enter the final round A
qualification round is followed by further
online rounds based on solving given
problem sets within a specified time
BAFTArsquos YGD offers Game Making and
Game Concept competitions in 10-14 and
15-18 categories giving children who like
to draw and coders a chance to get in-
volved This is great for those who love
games and gives them an insight into the
industry And there are many more online
and in local centres for different ages and
different skills Have a look at the links on
the CAS Community (resource43) for
more great ideas Lyndsay Hope
Managing multiple Raspberry Pi computers in
a classroom can be a headache Sixth form
student Liam Nicholson from Kirkby Kendal
School in Cumbria suggests a novel solution
As soon as we started using Raspberry Pirsquos whenever we wanted to
install a new program or an SD card became corrupted we were spend-
ing a considerable amount of time imaging cards After searching for a
solution we discovered Raspi-LTSP an implementation of the LTSP
protocol specifically made for Raspberry Pi (Now called PiNet see the
box below for further details) Our
computing lab is the kind that most
people would want in their school
Itrsquos full of bits of old computers that
we reuse to make our own ma-
chines so we quickly got to work building our own server for the Pis
installing Raspi-LTSP and making it compatible with school systems
After creating a working prototype I was asked to roll the system out
school-wide on a permanent basis Extra ethernet ports were installed
over the summer to facilitate this and we were given a Virtualised Serv-
er This allowed us to gain insight into network administration whilst
keeping a secured environment We could make mistakes as the server
could be easily reinstalled When we arrived back in September our
Model B+ Raspberry Pis had arrived We set to work installing the soft-
ware on our new server including Epoptes (epoptesorg) for classroom
management allowing us to restart and shutdown the Pis remotely
Students can now learn how to interact with the Linux shell program in
Python and interface using the Raspberry Pirsquos GPIO ports without hav-
ing to wait up to 30 minutes to image an SD card You just turn on the Pi
and yoursquore live within 1ndash2 minutes Itrsquos easier for teachers to manage as
they now have a dedicated interface for adding user accounts and all
usersrsquo files are stored on the server
The school now has a club to learn how to code in Python using the
Raspberry Pis and the shared files function available using Raspi-LTSP
helps teachers share code samples with students But the best bit about
the network is that it is completely managed by Sixth Form students like
myself We manage the updates add new features and programs and
deal with any problems should they arise although nothing serious has
yet When the Year 13s leave in June theyrsquoll hand over to the Year 12s
who will manage it for the next year Wersquove just started adding our own
customizations to the Raspi-LTSP code allowing us to
change things like the desktop background and to allow
a deeper integration with our schoolrsquos network Wersquore also
looking forward to adding some more features such as a
GUI for teachers so they donrsquot need to SSH into the
server to add a user or install a program
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 10
PiNet has been developed by CAS member Andrew Mul-
holland (Queenrsquos University) He blogs at pigbamaninfo
All essential links to the PiNet project can be found on his
CAS Community post at topics4251
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
In a new subject there is inevitably a
lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise
Established approaches from Mathe-
matics and Science can be adapted to
benefit learning in Computer Science
Wersquoll look at how Geometry becomes
ldquoaction geometryrdquo from a computing
perspective when investigating how a
spriteturtle traces the outline of a sim-
ple regular shape revealing through
pattern and symmetry of movement
the properties of the structures We
then use scientific enquiry-based
learning to unlock these properties
The following investigation of angles
and spin lends itself to introducing
computational thinking in different
ways and at different levels Irsquod sug-
gest the teacher uses an enquiry-
based approach to encourage and
support computational thinking by
appealing to patterns symmetry and
lsquoaction geometryrsquo in the first instance
and to principles of decomposition and
generalising to complete the task
Try to devise a set of questions to
help your class discover how to calcu-
late angles x and y in the square
below (y is the turning angle for the
spriteturtle) We are less interested in
the values rather how to derive them
It should be possible to use exactly
the same questions but to substitute
the words lsquoregular pentagonrsquo wherever
you see the word lsquosquarersquo in your
questions and 5 sides instead of 4
The questions should lead the class to
discover how to calculate the angles
x and y when applied to the pentagon
There are several example questions
ndash they are not the answer - in the box
below to help you make a start
Dave White CAS Regional Co-ordinator for Essex
and Hertfordshire illustrates how pedagogy devel-
oped in Mathematics and Science can be used to
develop Computational Thinking
11 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What is special about the number 360
What does symmetry mean for a square
Why is ldquoThe lengths of the 4 sides must be equalrdquo not
enough to define a shape as a square
Why is ldquoThe internal angles at the 4 vertices of the 4
sided figure must be equalrdquo not enough to define a shape
as a square
What conditions do you have to insist on to make sure
a 4-sided figure is a square
Hint If you turn round completely how many degrees
have you turned through We will call this a SPIN(360)
What are the other angles at the centre of the square
Hint In the diagram start at O follow the arrow to A
turn through y go to B and continue until you return to O
and face the original direction What angle did you turn
through at B
How many angles did you turn through in total to face
the same way as you started
For a square we may have known
the values of the angles x and y In
other polygons however pupils may
be less familiar hence the im-
portance of how we work out the
values of x and y with the square
With that we then have a possible
basis for generalising to approach to
the pentagon
Using exactly the same questions
you can try to generalise the process
by substituting the words lsquoregular
pentagonrsquo for the word lsquosquarersquo
Taking it further how would you gen-
eralise to work out the process to
find the answer for angles x y in
other regular polygons Try
a 6-sided hexagon
a 7-sided heptagon
Why is the process more significant
for the heptagon
Finally how would you work out the
turning angle y in a 5-sided star
(pentagram --- a self-intersecting
pentagon shown above) Hint Watch
how much the turtle spins in tracing
out the pentagram
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Paul Curzon and fellow
computer scientist Pete
McOwan have now
produced three compi-
lations of magic tricks
for cs4fn The books
are collections of
easy to do magic
tricks (mainly simple
card tricks) The
twist is that every
trick comes with a
link to some computer
science too As you
learn the tricks you
will learn something
about what computer
scientists get up to
too Each book
contains more
about the talented
magicians past and
present who created
both mathematical
self working and
slight of hand tech-
niques All three are
available to down-
load free from
cs4fnorgmagic
Sitting at a computer is not always the best way to learn
about computing Paul Curzon editor of cs4fn argues an
unplugged approach gives a solid way to teach concepts
that is both fun and supports a deep understanding
The Queen Mary University of London cs4fn team have developed a
way of using magic tricks to illustrate computational concepts The key
ideas are that
Both magic and programs are a combination of an algorithm and a
presentation
Both must be right for the trick or software to work well
In essence a magic trick is just an algorithm and magicians need the
same understanding of human psychology if their tricks are to work as
programmers need if their programs are to be easy to use
When you teach computing you are teaching the skills to be a good ma-
gician too computational thinking For over 10 years we have been giv-
ing magic shows in schools and at science festivals around the UK that
have inspired students about computing We do a magic trick challenge
the audience to work out how it is done then explain how it works so
they can do it too In doing so we also explain the linked computer sci-
ence We have tricks to introduce for example algorithms variables
assignment and loops search algorithms and the importance and limita-
tions of testing Magic can illuminate computational thinking topics such
as algorithmic thinking logical thinking decomposition abstraction gen-
eralisation human-computer interaction and much more
We have previously produced two free magic books for schools We
have now produced a third book that focuses on computational thinking
in an interdisciplinary context (see sidebar) Copies are being sent to all
UK schools that subscribe to cs4fnrsquos free resources (made possible in
conjunction with Hertford College University of Oxford by funding from
the Department for Education Google and the EPSRC funded
CHI+MED research project on safer medical device design)
With support from the Mayor
of London and Google we
also have been giving un-
plugged workshops for teach-
ers on computational thinking
that includes magic tricks (see
teachinglondoncomputingorg
free-workshops) Their aim is
to give teachers a deeper un-
derstanding of computational
thinking and other syllabus topics as well as practical fun ways to teach
the subject In addition to writing the magic books we are now writing
these tricks up as activity sheets describing both the tricks and computa-
tional thinking or computing concepts behind them with linked resources
like slides to download These are all available from cs4fnrsquos sister project
that is specifically to support computing teachers lsquoTeaching London
Computingrsquo (see teachinglondoncomputingorgresourcesmagic-and-
computational-thinking) Programmers really are wizards
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 12
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Take 15 cards from a shuffled pack
Have a volunteer put their hands with
fingers and thumbs touching the table
as though playing the piano Explain
that everyone must chant the magic
words ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Take
two cards and as everyone says ldquoTwo
cards make a pairrdquo place them togeth-
er between a pair of fingers Keep
doing this until you have one card left
Place it between the final fingers say-
ing there is ldquoone left overrdquo Now take
the first pair back again all chanting
ldquoTwo cards make a pairrdquo Place them
face down on the table to start two
piles Do this with each pair saying
the magic words and adding one card
neatly to each pile Eventually only
the last single card is left Take this
saying ldquoWe have one extra cardrdquo Let
them place it on top of one of the
piles Square up the piles pointing out
ldquoSo that pile now has the extra cardrdquo
Explain that you are going to do
lsquoInvisible Palmingrsquo The extra card is
on one pile You are going to invisibly
move it to the other Place your hand
over the pile with the extra card Rub
the back of your hand to ldquomake the
card go invisiblerdquo Lift your palm show-
ing that the card you are pretending to
move is invisible Move your hand to
the other pile Tap it ldquoto make the
card droprdquo Announce that the card
has now moved piles
To show the magic worked take the
pile where the extra card was placed
and count off pairs into a new single
face down pile ndash ldquoTwo cards make a
pair Two cards make a pairhelliprdquo This
pile must be neat so no one counts
the cards You find there are only
pairs ndash the extra card has disap-
peared So where has it gone Take
the other pile and do the same putting
pairs back into a pile Amazingly the
extra card is there Exclaim that the
extra card really has moved from one
pile to the other
Now tell the volunteer that they can do
the trick Put your hands out in the
piano position and talk them through
the steps shown To their surprise
they will manage to move the card
even though they donrsquot know how
See the box right for an explanation of
how the trick works The book goes on
to show the links to computation that
can be drawn out of the activity
Here is a very simple cs4fn trick that anyone can do to give you a
taster We have found it is a great way to introduce what an algo-
rithm is thatrsquos a bit more exciting than boiling the kettle or mak-
ing toast
13 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Magicians call this a self-working
trick It always works if you follow
the steps It appears magical be-
cause you have confused every-
one They believe when they add
the last card to a pile they are
adding an extra odd card You are
actually making up the last pair ndash
making an odd pile even There
are 15 cards After dealing out the
pairs there are 7 cards in both
piles The last card makes its pile
up to 8 cards ndash 4 pairs When you
count out the pairs there will be
only pairs there so no lsquoextrarsquo card
The other pile will be left with 7
cards 3 pairs with one left over
You pretend it has magically
moved without doing anything
Nothing has to move
What does this have to do with
computing Well Computer scien-
tists call self-working tricks algo-
rithms An algorithm like a self-
working trick is a series of instruc-
tions that if followed exactly and in
the right order lead to a guaran-
teed effect The instructions have
to be precise and cover all eventu-
alities For example this trick has
to work however the cards are
shuffled and wherever the extra
card is placed
When a volunteer follows the
steps the magic still happens
even though they have no idea
how it works That is exactly what
we need for computers When we
write programs we are creating
algorithms for a computer to follow
blindly as a computer understands
nothing All it can do is follow the
steps in the program
For more computational thinking
lessons from this trick see the
relevant pages of the book itself
(illustrated) or download the linked
activity sheet from the Teach Lon-
don Computing website
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
For those new to our Community a CAS
hub is a local meeting of teachers and sup-
porters who wish to share their ideas for
developing Computing in their schools It is
a meeting of like-minded professionals
with the general objective of supporting
each other and the specific aim of provid-
ing (at least) one idea each meeting that
can be taken and tried in the classroom
Meetings are open to all and your local
CAS Hub will welcome your attendance or
involvement whether you are a practising
teacher an IT professional who would like
to help an academic from the nearby Uni-
versity or a parent of school age children
We have around 150 hubs and you can
find your nearest one using the Hub map
at bitly14mIpbD This year the number of
Hubs has already increased by 37 (with 21
of these being Primary Hubs)
We are actively looking for more Hubs es-
pecially in areas where we have gaps in
provision We would also like to see the
number of Primary Hubs increase as there
is definitely a need for the support that
they can provide If you would like to find
out more about starting a CAS Hub
(primary or secondary) please get in touch
with either Claire Davenport or myself
Yvonne Walker We are here to support
you and work with you to ensure the Hub
is a success Our contact details can be
found at the CAS Hub In A Box blog
( bitly1ze9tmR ) which provides re-
sources and support for new Hub leaders
It enables us to be responsive to the needs
of the Hub leaders and to ensures that we
can keep information up to date
Plans to develop the DfE funded Network of
Excellence are now being finalised National
Co-ordinator Simon Humphreys reviews the
journey so far and flags up a new stage
The DfE funding that has allowed CAS to build the Network of Excel-
lence to support the introduction of the new curriculum came to an end
in March We have come a long way in that time Over 1400 schools
(935 Secondary and 500 Primary) are now registered as part of the net-
work This in itself is important You may have joined CAS as an individ-
ual but please check your school is registered too This allows us to
communicate directly with Headteachers whose support particularly
during times of school austerity will be very important 428 have been
willing to be designated as Lead Schools (292 secondary and 167 Pri-
mary) If you are confident in what you are doing and willing to share and
support colleagues in your locality please consider applying to be one
There are no specific requirements beyond a demonstrable willingness
to support others be it hosting a Hub offering transition meetings ad-
vice or otherwise helping local schools Each year Lead Schools com-
plete a quick audit outlining their activities This yearrsquos compilation
makes impressive reading - a real testament to the enthusiasm gener-
osity and professionalism within the CAS ranks During the two years we
have also appointed nearly 400 Master Teachers Their sterling efforts
have meant we have been able to offer many low cost CPD sessions
allowing teachers to get to grips with the challenges ahead
Wersquove learnt a lot along the way from all these activities There is a huge
well of goodwill on which CAS members can draw But itrsquos probably true
to say our resources have been stretched given the scale of the chal-
lenges New funding would mean we can develop the NoE by creating a
number of Regional Centres hosted in key universities in the regions Its
an exciting proposition and one which would ensure coherence to all of
the various CAS activities We hope to develop a sustainable pro-
gramme of support for all teachers expanding the Master Teacher
scheme providing training materials and a closer relationship between
Hubs and Regional Centres Wersquore busy dotting the irsquos and crossing the
trsquos to make this work It promises to offer an exciting and innovative way
forward building on the collegiality that lies at the heart of our local com-
munities More details of what it might mean for you in the next issue
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 14
Teachers are busy people and taking on the leadership of a Hub is an extra task However
Hub leaders are clear that there are benefits to be had They provide a network of people to
work with on shared issues the opportunity to share ideas and resources plus the opportuni-
ty to pool expertise within the group
I recently attended the launch of the Ashbourne Primary Hub and saw this in action The
teachers attending the meeting all taught in mixed age classes and were facing the same
problem of how you address this with respect to developing a scheme of work for computing
How do you teach computing to 7 to 11 year olds in the same class The answer The group is going to trial different
unplugged computational thinking activities with their mixed age groups and then share their findings at the next meet-
ing Fantastic Hub meetings at their best
Yvonne Walker
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Working in Initial Teacher Education
gives me the opportunity to engage
(and sometimes build) communities of
practice and itrsquos really interesting to
see how they work and how they inter-
act with each other too These arenrsquot
static groups they form and merge
and change ndash our community of train-
ee teachers becomes absorbed within
our established teacher network
(which is lovely to see) From our es-
tablished teacher partners we have a
strong community of CAS enthusiasts
Master Teachers and Hub Leaders
Therersquos much overlap between groups
too ndash so our CAS community contains
a large subset of Raspberry Pi enthu-
siasts ndash and in turn that community
draws in many members of the public
including groups from schools Over
the years Irsquove developed rules of
thumb for nurturing and working with
these communities most recently in
building computing capacity and
knowledge in schools through the
CAS Master Teachers Herersquos what
Irsquove learned to date
Personally attending and contributing
to events matters whether that be
Master Teacher sessions CAS Hubs
or school meetings Support your
community and spread the word in a
polite but fairly relentless manner
Use these opportunities to make links
based on individual strengths and
interests Volunteer them for things in
the nicest possible way and always
with their consent For example linking
up a school cluster (who were just
getting started with computing) to their
Master Teacher has had a big impact
in how they use their CPD time Find-
ing space and time to allow members
to talk to each other makes it more
productive and is the essence of a
ldquocommunityrdquo It might just be finding a
common time for a coffee In the inter-
im use online tools to stay in touch
Many of our Master Teachers use
Twitter to support each other
If therersquos a need for a community that
doesnrsquot yet exist look for ways to cre-
ate one CAS hubs are a case in point
here ndash they are an essential glue that
holds all of CAS together My experi-
ence is that a willing volunteer emerg-
es (with a little encouragement) who
just needs some support to get things
moving ndash facilitate this and you have
something really special If you are
thinking of being a hub leader then
donrsquot hesitate to contact Yvonne or
Claire (see opposite page)
Be a facilitator support your commu-
nity by unblocking administrative or
systemsrsquo issues ndash or find someone
who is good at that within your com-
munity and ask them for help Find
opportunities to celebrate success too
by inviting members to events and
give them a chance to raise their pro-
file for example via school cluster
meetings university events articles in
SwitchedON or a presentation at the
CAS conference Also be nice to sen-
ior leadership teams ndash show them
what their expert community members
are doing and how this helps them
This gives community members the
kudos and recognition they deserve
and may help make a case for further
engagement in their community
Building a community of practice is not
easy It requires sustained effort ndash but
extends the impact one individual can
have The sense of reward when you
see people working together to build
something special as a result of your
influence is enormous It is the only
way that wersquoll scale up and consoli-
date the steps already taken to intro-
duce Computing in schools
Carl Simmons CAS Regional Co-ordinator and Sen-
ior Lecturer at Edge Hill University reflects on what
a successful lsquocommunity of practicersquo looks like and
offers suggestions for ways to build them
15 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Google announced three funding
grants as part of a package that
launched the path breaking Digital
Garage in Leeds The Digital Gar-
age is the first in a series of pop-
up training venues across the UK
designed to provide small and
medium enterprises with help
digital skills training and advice
about harnessing the internet to
their business needs
Alongside this wersquore delighted that
Google have given a grant to CAS
to enable us to develop a suite of
Master Teacher training materials
and a series of webcasts aimed at
providing insights into Computing
pedagogy and departmental man-
agement Details are being
worked out at present and wersquoll
announce more detail on the
Community very shortly
As well as further generous sup-
port for CAS projects Google also
announced funding for the Rasp-
berry Pi Foundation and Code
Club Pro to further their work in
training teachers in Computer Sci-
ence As well as school based
events workshops for teachers
will be able to utilise the Digital
Garage spaces Google also aim
to develop further online training
resources The funding builds on
the commitment last year to do-
nate Raspberry Pis for use in
classrooms
The BCS Certificate in Computer
Science Teaching allows you to
demonstrate your efforts to upskill
develop materials and reflect on your
practice A one year roll on roll off
accreditation with mentor support
Interested More info bitly1FUsKw1
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
As the CAS Community and Net-
work of Excellence continue to
grow Catriona Lambeth has been
quietly developing ways to use the
Community to support local or-
ganization When you log-on to
the CAS Community yoursquoll no
doubt be aware of the links to Re-
sources Discussions and Event
listings If you are a teacher have
you ever looked at the Network Of
Excellence link next to them If
not take a look now It should
display the details we have of
your school If not please update
your profile and register your
school with the Network of Excel-
lence If registered ask your
school contact to add you if you
donrsquot see the details These may
seem bureaucratic tasks but they
are the bedrock on which effective
messaging can be built in the fu-
ture Once we have your school
details and you are linked to the
school we can provide information
about others in your locality
You can use this area to identify
your local hubs find other regis-
tered lead schools in the area
local Master Teachers and their
contact details These can be very
useful if you are organizing events
and want to ensure you have pub-
licized it widely
What else you will see will depend
on your role If you are a Master
Teacher we are developing this
area as the point for receiving
guidance documents adding the
Events you organize and keeping
your records of activity up to date
This is a work in progress We
want to develop the functionality
further so please share ideas
about what would be useful on the
forum
In the recent CAS National Survey ldquoaccess to othersrsquo resourcesrdquo
was rated the single most important aspect of CAS Paul Brown-
ing and Margaret Low look at ways you can contribute to the
success of CAS Resources
Itrsquos not just about creating resources Herersquos a list of things you can do to help
improve resources for the CAS Community (and which are good for you too)
Likes Add value to a resource with just one click ndash use the ldquoLike thisrdquo but-
ton Resources are displayed by ldquoView by popularityrdquo by default and ldquoLikesrdquo
counts towards popularity You can easily find resources that were useful to
teachers in a category The ldquoShow only resources I likerdquo check box also provides
a useful personal bookmarking function
Comments Add a Comment to a Resource to let others know itrsquos useful
(or not) Please bear in mind that you may be commenting on a work in pro-
gress CAS actively encourages the uploading of unfinished work
See Also links Add ldquo See Alsordquo links to signpost related CAS resources
Type a keyword in the box to return a list of resources with that word in its title
Categorising There are over 2600 resources in the CAS community
Categories allow a user to filter their search for a resource (see the annotated
screenshot below) The recently revised categories are highlighted in red green
and blue If you find an ldquoUncategorisedrdquo resource use ldquoEdit Categoriesrdquo and you
will move one step closer to digital sainthood Further advice on using the revised
categories is provided on the page opposite
Improve an existing resource Each resource is actually a wiki page An-
yone can edit or upload additional files to a resource page All site members are
created equal so we can all fix a broken link or add a missing hyperlink replace
an inaccessible file format (eg convert a pub file to pdf or Open Office) en-
gage in digital preservation (eg capturing an off-site Google doc that is about to
expire) or improve a resource title to improve findability Donrsquot worry about mak-
ing a mistake ndash itrsquos a wiki page so use the ldquoHistoryrdquo function to access earlier ver-
sions
Convert a ldquopearl of wisdomrdquo Topic into a Resource Its hard to find the
pearls in the thousands of discussion topics By harvesting the pearls into a re-
source you make it far more discoverable and useful Why not copy-and-paste
from a Topic to create a resource For an example see What does the ldquoif name
== lsquomainrsquordquo in a Python program do Better still harvest multiple pearls of wisdom
from one or more Topics into a ldquoreviewrdquo resource If this isnrsquot personal CPD then
we donrsquot know what is
Create a meta-resource Resource pages can be a ldquo a resource about
resourcesrdquo or meta-resource For examples of existing meta-resources see
MOOCs for school-level computer science Learning HTML amp CSS using Mozilla
Thimble and Simon Peyton Jones bookmarks
Extend an existing resource If yoursquove expanded an existing resource or
created a variation be a good digital citizen and share it with others in the CAS
Community For example provide a solutions booklet to an existing worksheet
workbook that lacks one (eg CAS Python Zero to Hero course) When creating
a new resource always take care to follow the licence terms by default a Crea-
tive Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Licence applies to each new resource
but authors are free to vary this so always check the small print
Please use the CAS Discussion Forums to share your thoughts or questions
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 16
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
When classifying resources we wish
to further develop this standard ap-
proach There are three important
dimensions by which you can classify
resources (see right)
Subject Knowledge
Age Range
Resource Type
You should consider assigning a cate-
gory from each of these dimensions to
your resource (eg Algorithms for
Subject Knowledge) That said some-
times more than one category from a
given dimension is appropriate (and
sometimes none are) Each is de-
scribed in more detail below
Subject Knowledge The categories
are now fully aligned with the Progres-
sion Pathways Grid and also bracket
the full scope of the new curriculum
with the addition of Information Tech-
nology and Digital Literacy
Age Range If the suitability of the
resource spans multiple age ranges
(or you are uncertain about the pre-
cise suitability) then select two or
more categories
Resource Type This describes oth-
er characteristics of your resource
which may include one or more of
intended audience (ldquoFor Teachersrdquo
and ldquoFor Studentsrdquo)
a resource collection rather than a
resource itself (ldquoMeta-resourcerdquo)
extra-curricular (ldquoEnhancement and
Enrichmentrdquo - trips open evenings
work placements etc)
cross-curricular (ldquoCareersrdquo maybe)
gifted and talented (ldquoExtension Ma-
terialrdquo)
assessment (ldquoQuizAssessmentrdquo)
ldquoTechnology-Enhanced Learningrdquo
not part of the curriculum per se but
many generic tools are of interest both
to teachers and students depending
on the context
There are three additional dimensions
English Curriculum
Scottish Curriculum
LanguagePlatform
Use the categories under these di-
mensions to provide still richer
metadata about any resource For
more about the rationale behind the
classification see the box below
TES Connect BBC BiteSize and the National STEM Centre eLi-
brary Subject and Age Range categories are broadly aligned with
those on the CAS Community all of which should help the time-
poor teacher find the good resources faster
17 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Considerable thought has
gone into this classifica-
tion If you are struggling
to categorise a resource
further exemplification can
be found in the TASK
statements explained in
resource3162 Look for
which ldquoAbridged State-
mentrdquo comes closest to
characterising the re-
source The TASK refer-
ence originally derives from the Teaching Agency Computer Science Subject
Expert Grouprsquos ldquoSubject Knowledge requirements for entry into computer sci-
ence teacher trainingrdquo These have been in part modified or extended to include
Information Technology and Digital Literacy
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Technocampsrsquo portfolio of Technoteach
teacher training modules has been formal-
ly endorsed by ASFI ndash Accredited Skills
For Industry Technocamps is a schools
outreach programme established by the
Computer Science Department in
Swansea University It now has hubs in six
further University Computer Science De-
partments across Wales at Aberystwyth
Bangor Glyndwr Cardiff and Cardiff Met-
ropolitan Universities and at the University
of South Wales in Glamorgan These hubs
have hosted 18 Technoteach modules ndash
each typically 20 hours long delivered one
evening per week over six weeks ndash up-
skilling a total of 256 teachers from both
primary and secondary schools
Technocamps is ideally placed to help
bring about real change in Wales Profes-
sor Graham Donaldsonrsquos Report
ldquoSuccessful Futuresrdquo (published in Febru-
ary) calls for computing and digital literacy
to be considered as important as literacy
and numeracy one key recommendation
recognises a need to build teacher confi-
dence and capacity in computer science
At the time of writing two further reports
are due in March Professor John Fur-
longrsquos Report into initial teacher training
will likely reflect on the readiness for
change of ICT teachers in Wales given
that the General Teaching Council of
Wales reports most have no formal qualifi-
cation in IT let alone Computing The
Welsh Governmentrsquos New Deal for the
Education Workforce is expected to devel-
op and deliver new professional standards
for teachers The Welsh Government has
already looked to Technocamps to consid-
er ways to address the skills shortage
including becoming involved in their re-
cently-launched Schools Challenge pro-
gramme Technocamps started as a pro-
gramme to engage pupils as a means to
change perceptions about computing
amongst schools and teachers After
providing workshops for tens of thousands
of school children over the past decade
financed through a variety of funding
streams the Technocamps effect is finally
being felt and acted upon by schools and
government Faron Moller
The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC breaks
the OCR course into bite-sized chunks Chris
Swan from The Stourport High School and VIth
Form Centre outlines its value
I have worked on a number of different projects for OCR but the MOOC
was an exciting if a little daunting opportunity A constant driver was the
need to allow students to review topics independently The project start-
ed in 2013 along with the launch of the accompanying website
wwwcambridgegcsecomputingorg Recording the video sequences was
quite gruelling A number of teachers recorded contributions over sever-
al months Many other contributors developed quizzes and other interac-
tive activities Shortly after completion the MOOC migrated onto the
Cogbooks adaptive learning platform This was a massive step forward
in creating a learning tool for students and teachers The platform is so-
phisticated and personalises the learning process We needed to think
about how topics were interrelated If I understood X that would act as a
foundation topic for learning Y More than this we need to measure
learning by progress If I take a test on Y and donrsquot perform terribly well I
probably need to go back and consolidate my understanding of X I had
some previous experience of adaptive learning with professional certifi-
cation courses often taken by adults studying at home
Adaptive learning is a fascinating
blend of algorithmic learning and
psychology How many times has a
student said to us ldquoI donrsquot under-
stand thisrdquo right at the very end of a
lesson Most other students may
have understood the topic but we
need to help the one The beauty is
that it is self-paced and reinforcing It
is never intended to replace a teacher merely to complement The
MOOC is a paperless textbook that engages learners through a variety
of media Personally it was a great opportunity to think deeply about
how students learn and develop an understanding of Computer Science
It is also a valuable tool for parents who wish to understand what their
child is studying and for teachers who are looking for ideas on teaching
a topic There are countless ways in which the MOOC can help you eg
in setting homework livening up a lesson or helping an NQT to get the
grips with a topic The Cambridge GCSE Computing MOOC represents
many hours of work from classroom teachers I wanted to say ldquoordinary
teachersrdquo but that didnrsquot feel very fair as what we achieved was pretty
extraordinary I must admit that it is also rather fun when students say
ldquoHey Miss yoursquore famousrdquo Rob Leeman - OCR Computing Subject Spe-
cialist adds Not every school has a dedicated computing teacher like
Christine and the MOOC is a way that students and teachers can access
her expertise and enthusiasm free of charge Were delighted to see
how Christine has made the most of the new adaptive learning version
to enhance the learning experience in the classroom
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 18
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Good as the Barefoot material is
it only covers the scope of the
primary programmes of study
The curriculum in secondary
schools is a little more complex as
at Key Stage 4 it is typically the
examination boards that deter-
mine the breadth and depth of the
taught programme This impacts
on planning for KS3 which in ad-
dition to needing to cater for all
students (year 9 sees the last for-
mal education in Computing for
many people) will need to pre-
pare students for further study in
specialist qualifications
The
Barefoot
material
makes
the pitch
of Com-
puting explicit for primary teachers
but more detail is needed for sec-
ondary teachers For example the
discussion of variables does not
go beyond the storage and re-
trieval of data from memory at run
-time So while the pitch of the
KS3 programme can be inferred
from the National Curriculum and
GCSE specifications I think there
is a need for explicit exemplifica-
tion in the way that Barefoot does
for primary
To that end I have made a start
on producing some guides that
aim to build on the Barefoot re-
sources for years 7 8 and 9 The
intention is that they are read
alongside the Barefoot guides
Material on decomposition and
variables at key stage 3 can be
found on the CAS Community at
resources2934 and I hope to post
more as I write them And as ever
the CAS Resources is a wiki so
please feel free to contribute or
comment
19 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Both Primary and Secondary guides
offer resources on managing the tran-
sition to Computing and whilst each is
tailored to their respective phase they
complement each other in a way I
think makes both guides valuable to
all of us teaching Computing The
Secondary guide draws together tools
to support curriculum planning It ad-
dresses issues such as schemes of
work and progression through to
choosing the right programming lan-
guage It is a useful guide to much of
the lsquowherersquo lsquowhenrsquo and lsquohowrsquo of the
new curriculum
The section on lsquomaking an effective
activityrsquo gives an important steer as to
the lsquowhyrsquo of the Computing curriculum
It develops five aspects of computa-
tional thinking (approaching problems
as a computer scientist might) and
relates them to student activities on
spreadsheet modelling textual cod-
ing and Scratch This section also
points readers to the Interactive Pro-
gression Tool found on the QuickStart
website that cross-references the Na-
tional Curriculum to the CAS Progres-
sion Pathways and links to further
resources For me embedding com-
putational thinking in planning is vital
and highlights a key change in em-
phasis between Computing and ICT
Progression in computational thinking
as a thread that runs through the
planned curriculum can help ensure
Computing has both relevance and
longevity this is a subject about solv-
ing problems and should develop un-
derlying processes that will outlast
software packages or the shelf-life of
the latest gadget A focus on compu-
tational thinking helps move planning
on from the application-centred ap-
proach we often saw in the past
(where one half-term might be spent
on spreadsheets the next on webpag-
es and so on
It is in this regard that I believe the
Primary QuickStart Computing guide
should be essential reading for sec-
ondary school teachers It gives a lot
more information as to the lsquowhyrsquo and
lsquowhatrsquo of Computing and hence pro-
vides the foundation on which the sec-
ondary guide can build It begins with
a detailed exploration of computation-
al thinking Drawing on the excellent
Barefoot Computing resources
(barefootcasorguk) it provides
breadth and scope to the subject and
illustrates the curriculum in action
The guide also describes some of the
key content from the rest of the curric-
ulum such as programming networks
and digital literacy Much of this is
directly applicable to Key Stage 3
especially during this transition phase
I think it is a great starting point for
secondary teachers anxious about the
transition from ICT Their issues with
subject knowledge are the same as
those for primary colleagues
The QuickStart Computing guides the
Interactive Progression Tool further
support resources and a map of local
places where the guides were distrib-
uted (check in with your local Master
Teacher or hub leader) can be found
at quickstartcomputingorg Further
CAS Resources on Computational
Thinking can be found on the CAS
Community at resources252
Tim Eaglestone CAS Master Teacher at Dorothy
Stringer High School in Brighton reviews the new CAS
QuickStart Computing guides He urges all teachers
new to Computing to start with the primary resources
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
SAP a major computing company in Bel-
fast has been supporting schools through
supplying work experience placements for
pupils aged 14 years up The placements
which last for five days allow pupils to
work on a real IT project Pupils work as
part of a team working on all phases of a
software development project from require-
ments analysis to implementation testing
and final presentation The project aims to
develop a real application to be used by
the companies lab
Pupils have the opportunity to learn new
languages such as HTML CSS JavaS-
cript JSON and more They also gain
expert guidance and have the opportunity
to work with senior developers research-
ers PhD and placement students keen to
provide pupils with useful suggestions for a
future career in IT SAP run 4 work experi-
ence sessions each year two in February
for 1415 year olds and two in August for
1617 year olds All are provided cost-free
by SAP who additionally provide all materi-
als If you teach in Belfast and would like
further details contact Claudia Rabuazzo
crabuazzosapcom
The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo Scheme gives teachers
the opportunity to experience work in modern engineering
and technology organisations Lisa Bagnall from the Na-
tional Science Learning Network explains whatrsquos involved
ldquoIf you teach a subject where you donrsquot have that industry experience go
out and get it Itrsquos like a missing piece of your jigsaw puzzlerdquo enthuses
Anhar Ali a teacher from Cumberland School Newham who recently
attended one of our placements at IBM The Teacher Industrial Partnersrsquo
Scheme or TIPS can give you just that As a joint initiative between in-
dustry and education TIPS gives teachers the opportunity to experience
what takes place in modern engineering and technology Over a two
week placement teachers gain a wider understanding of the diverse
range of career options available for their students and build closer long
term relationships with local industry Anthony Smith from Southbor-
ough High School Surbiton another participant of TIPS at IBM told us
ldquoThe experience has been the highlight of my year and I recommend
the scheme wholeheartedlyrdquo
After the placement
participants attend be-
spoke CPD created by
the National Science
Learning Centre to fur-
ther their development
of engineering and ap-
ply it in the classroom
Anhar said ldquoNow that
Irsquom back at work it all
feels like itrsquos clicked into
place and I can relate
my teaching to real life
experience ndash something
I wasnrsquot able to do be-
fore taking part in the
TIPS schemerdquo First-
hand experience of the
world of modern engi-
neering and technology
is key for teachers to be able to speak confidently to pupils about future
career paths Supporting teachers in achieving this is vital to extend their
knowledge in the field Anthony said ldquoI have been inspired to take for-
ward some aspects of STEM within my school as with an Engineering
and Computing background I feel that I can help to guide and enthuse
some of the next generation of technologistsrdquo If you would like to read
more about Anthony and Anharrsquos placement you can visit their blogs at
bitly1Dq5dYw and bitly1EG6QBp
2015 will bring more exciting opportunities for teachers to attend TIPS
placements across the UK including IBM Crossrail Portakabin Gront-
mij Air Products Alstom Thames Water Staffordshire Alliance Caril-
lion TFL and Babcock For more information and to apply to take part in
this fantastic experience please visit wwwslcsacuktips
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 20
Anthony Smith and Anhar Ali visiting The Royal Society
Founders4Schools is a free service that ena-
bles primary and secondary teachers to invite
founders of successful growing businesses
to visit their schools and inspire their stu-
dents At the events business founders will
speak about what they studied at secondary
school and what motivated them to become
entrepreneurs Students also hear about real-
life applications from Science Technology
Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects
making a critical link to how learning STEM
directly relates to growing and scaling suc-
cessful enterprises
The organisation has over 8000 volunteers
and you can search their directory by area
and category Arts Engineering Maths
Technology and Science Their speakers are
well briefed the sessions are well structured
and feedback from teachers is overwhelming-
ly positive The site is very easy to use Take
a look at wwwfounders4schoolsorguk
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
21 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
What career paths are our current
Computing students going to have
Maybe some of these careers donrsquot
even exist yet All across Worcester-
shire Herefordshire and Gloucester-
shire are companies specialising in
Computer Science and more recently
Cyber Security Thousands of new
jobs will be created in Cyber Security
over the next 10 years If you had
sixth-formers with a talent for Compu-
ting and an interest in ldquoethicalrdquo Cyber
Security rather than choose an aca-
demic route would you encourage
them to join the workplace at age 18
and earn whilst they learn (modern
apprenticeship) By the way these
lsquoapprenticersquo programmes have nothing
to do with tool bags making tea and
sharpening chisels but would be for
the highest quality candidates whose
career path will be as stellar as a
graduatersquos most probably steeper In
return no student debt high quality
work a good salary travel and
achieving their degree at around 25
rather than 21 Sounds interesting
Well we think so and so do many
employers in the area such as GCHQ
in Cheltenham QinetiQ and 3SDL in
Malvern These organisations and
others offer Higher Level Apprentice-
ships (HLAs) like no other as appren-
tices have the opportunity gain a
unique insight into a world of cyber
threats terrorism espionage and or-
ganised crime
More and more ldquoTrailblazer Appren-
ticeshipsrdquo (the gold standard of mod-
ern HLAs) are coming on-line in areas
such as cyber intrusion analyst net-
work engineer software developer
and software tester Bryan Lillie Chief
Technology Officer for Cyber at Qinet-
iQ is buoyant about this quiet revolu-
tion Bryan commented ldquoThis year
wersquore focusing even more on our ap-
prentice intake and without doubt an
apprenticeship can be a brilliant start
to your career The new range of
Higher Apprenticeship schemes are a
highly credible alternative to University
qualificationsrdquo
Here in the CAS lsquo3 Countiesrsquo area we
are supportive and in conjunction with
local firms QinetiQ 3SDL Borwell
PostcodeAnywhere UTC Aerospace
(and others) are constantly looking
to challenge and inform attitudes to
apprenticeships So to get the debate
started on 15th January the first IT amp
Cyber Security Apprenticeship Show-
case was held at the University of
Worcester Arena This showcase
event was run jointly by CAS The
University of Worcester STEM team
Worcestershire County Council and
the organisers and students of the
innovative 3SDL QinetiQ Cyber Ap-
prentice Development Scheme (CADS
- see Switched On Autumn 2014) It
was a huge success - see report right
The feedback was so positive that we
are now looking to turn this into an
annual event
For many many reasons the new
breed of Apprenticeships are a valua-
ble and meaningful route into the
Computing profession We strongly
encourage your students to consider
their options very carefully
Higher Level Apprenticeships offer a route to a rewarding career
in the IT industry John Palmer Regional Coordinator and CAS lsquo3
Countiesrsquo Hub Leader explains the lsquoquiet revolutionrsquo happening
in the Worcestershire Herefordshire and Gloucestershire area
Local training providers and over
thirty companies were on hand
giving information advice guid-
ance and providing some excel-
lent Cyber activities for students
lsquoDibblersquo Clark cyber lead at 3SDL
provided a scene-setting brief He
highlighted some key attributes
employers look for and introduced
some ex-apprentices alluding to
their potential earnings The event
concluded with a panel discussion
in front of companies yet to take
the plunge and offer HLAs Dibble
chaired the panel and believes
ldquoShowing companies whatrsquos on
offer and having all the stakehold-
ers in one place to answer em-
ployer questions makes this
event unique What we are
doing in Worcestershire 3
years on from the start of
CADS is testimony to the
Countyrsquos drive towards an
internationally recognised
cyber security visionrdquo
Over 140 Sixth-Form Compu-
ting students found out more
about the sector-specific HLAs
For many this event changed
their perceptions of routes into IT
careers opening their eyes to new
opportunities Fraser Savage Y13
Chase Computing student said ldquoI
now have a much better level of
awareness regarding the quality of
training support and development
available on HLA programmes
with local companies Studying full
time for a degree would cost me a
serious amount of money and other
options may prove to be even better
for me in the long runrdquo
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Jobs in the technology sector are of-
ten seen by women as male domi-
nant with them working alone
locked away with a computer all day
Obviously this stereotype is not true
but too many young girls believe it
leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy
A Guardian survey showed that the
technology industry ranked in the top
5 for ldquothe most fun sector to work
inrdquo Harvey Mudd a college which
specialises in science engineering
and maths in California carried out
some research which looked into why
young girls did not choose careers in
this popular sector Their research
highlighted three key reasons One
they didnrsquot think it would be interest-
ing two they didnrsquot think they would
be good at it and three they think
they would be uncomfortable in the
workplace because of the strangers
they would be working alongside
I do feel that we need to get
over this stereotype of men in
the basement on their comput-
ers We need to catch young
girls at the right age and show
them what computing really is
In highlighting the challenges in
attracting more females into
technology I do think that it is
important to consider how we
involve men in addressing the
problem I agree with Alan Eu-
stace senior executive at
Google who encouraged fe-
males to expand their Women in
Technology Conferences to involve
men otherwise as he said ldquoyou are
preaching to the convertedrdquo
Rachel Spiers 15 is a fourth year student at Douglas Academy Milngavie
near Glasgow with a passion for technology Her essay below shared with
senior executives at Google and Apple received hand written replies and an
offer of work experience at her local Apple Store
The technology industry is growing at an unimaginable speed with lots
of new gadgets and gizmos being produced Sadly the big names in this
industry all seem to be male with hardly any females I am one of the
3420 students in the UK that has taken up studying Computing in
school Irsquom really interested in Computer Science and would love to have
a career in technology or computer programming I feel very strongly
that more women should be in the technology industry because as the
industry grows we want women to appear more and more
Every website piece of software game or digital product needs to be
coded Ever wonder how your internet operating system and apps such
as Facebook are made and work Theyrsquore all made with code The need
for more apps and computerised products has meant many people have
been able to create their own companies creating an extra million paid
jobs each year
I do understand that being a programmer isnrsquot everyonersquos dream but
basic technical computing skills are needed now for every role in every
industry Mark Zuckerburg said ldquoan understanding of computer science
is becoming increasingly essential in todayrsquos worldrdquo As the industry is
growing more people are feeling lost overwhelmed and totally confused
by the jargon Kathryn Parsons co-founder of Decoded said ldquobeing tech-
nology illiterate just doesnrsquot cut it anymore It canrsquot when so many more
jobs functions require so much more technical know-howrdquo
The first computer programmers were Ada Lovelace and
Charles Babbage Ada proved that a machine could be
programmed in a way which it could calculate a series of
numbers called Bernoulli numbers but Babbage could not
get the machine built Babbage still however gets most of
the credit Another female who played a key role in tech-
nology was Hedy Lamarr who invented spread spectrum
communications and frequency hopping These two jar-
gon-based words are the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
technologies that most of us today would struggle to live
without
In my opinion we are getting over the stereo-
typesResearching this topic has made me feel much
stronger about the need for more women to get involved
and my role helping in that Hopefully in the next 10 years my name will
be one of the next big names in technology As Kathryn Parsons said
ldquothe opportunities are there Now we need to encourage and support this
new generation and provide meaningful investment to the next genera-
tion of code heroes and rock stars And letrsquos make them female onesrdquo
SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk 22
Ada Lovelace
Hedy Lamarr
The CAS group of teachers academics and professionals which exists to promote wider diversity and
foster greater inclusion in the teaching of Computer Science Check out casincludeorguk
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
During the first century after the birth
of Islam Arab Muslim armies defeated
the Persians and moved into Mesopo-
tamia what is now modern-day Iraq
Around 762 Caliph Al-Mansur found-
ed the city of Baghdad Thus started
what is now considered by many
scholars to represent the high point of
Islamic civilisation when scholars
from around the world came to the
Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom)
established by the Caliph Al-Mamoon
as a unique centre for mathemati-
cians astronomers scientists and
philosophers It soon became one of the
most famous centres of learning attract-
ing scholars from all over the world
The scholars built on the legacies of
Persian Indian and Greek texts - Aris-
totle Plato Hippocrates Euclid Py-
thagoras Aryabhata Brahmagupta
and others The scholars accumulated
the greatest collection of knowledge in
the world and built on it through their
own discoveries Besides translating
books into Arabic and preserving
them The earliest version of Euclidrsquos
lsquoElements of Geometryrsquo is an 8th C
Arabic translation The first western
version of Elements was a translation
from the Arab version into Latin by
Erhard Ratdolt in Venice in 1482
This was 27 years after Johannes
Gutenberg had produced the first
printed book It was through transla-
tions of Arabic texts into Latin that West-
ern Europe began its own research in
the fields of mathematics and science
Scholars associated with the House of
Wisdom also made original contribu-
tions to different fields of study One
such scholar was Abu Jafar Moham-
med ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi Al-
Khowarizmi authored the text lsquoKitab al
jabr wrsquoal-muqabalarsquo also known as
lsquoThe Compendious Book on Calcula-
tion by Completion and Balancingrsquo in
the early part of the 9th C The book
was then translated into Latin by Rob-
ert of Chester in 1145 The Arabic
phrase al jabr in the bookrsquos title is the
origin of the term lsquoalgebrarsquo
The HindundashArabic numeral is a posi-
tional decimal numeral system used
throughout the world It was invented
between the 1st and 4th centuries by
Hindu mathematicians The system
was adopted by Al-Khwarizmis book
lsquoOn the Calculation with Hindu Numer-
alsrsquo published in 825
Gerald Toomerrsquos article in the Diction-
ary of Scientific Biography states lsquoal-
Khwarizmirsquos name became so closely
associated with the ldquonew arithmeticrdquo
using the Hindu numerals that the
Latin form of his name algorismus
was given to any treatise on that topic
Hence by a devious path is derived
the Middle English ldquoaugrimrdquo and the
modern ldquoalgorismrdquo corrupted by false
etymology to ldquoalgorithmrdquorsquo
Laplace wrote ldquoThe ingenious method
of expressing every possible number
using a set of ten symbols (each sym-
bol having a place value and an abso-
lute value) emerged in India The idea
seems so simple nowadays that its
significance and profound importance
is no longer appreciated Its simplicity
lies in the way it facilitated calculation
and placed arithmetic foremost
amongst useful inventions The im-
portance of this invention is more
readily appreciated when one consid-
ers that it was beyond the two great-
est men of Antiquity Archimedes and
Apolloniusrdquo
Herersquos a challenge for the class can
you or any of your pupils pronounce
Al-Khowarizmi
Computing technology may only have a
short history but as Bruce Nightingale ex-
plains many of the ideas that lie behind
Computer Science go back a lot further
23 SWITCHEDON wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
Appreciating the role of other cul-
tures in developing some of the
pivotal ideas in Computer Science
can be a rewarding experience for
students Cryptography a word
drawn from the Greek for hidden
and writing kryptos and graphein
has roots in cultures including Egyp-
tians Greeks Romans and Ameri-
can Indians Interested students
would benefit from reading an article
on the Student Pulse website
(bitly1OTW8Jv) which also has
links to further articles A good start-
ing point might also be a couple of
articles on the CS4FN website
Written by Computer Science stu-
dent Zin Derfoufi lsquoMuslims and
Mathsrsquo (bitly1DLNudw ) is a short
introduction lsquoThe Dark History of
Algorithmsrsquo (bitly1Fr8NS6) high-
lights the role of another 9th century
scholar Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq
Al-Kindi better known in
the west as Alkindous in
the development of cryp-
tography The Code
Book by Simon Singh
is also a very accessible
history tracing the ori-
gins of cryptographic
techniques
For teachers wanting more
information on this fascinating topic
see articles by Prof Keith Devlin at
bitly1DLNFWl and Prof Robertson
at bitly1xR4Puj
Old Soviet and Syrian postage stamps celebrating
the contributions of Al-Khwarizmi and Alkindous
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g
Computing At School are supported and endorsed by
In the big data age the vast data
volumes present new challenges
in optimization which classical
algorithms are not designed to
handle Increasingly in domains
like computational biology and
machine learning problems may
have many millions of variables
New approaches are being devel-
oped to benefit from such data
For example a special care baby
unit analysing every babyrsquos heart
beat and breathing pattern devel-
oped algorithms to predict infec-
tions 24 hours before physical
symptoms appear so buying pre-
cious treatment time for infants
Researchers from Spainrsquos Ramoacuten
Llull University created a system
for geolocating videos by compar-
ing their images and audio with a
global multimedia database A
potential terrorist location may be
identified from propaganda vide-
os or missing people who disap-
pear after posting video online
may be found Data is grouped
and clusters compared algorithmi-
cally with existing geolocated vid-
eos The team used 10000 se-
quences as a reference to detect
likely geographical coordinates
locating 3 of videos within a
10km radius To apply to more vid-
eos the algorithm will require a
much larger audio-visual database
Googlersquos ever-evolving ranking
algorithms involve over 200 fac-
tors New developments include
evaluating trustworthiness ac-
cording to a Knowledge-Based
Trust score In theory this ele-
vates factual and news sources
however critics fear it will encour-
age censorship barring minority
voices from the results pages
For more inspiring ideas to share
with children see MIT News
httpnewsofficemitedutopic
algorithms Lyndsay Hope
The BBC have a long track record of amazing programmes that entertain en-
thuse and above all educate Theyve been a part of the UKs digital revolution
from the start The BBC micro inspired a whole generation to learn to code
Now they are at it again Their flagship education initiative for 2015 is about
Computer Science Grouped under the banner lsquoMake It Digitalrsquo their aim is to
inspire the UK about digital creativity That includes how to get creative with
coding programming and digital technology Already some excellent pro-
grammes and lectures have been aired and other material is being launched
online Watch out too for the BBC Micro Bit (see page 2) Make sure you keep a
regular eye on wwwbbccoukmakeitdigital for notice of further plans
Computing At School was born out of our excitement with the discipline combined with a serious concern that students are being turned off computing by a combination of factors SWITCHEDON is published each term We welcome comments suggestions and items for inclusion in future issues Our goal is to put the fun back into computing at school Will you help us Send contributions to newslettercomputingatschoolorguk
Many thanks to the following for help and information in this issue Lisa Bagnall Irene Bell
Paul Browning Paul Curzon Claire Davenport Ben Davies Roger Davies Tim Eaglestone Lorna
Elkes Clifford French Sue Gray Graham Hastings Lyndsay Hope Toby Howard Simon Humphreys
Catriona Lambeth Margaret Low Peter Millican Faron Moller Kevin Moore Liam Nicholson Bruce
Nightingale John Palmer Nicky Pasternak Siobhan Ramsey Kim Sayers Andrew Shields Carl Sim-
mons Rachel Spiers John Stout Chris Swan Yvonne Walker and Dave White
wwwcomputingatschoolorguk
University Of Birmingham Saturday 20
th June (reception 6 - 10pm Friday evening)
Howrsquos it going The new Programme of Study came into operation at the start of this year How has it been Exciting Frustrating At the annual CAS Conference wersquoll take the time to review what has worked well learn from the mistakes and hear from lots of teachers who have developed wonderful resources which are being well received by their classes
The conference will have its usual mix of plenary sessions over 40 differ-ent workshops the opportunity to network and take home practical exam-ples of lessons and other resources that you can use in your classroom
I learnt more and connected with more interesting people than on any course that my school has previously forked out hundreds of pounds for Cost pound36 To register visit bitly1JQNA3g