Ready for success: preparing your department for September
01 July 2021
Whether you’re new to the role or have several years under your belt, getting ready for September always brings a fresh set of challenges. With a solid plan and support from NCCE through the summer months and into the new year, you can return in September knowing you’ve got everything in hand.
Describing it as a ‘funny old year’ doesn’t quite do justice to the disruption of lockdown learning, the assessment pressures of the summer term and the wildly varying experiences of students, and teachers, coming to computing. As education recovery gathers pace and schools take stock of their specific needs, it’s vital to understand not just “what works” but “what works for you”. Our leadership and curriculum development courses aim to do just that, providing you with the time and support to reflect on the evidence and implement a plan that suits you, your colleagues and your learners.
If you need support to develop a more holistic plan for the department, including teachers from other subjects who may be leading just a couple of lessons a week, those fresh from training, or those who have recently moved to become teachers of computing, there is a range of help available. Your local Hub and subject matter experts are on hand to assess your needs and answer your questions, free of charge.
If your team members are “on-loan” from English, Maths, or elsewhere in the curriculum, we’ll help them gain the confidence they need to provide an outstanding computing education to all young people. To take the load off your shoulders - and prepare new computing teachers for the year ahead, our flexible package of CPD can be accessed during those first staff training days in September before learners arrive - and throughout the year. The comprehensive Teach Computing curriculum will get them up and running, with everything they need to teach lessons to all year groups.
Of course, while this topsy-turvy year may seem radically different, the building blocks of success remain. Strong subject knowledge among teachers, underpinning effective and informed teaching, assessed with high-quality instruments, leads to improved outcomes. Some things never change.
Steps to success:
Education recovery
Develop a sustainable and effective education recovery plan with our curated selection of CPD.
External support
Contact your local Computing Hub and the team of Subject Matter Experts for support in planning a support package for your department.
Curriculum design
- Access the high-quality Teach Computing Curriculum, a comprehensive curriculum package for computing and computer science.
- Layer pedagogy on strong subject knowledge with this course, free for those who have completed the CS Accelerator.
- Use high-quality diagnostic assessment across key stage 3 and computer science GCSE.
Subject knowledge development
Build subject knowledge for you and the whole team with CS Accelerator. Follow CPD pathways for those new to computing, for teachers adding GCSE responsibilities to the teaching of KS3 computing, or to help ease the transition from other subjects.