Teaching KS2 Programming

As with all subjects, the Computing Curriculum, and often programming in particular, has been heavily disrupted for over a year. Pupils have had mixed experiences and developed even more varied levels of programming capability than usual.

Moving forward, it's going to be more important than ever to ensure that:

Teachers feel confident in the programming content they need to teach in KS2 Pupils are able to make progress from a variety of starting points, with appropriate levels of both consolidation and challenge Pupils further develop some of the underlying skills which are essential to programming and so many other areas of school life, such as perseverance, resilience, collaboration, problem solving and creativity.

This half-day course is designed to support KS2 teachers in feeling more confident about the programming concepts they need to teach, as well as exploring quick and easy ways to personalise the learning journey for pupils with varied programming experiences. We will predominantly focus on using Scratch programming software, which can now be used on any device, including most recently on iPads.

Thank you again for the training you delivered to us this week - we both found it extremely useful. and we were buzzing with ideas after we left the session. It was exactly what we were looking for. We are both looking forward to the next session.

I think the training was very carefully planned and pitched well to the participants. I can’t think of any ways to improve.

Craig is clearly knowledgeable in this area [online safety] and keeps up-to-date with resources to help with changes over time and I’m thankful for all of the resources and information he passed on to us which I will share with school staff.

Thanks so much for the fantastic session yesterday; staff have been singing your praises all day. I think we all want you to come and work at our school!

Craig Thompson

I’ve worked in education for around 25 years, including 15 years as a primary teacher / deputy head and several years as a local authority advisor in Cambridgeshire, leading on the effective use of technology, the primary Computing Curriculum and Online Safety.

As an independent Education Technology Specialist, I now work with schools and trusts nationally - supporting school leaders and teachers with making effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning, including with 1:1 deployments I continue to work in partnership with Cambridgeshire's Education Safeguarding Team on Online Safety, and Cambridge University's Faculty of Education - supporting PGCE trainees. I'm accredited as an Apple Professional Learning Specialist, Google Certified Educator (Level 2), Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainer, and Showbie Certified Educator.

I'm passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people, and the vital role technology plays in ensuring everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.