Achieving my CPD goals with Teach Computing
11 May 2021
Dominic Beresford, a secondary and sixth form teacher from the North East of Newcastle tells us why he chose to kick-start 2021 with our Teach secondary computing certificate.
The certificate was first brought to my attention after completing the Computer Science Accelerator earlier in the academic year. It seemed like a natural progression to then take on this second certification programme, with the slight added element of competition of another staff member in my school having completed the same previous course alongside myself.
Taking part was very straightforward and involved a mixture of online and remotely delivered training. With the online courses everything could be done at my own pace and all the resources were very clear and insightful.
I found the prospect of the remote courses quite daunting, however once I started was made to feel extremely comfortable alongside my peers. As an aspiring leader of computer science, I had chosen the New subject leaders of secondary computing course, and found the resources very useful, with the added benefit of excellent discussions and opinions as well as feedback.
This certificate has allowed me to further enhance some of the knowledge and skills which I gained during the Computer Science Accelerator. This has been mainly through being able to combine skills and elements of lesson planning and tasks which developed my practice.
Computer science is a rather logical and at times a complex subject, so one aspect which has been of real benefit not just to myself but also my students is the Approaching to supporting learners with SEND in computing module. This has opened up a new world of ideas to embed into my lessons and to increase accessibility for my students which will hopefully open computer science up to wider range of students who may currently believe computer science to be too difficult for them.
On a final note, due to the truly inclusive and well-designed courses and materials which I have had the pleasure of being able to engage with, I will be seeking to take on more courses within the future to further develop myself and my teaching.
To find out more about the Teach secondary computing certificate visit teachcomputing.org/secondary-certificate.