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Short courses at a glance

Short courses from CAS London
2017 course dates and prices are in brackets, similar prices and dates are envisaged for 2018.

  • KS3 Teach KS3 Computing – January to March
    (8 sessions, £160, 23 Jan to 20 Mar)
  • MA module in Computing Education – January to March
    (10 sessions, £1,150, 17 Jan to 28 Mar)
  • KS4 Teach GCSE Computer Science – April to July
    (10 sessions, £200, 24 Apr to 3 Jul)
  • KS5 Teach A level Computer Science: Algorithms and Data Structures – March
    (5 sessions, £100, 1 Mar to 29 Mar)
  • KS5 Teach A level Computer Science: Object Oriented Programming in Python – June to July
    (5 sessions, £100, 7 Jun to 5 Jul)
  • Diving Deep into Primary Programming – Summer / Winter
    (All-day session, £60, 9 Jun)
  • KS5 Teach A level Computer Science: A2 Projects with Databases and Python – September to November
    (5 sessions, £100, 1 Nov to 29 Nov – register of interest full, please contact Jo Brodie (j.brodie@qmul.ac.uk) for waiting list information)
  • Diving Deep into Primary Programming – Winter / Spring
    (All-day session, £60, tbc)
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Teaching London Computing / CS4FN subscribers’ bulletin – November 2016

We have a number of mailing lists. One is for teachers anywhere in the UK who have signed up to receive copies of CS4FN magazines for their school, another is for teachers in London who have signed up to hear information about new courses and resources from Teaching London Computing. Some things are relevant only to London-based folk and some for anyone in the UK – the text below is the ‘full’ list which I sent out by email in November. To avoid annoying all our lovely teacher colleagues I made the email fairly basic plain text but with no restrictions on our website there are pictures, in living colour :-)

Jo Brodie, CAS London administrator

royalsoc
Royal Society’s Computing Education survey
The Royal Society has launched a ‘major survey of computing education in schools’ which offers teachers an opportunity to share how computing is taught and resourced in their schools. Please take the opportunity to contribute. The survey is part of the Royal Society’s Computing Education project and remains open until Friday 23rd December 2016.
[link with survey information] [link for Royal Society’s news release about the survey]

New CS4FN magazine
cs4fn22Currently at the printers is the latest CS4FN magazine, issue 22 on Creative Computing, copies of which will be sent to subscribing schools. You can download a free copy of the PDF of the magazine now though.
[link to PDF]
[link for UK schools who are not yet subscribed to CS4FN]

 

New videos on Teaching London Computing‘s YouTube channel

Prof Paul Curzon has run a number of free workshops for teachers about how to use unplugged techniques to bring computational thinking to the classroom and people have often asked us if we could record these and then share videos and clips. Yes we can! We’re adding these to our YouTube channel and also subtitling them as we go – we’re also linking back to information on our website where you can download the relevant classroom activity and other materials. Please take a look and share these with colleagues.
[link to our YouTube channel]

The more London-centric bits are below

swiftplayground
Swift playgrounds coding session
Apple are offering a morning (9-12pm) or afternoon (1-4pm) session to “Explore how the Swift Playgrounds app for iPad can make learning to code fun and interactive for your students” in London on Friday 13 January 2017.
[download the invitation, which includes a registration link]


CAS London Conference 2017 – SAVE THE DATE: Sat 25 Feb 2017
casconf2017
Following our successful conference earlier this year we’re delighted that Gladesmore Community College (South Tottenham, N15 6EB) will once again host the CAS London Conference on Saturday 25th February next year. This is for anyone who teachers computing from primary to secondary (including A level) and costs £25 for a whole-day event with plenaries and workshops. Tickets aren’t available yet but please put the date in your diary, bookmark this page (and download a flyer for your classroom – free registration required).
[link for more information, and a flyer][link for tickets]

soundofmusiccomputing
Free schools event – The Sound of {Music} Computing
Dr Andrew McPherson from the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London will be giving a free twilight talk for schools at the People’s Palace at QMUL. The one hour talk is from 5.30 to 6.30pm with post-talk mince pies and takes place on Wednesday 14 December 2016. It’s aimed at secondary schools but is family-friendly and all are welcome. Andrew will be talking about how computers help us make music, and demonstrating his Magnetic Resonator Piano.
[link for free Eventbrite tickets] [event flyer] [link for more information]

Short courses for KS3, GCSE and A level Computing
We have a number of short courses taking place at King’s College London for teachers starting in 2017. Our KS3 course runs from January to March over 8 sessions, we have a 10-week Teach GCSE Computer Science course from April to July and three 5-week courses for those teaching A level computing, including modules on algorithms and data structures, object oriented programming in Python and projects with databases and Python. Full details including costs and links to Eventbrite tickets for each course below.
[link to more information about CAS London short courses]

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New 2017 short courses from CAS London at King’s (Waterloo)

We have a series of twilight courses which will take place at King’s College London (Waterloo) campus, under the CAS London (King’s College London / Queen Mary University of London) banner on Monday and Wednesday evenings in 2017. Each lasts between five and eight weeks with courses costs from £100 to £200.

PDF flyer for these events with clickable links.

KS3 Computing

January – March 2017

Teach KS3 Computing
Monday Evenings 5pm to 7pm
23rd January to 20th March (8 sessions)
£160
generic-eventbrite-register-button

MA Module in Computing Education

January – March 2017

Computer Science Education: Theory and Practice (30-credit Masters’ module).
Tuesday evenings 5.30pm to 7.30pm
17th January to 28th March.
Focus on research in computer science education and start working towards a Masters’ degree. Includes 6,000 word assignment.
£1,150

generic-eventbrite-register-button

GCSE Computing

April – July 2017

Teach GCSE Computing
Monday Evenings 5pm to 7:30pm
24th April to 3rd July (10 sessions)
£200
generic-eventbrite-register-button

A level computing

March 2017

Teach A level computing: Algorithms and Data Structures
Five twilights on Wednesdays at King’s College London
Cost: £100
Starts Wednesday 1st March ends Wednesday 29nd March 2017 (5.00-7.30pm)
generic-eventbrite-register-button

(note that this course was originally advertised in November with a start date in the last week of February and this has been moved back to the first week of March – 4 Jan 2016)

June – July 2017

Teach A level computing: Object Oriented Programming in Python
Five wednesday twilights at King’s College London.
Cost £100
Starts Wednesday 7th June 2017 ends Wednesday 5th July 2017 (5.00-7.30pm).
generic-eventbrite-register-button

November 2017

Teach A level computing: A2 Projects with Databases and Python
Five Wednesday twilights at King’s College London.
Cost £100
Starts Wednesday 1st November 2017 ends Wednesday 29th November 2017 (5.00-7.30pm)
generic-eventbrite-register-button

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Please make sure you’re following @CS4FN / @cas_london_crc for updates about our resources

CAS London

Teaching London Computing (TLC) is a resource hub from the CAS Regional Centre London (‘CAS London’) and we are regularly adding free activities and other resources here. TLC’s initial role was in providing CPD support to London computing teachers, which we continue to do through CAS London by supporting Master Teachers.

Although this website will remain we won’t be updating the @TeachingLDNComp Twitter feed (the feed will still be public though as people may come across our resources while searching for related things on Twitter).

The CAS London Regional Centre is one of several university-led regional centres in the UK. Ours is run by King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London (exactly the same people in fact behind Teaching London Computing!) and CS4FN is the flagship schools computing magazine and website from Prof Paul Curzon and colleagues at QMUL.

Please make sure you’re following –
@CS4FN to hear about newly uploaded activities and resources on this site
@cas_london_crc to hear about other support and events for London computing teachers

Thank you!

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Tenderfoot computing twilight sessions in London for teachers (14&27 June) FREE

We’ve split the one-day Tenderfoot session for teachers on Computational Thinking (Unit 2) into two evening sessions running on Tuesday 14th and Monday 27th June, details below. You can attend either session, there is no dependency, or you can attend both.

  • Session One introduces graphs and binary trees
  • Session Two looks at arrays, classic and shortest path algorithms.

Session One: Tenderfoot training – Clever Stuff for Common Problems – Developing computational thinking and an understanding of data structures – Focus on Graphs and Binary Trees
Tuesday 14 June 2016, King’s College London
5-7.30pm, Waterloo Bridge Wing Room G14
Tutors: Jane Waite and Trevor Bragg
Tickets: http://community.computingatschool.org.uk/events/4134

  • 02 Activity: Data structures matter (Spit not so, Knights Tour, Tour Guide)
  • 03 Activity: Many problems, one solution (Map colouring)
  • 06 Activity: Beauty of trees (Binary trees)

“Unplugged puzzles are used to explore abstraction, algorithms, decomposition and data structures. Activities can be used in the classroom the next day. KS3 Attainment targets : use and evaluate computational abstractions, understand several key algorithm.”
Eventbrite - Tenderfoot training - Clever Stuff for Common Problems - Developing computational thinking and an understanding of data structures - Focus on Graphs and Binary Trees for Session One

Session Two
Monday 27 June 2016, Lambeth
[precise location and time tbc]
Tutor: Miles Berry

  • 00 Activity: Peg swap puzzle
  • 01 Activity: Perfect shuffle
  • 04 Activity: Toy problems, real world
  • 05 Activity: The oracle of bacon

[Ticket link not yet available]

“Unplugged puzzles are used to explore abstraction, algorithms, decomposition and data structures. Activities can be used in the classroom the next day. KS3 attainment targets: use and evaluate computational abstracts, understand several key algorithms.”

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Back issues of (some of) our cs4fn magazines available – free for UK schools

Our CS4FN magazines and Teaching London Computing booklets are hugely popular and read by school students for interest and enjoyment, as well as being used by teachers in computing classes and after-school clubs. We typically post out around 20,000 copies to subscribing UK schools (some schools take 1 copy, others have a class set) and we also send one-off boxes of magazines to UK schools and school-related events to give to visitors or to put in delegate bags.

We keep a few more copies of some of our back issues to give away to UK schools and if you’d like to order some please fill in the blue form below.

Note that this form won’t subscribe you to our mailing list(s) – if you’d like to subscribe to start receiving future cs4fn magazines and booklets please fill in [purple form 2] here, and if you’re a teacher based in London interested in our local events please fill in [orange form 1] on the same page. We’d also recommend familiarising yourself with CAS, Computing At School (it’s free to join) and particularly the CAS London Regional Centre (which is run by the same staff at QMUL and KCL that run Teaching London Computing).

 

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Money available to support London teachers’ CPD / subject knowledge enhancement

Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 16.09.35

As one of the projects funded by the Mayor of London’s ‘London Schools Excellence Fund’, or LSEF, we receive the regular LSEF bulletins and this caught my eye…

Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 16.07.39
…its text says…

“Calling all London teachers – LSEF Legacy Teacher Innovation Fund launched
Teachers can apply for up to £10,000 to boost their subject knowledge. The aims of the Fund are to:
•    Improve teacher subject knowledge and pedagogy
•    Improve students attainment and progress
•    Make available more resources and tools to use inside and outside of the classroom.
Please share this with your school networks.  The deadline for application is 12pm on Monday 16th May 2016. To apply please download an application form here.”

There is money available to support teachers in London develop their own knowledge and share their learning with other teachers. Computer Science is explicitly listed among the subject options, which also includes languages, maths, science and tech.

From the FAQ, teachers / applications must satisfy the following London Teachers Fund Criteria –

  • Improve the subject knowledge and pedagogy of teachers
  • Improve students attainment and progress
  • Make available more resources and tools for teachers to use in the classroom
  • You need to be a qualified teacher working in a school or state supported education provision in one of the 33 London Boroughs

Visit the Shine Trust’s website (who are managing the innovation fund for LSEF) for more information and links to application forms and the FAQ etc. Good luck :)

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If you’re 7-19 there’s a Computer Animation Competition for you – #Animation16

Screen Shot 2016-02-11 at 11.12.05

Animation16 – the 9th Annual UK Schools Computer Animation Competition run by the School of Computer Science at The University of Manchester, is open for registration and entries!

If you’re 7-19 there’s a Computer Animation Competition for you – #Animation16

Funded by Electronic Arts, Autodesk, and Microsoft, in association with Computing At School and cs4fn, the competition is open to all UK school students aged 7-19, and the deadline for entry is on Friday 18th March:

Teacher registration is FREE and carries no obligation to submit any entries. All registered teachers will receive FREE colour A2-sized Animation16 posters for their school. To get your free posters — while stocks last! — register at the website or log in using your existing credentials: http://animation.cs.manchester.ac.uk

Entrants can create their animations (time limit: 1 minute) using any of the following programs: Scratch, Adobe Flash, Alice, Blender, Maya, 3DS Max, Muvizu, Synfig Studio, Serif Draw Plus, KoolMoves, or SWiSH Max4

There are great prizes for the winners, and trophies for schools. Winners will be announced in May 2016 and the Awards Ceremony will be at the National Media Museum in Bradford on 12 July 2016.

Last year’s Animation15 competition was bigger than ever, with over 820 entries from 127 schools across the UK, from 1,057 students. We awarded prizes to 42 students (working as individuals, or in groups, max size 4) from 26 schools. You can see all the winning entries on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnimationComp/

Key dates
* 18 March 2016: Deadline for submitting entries
* 12 July 2016: Awards Day at the National Media Museum

Key contacts
* Website:   http://animation.cs.manchester.ac.uk
* Enquiries: toby.howard@manchester.ac.uk
* Twitter: @AnimationComp #Animation16
* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimationComp

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CPD day for London computing teachers at the CAS London annual conference

Teaching London Computing’s Paul Curzon and William Marsh will be presenting at the CPD day for London computing teachers at this year’s CAS London conference, £25 for London teachers, £60 for those outside London (BOOK TICKETS). Read on for more information…

Sat 27 Feb

When: Saturday 27th February
Where: London (Gladesmore Community School, Crowland Rd, N15 6EB)
Tickets: £25 (London), £60 (elsewhere) – BOOK HERE
Event flyer: DOWNLOAD and please share with colleagues

Approximate timings of Paul’s and William’s sessions (note timings may change by +/- 10mins).

Paul Curzon
Unplugged Sorting algorithms – 10:00pm
Using Magic to teach computing – 2:30pm

William Marsh
Python Advanced GUI – 12:30pm
LMC 1 – Introduction Afternoon – 2:30pm

Here’s the information from CAS London about the conference –

CAS London’s Regional Conference, a day of CPD for primary and secondary teachers of computing

For those who need to gain confidence to teach programming, those who are brushing up on skills and those looking to find out about recent developments in computer science education.

HANDS ON Workshops, ready to use resources.

  • Select 4 x hour long workshops from 7 workstreams of  more than 28 workshops.
  • Introductory and advanced programming on Scratch, Kodu, Python, Visual Basic, LMC, Java and more.
  • Pedagogy, assessment, exam boards,  magic to teach algorithms, computational thinking, unplugged sorting …
  • Introductory physical computing with BBC Micro:bit, Raspberry Pi and Engduino.
  • Cross curriclar Maths and Scratch, DT and Crumbles.
  • Workshops led by Paul Curzon, Phil Bagge, Mark Dorling, Sue Sentance, Michael Kölling, Rob Leeman (OCR), Matt Walker (AQA) and many other leading CPD providers.

Nominal charge to cover lunch and admin.

We are funded by the Department for Education to support teachers in London, hence the reduced fee for London educators.

Teachers from further afield are very welcome, as are educators working with CLCs, boroughs and Coding Clubs.

Trainee teachers and University/ITT representatives are most welcome and also invited to attend.

At lunch time there will be a market place where voluntary groups, industry and other suppliers will be on hand to share their resources and ideas on careers, coding clubs, ed tech products etc.

If you would like to showcase at the market place please contact jane.waite@computingatschool.org.uk

About CAS London
CAS London, the Computing At School regional centre for London, is run by King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London. It co-ordinates CAS activity in London, supporting teachers of Computing through CAS Master Teachers, Hubs and Lead Schools.
Find out more about CAS and CAS London.