About Me:
I am Head of Computing and ICT at Leighton Park School, Reading, Berkshire. I am both a DfE/CAS Master Teacher where I run CPD to support the Computing Curriculum across the UK and Europe. As an Advanced Skills Teacher for Park House School and West Berkshire I work with local primary schools to develop Computer Science and previously worked alongside West Berkshire LA for school improvement. My other roles include being an LA Governor and a Computing At School hub leader - bringing teachers, academics, industry and charities together to develop Computer Science in the Thames Valley. I am working with the Royal Society as an adviser on their current Computing research and recommendations project.
I carry out a range of outreach activities including working with primary pupils from years 3-6 and teaching adults through workshops in the form of trainee teachers, undergraduates and graduates on the topics of ICT and Computer Science. Highlights include the CompuCrazy primary experience and the Computing Olympiad involving over 700 primary pupils, and taking pupils to work as Games Makers for the 2012 Olympics in London as a team responsible for delivering IT results.
Head of Computing and ICT at Leighton Park School (present)
Computing Education Project Adviser, Royal Society (present) (link) (link)
Computing At School Master Teacher (present)
Advanced Skills Teacher (ICT & Computer Science) for Leighton Park School and West Berkshire (present)
Computing At School Thames Valley Hub Leader (present)
iSTEM+ Thames Valley Hub Leader (present)
LA Governor at The Ilsleys Primary School (present)
Computing At School Academic Standards Committee Member (present) (link)
Associate Assistant Headteacher at Park House School (2015-2017)
Head of Computer Science at Park House School (2015-2017)
Senior Learning Coach at Park House School (2013-2017)
E-Learning Coordinator at Park House School (2012-2017)
Barefoot Computing Regional Trainer, Surrey & Berkshire (2014-2016)
Computing at School Master Teacher Regional Coordinator, Home Counties (2014-2015)
Subject Knowledge Enhancement tutor and lecturer for Reading University (2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016)
Computing at School Master Teacher Regional Coordinator, South East (2013-2014)
Lead lecturer and visiting tutor for Reading University PGCE (2013-2014)
Interviewer for BCS Computer Science Teacher Scholarships (2012-2015)
Computing At School Master Teacher (2012-2013)
BCS Berkshire Committee (2010-2012)
Upcoming | Delivered Workshops and Speeches
CAS CRC SE Conference, 2017 - New pedagogic approaches to teaching programming - University of Southampton (link)
Hodder Education, 2017 - KS4 Computing - Practical programming with Python and data structures (link)
Hodder Education, 2017 - KS3 Computing - The transition between Scratch and Python (link)
Hodder Education, 2017 - KS5 Computer Science: Learning the foundations of Computer Science (link)
Network for Learning, 2017 - Build an outstanding Key Stage 3 Computing curriculum (link)
Network for Learning, 2017 - Helping students to success in the new Computer Science GCSE - Teacher CPD (link)
Excalibur Teaching Academy, 2017 - Teaching GCSE Computer Science (link)
Excalibur Teaching Academy, 2017 - Teaching Computing in Primary Schools (link)
Excalibur Teaching Academy, 2017 - Computing Unplugged (Creative approaches to teaching Computing) (link)
Excalibur Teaching Academy, 2017 - Computational Thinking and Assessment (link)
Excalibur Teaching Academy, 2017 - Introductory Computing for Primary Schools (link)
Network for Learning, 2016 - Helping students to succeed in the new 2016 Computer Science A-Level Courses- Bath (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2016 - KS3 Computing: Planning, Assessment and Preparing for Ofsted - Manchester (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2016 - KS3 Computing: Planning, Assessment and Preparing for Ofsted - London (link)
Network for Learning, 2016 - Helping students to succeed in the new 2016 Computer Science GCSEs - Bath (link)
CAS Conference, 2016 - Improving performance in Computer Science through sports performance techniques and active movement
Network for Learning, 2016 - Helping students to succeed in the new 2016 Computer Science GCSEs - Bath (link)
DidactIG, Charles University, 2016 - The Implementation of the English Computing Curriculum - Prague, Czech Republic
EERA ECER, 2015 - Exploring Gender Imbalance in Computer Science: Female School Studts' Percepions of Access and Engagement in Computing - Budapest (link)
Network for Learning, 2015 - Helping students to succeed in the new 2016 Computer Science GCSEs - Bath (link)
Intel Education Summit, 2015 - What does it take for 20,000 schools to be good at Computing? - London (link) (link)
CAS Conference, 2015 - Where are the girls?!?, Birmingham University, Birmingham (video)
Charles University, 2015 - The Shift from ICT to Computing in the UK - Prague, Czech Republic
CAS / BT Barefoot, 2015 - Computational Thinking - Kingsclere Primary School, Hampshire
CAS / BT Barefoot, 2015 - Computational Thinking - The Ilsleys Primary School, West Berkshire
CAS / BT Barefoot, 2015 - Computational Thinking - Francis Bailey Primary School, West Berkshire
CAS / BT Barefoot, 2015 - Computational Thinking - St Johns the Evangelist Infant School, West Berkshire
CAS / BT Barefoot, 2015 - Computational Thinking - Enborne C of E Primary School, West Berkshire
CAS / BT Barefoot, 2015 - Computational Thinking - Long Lane Primary School, West Berkshire
Reading University 2015 - Computing and Ecology (Bees) with Computational Thinking - Reading
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - KS3 Computing: Practical Programming Challenges and Progression - Birmingham (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - KS3 Computing: Practical Programming Challenges and Progression - Manchester (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - KS3 Computing: Practical Programming Challenges and Progression - London (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - Getting Started with Key Stage 3 Computing - Birmingham (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - Getting Started with Key Stage 3 Computing - Bristol (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - Getting Started with Key Stage 3 Computing - Manchester (link)
Hodder / Philip Allen Events, 2015 - Getting Started with Key Stage 3 Computing - London (link)
TECHX15, 2015 - Bridging the Gender Gap in Computer Science - London (link)
OSIRIS, 2015 - Outstanding Computing Curriculum - Liverpool(link)
OSIRIS, 2015 - Outstanding Computing Curriculum - Leeds(link)
OSIRIS, 2015 - Outstanding Computing Curriculum - London(link)
OSIRIS, 2015 - Outstanding Computing Curriculum - Shrewsbury(link)
OSIRIS, 2015 - Outstanding Computing Curriculum - Northampton (link)
Network for Languages, 2015 - Helping students to succeed in the new 2016 Computer Science GCSEs - Bath (link)
Prospect School 2015 - CS Fayre: Why Computer Science and Unplugged activities - Reading
ModernGov 2015 - Teaching the new Computing Curriculum | Chair (Feb)- London (link)
OSIRIS, 2014 - The Future of Computing in Schools Conference (Dec) - London (link)
CAS Scotland Conference 2014 - Computer Science Unplugged (Nov) - Edinburgh (link)
CAS Conference 2014 - Computer Science Unplugged - Birmingham (link)
ModernGov 2014 - Implementing the new Computing Curriculum (Mar) - London (link)
Philip Allen 2013 - Addressing the National Curriculum (Nov) - London (link)
CAS Conference 2013 - Computer Science without Computers / CSUnplugged (Jun) - Birmingham (link)
ModernGov 2013 - Implementing the Computing Curriculum (May) - London (link)
CAS Wales / Technocamps 2013 - Computer Science without Computers / CSUnplugged
Reading Univseristy 2012 - ESRC Computer Science & The Arts (Nov) - Reading (link)
St John's School 2012 - Computer Science without Computers & Achieving outstanding results in GCSE Computing - Marlborough (link)
BETT Show 2011 - Creative Problem Solving Projects at kS3 with Peter Dickman, Miles Berry and Thomas Ng - London
CAS Conference 2011 - GCSE Computing
Media Work
BBC Panorama - Could a robot do my job? Filming of a creative computing lesson (Produced by BBC Panorama) (video)
BETT 2015 (arena) - Understanding the 5 key areas for successful 'digital' school - Panel with Maggie Philbin, CEO, TeenTech, Chaired by Marc Prensky, London.
Quickstart Computing - Filming of pre-launch of Quickstart Computing at Microsoft model classroom, London. (video)
Quickstart Computing - Filming of discussions around the Computational Thinking Framework (Produced by Stuck Media) (video)
Quickstart Computing - Filming of model Dance & Computing programming lesson (Produced by Stuck Media) (video)
BBC Cracking The Code - BBC filming of pupils from The Ilsleys at Park House School - creating bitmaps using unplugged resource (link)
Published Work
Computing At School Leadership pack contributing author (link | link)
Quickstart Computing in collaboration with Microsoft Education, Department for Education and Computing At School (link| link)
Hodder Compute-IT Series joint author link
Techfuture Classroom (formally Behind the Screen Series) link
IBM Smarter Planet educational materials in collaboration with IBM link
Online blogs / News
Microsoft: link
Times Educational Supplement (TES) link
Intel Education Community Site: link
TeenTech City of Tomorrow: link
Initiatives
CompuCrazy 2014 (June) - Primary Computer Science Experience involving over 400 primary pupils from Hampshire and West Berkshire. Supported by IET, CAS, BCS, IBM, Reading University and Queen Mary College, London. (link) (video)
GeekJam 2013 (March) - Primary Computer Science Experience involving over 200 primary pupils from West Berkshire primary schools. Supported by BCS, BCS Berkshire, CAS, IBM, Reading University, Queen Mary College, London, Blackberry and Research in Motion.
Computing Olympiad 2012 - Primary Physical Computer Science Robotics Experience involving over 700 students in Victoria Park, Newbury, West Berkshire.
Smarter Planet 2012 -Development of classroom resources for IBM (link)
Primary Scratch Competition 2009-2012 - Enrichment experiences for primary pupils to engage in programming.
Supported Initiatives
Animation 16, 2016 (May) - Judging panel for Manchester University national animation finalists.