Speakers’ bios

Back to CAS London Conference 2018 – one page guide.

Alex Hadwen-Bennett
Alex is a CAS Master Teacher and Teaching Fellow in Computer Science Education at King’s College London. He has considerable experience providing training and mentoring for computing teachers and has written teaching resources for Boardworks, Zig Zag education and Pearson. In addition to this he is currently undertaking a PhD, looking at programming pedagogy for visually impaired learners.

Bradley Dardis @BradleyDardis
Early years teacher and computing leader in Hackney for over a decade, Now a digital strategy manager in a school in Tower Hamlets. CAS Master teacher, HUB leader and SSAT lead practitioner in computing. A Primary specialist with interest in creative uses of computing in all areas.

Christine Swan
Christine is a CAS Master Teacher, visiting lecturer in Computer Science education at Birmingham City University, author, presenter and member of the Raspberry Pi Foundation

Clifford French
Clifford is a CAS Master Teacher. His particular interest is in physical computing, using Crumble, Raspberry Pi, Arduino based boards and BBC micro:bit to bring computing to life, particularly for students who struggle to see its relevance. He runs weekend coding sessions, mainly for students from Year 2 to Year 9, in London and other parts of the country and regularly runs CPD events.

Craig (Sargent) & Dave (Hillyard)
Craig is a CAS Master Teacher and currently the head of Computing at Archway secondary school in Stroud where he promotes computing at all key stages, In the past he has been an examiner and moderator for OCR GCSE Computing and currently authors online material. Dave is currently Assistant Head Teacher at a large comprehensive school in Gloucestershire. With 19 years’ experience as a teacher of ICT and Computing, He has been successful in a number of roles including: Head of ICT/Computing, Head of e-learning and Assistant Head of Year. Prior to teaching, He spent 6 years as subject leader for initial teacher training with the Gloucestershire Initial Teacher Education Partnership. Passionate about the subject of Computer Science, Dave is continually innovating with new approaches to pedagogy and creating new resources. They are Craig & Dave.

Darren Murphy

David Whale
David Whale works for the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, and is the official ‘micro:bit wizard’ (check the website!). He has over 35 years experience working in the computing industry, is an active STEM Ambassador and volunteer for The IET, and is a regular supporter and contributor to CAS events in the south east of England. In his spare time he pops up on TV programmes like The One Show and BBC Click, showing off ambitious projects with the BBC micro:bit.

Demetrios Skamiotis

Duncan Maidens
Duncan is an Associate Professor Computer Science at Birmingham City University, a CAS Hub Leader, CPD Provider and coordinator of the CAS West Midlands Regional Centre. With a background in Computer Networks he has developed a set of physical and online resources to teach the principles of data comms, right through to how computer networks operate. And just for fun he runs Python CPD training in Birmingham, assesses for the BCS  Certificate in Computer Science Education and runs an online Python course for teachers through CAS

Drew Buddie

Eleni Vasilediadou
Eleni has over 6 years primary classroom experience. She holds an MA in Digital Humanities (Kings College London) and the last 3 years she is a Computing Lead. Last year she became a Master Teacher and is currently finishing the BCS Certificate in Computer Science. She developed her own scheme of work and assessment for her school. Eleni’s interests include Online Safety, assessment and physical computing.

Eliot Williams @MrEliotWilliams
Eliot is a CAS Master teacher, Raspberry Pi certified Educator and the hub leader for the Metroland /North West London hub. Prior to his recent move to London Eliot worked in Somerset where he set up and led the Somerset CAS hub.

Garfield Gordon
Currently teaching JavaScript at KS4 and KS5 for OCR GCSE and A Level Computer Science. Holds an avid interest in developing applications with JavaScript and the growing number of frameworks that have sprung up around this language. BSc’s in Chemistry with Mathematics (Southampton University) and Computing with Games Development (Greenwich University). PGCE (DTLLS) and Additional Diploma in Teaching Mathematics (Greenwich University). 8 Years industry experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Microsoft and Fujitsu. 7 years teaching ICT/Computing within the secondary and further education sectors.

Gillian Ingram

Ivan Gutowski-Smith

Jane Waite @janewaite @cas_london_crc
Jane works part time as the CAS London regional project manager supporting master teachers and teachers across London. At the same time she is undertaking a PhD, researching how we teach primary pupils programming. For 10 years she was a primary teacher and  before worked in industry for 20 years as a developer. She wrote many of the Barefoot materials and writes for a wide range of computing education publications including cs4fn and a bitofcs4fn. Jane is currently delivering the Diving Deep into Primary Programming workshops – ask her about it but don’t get her started on abstraction.

Jody Carter

John Feleppa
John is in his ninth year at a state secondary school in North-West London, where he works as the Head of Computing and Learner Voice Co-ordinator.  He brings over twenty years of classroom experience into his role as a CAS master teacher, as well as two education masters degrees, and some research and programming experience.

Helena Cheung

Hardip Mothada
Hardip is a CAS Master Teacher and has run many events for CS Teachers in West London for the past 4 years. He has taught GCSE Computing since 2010 and A Level Computing and ICT since 2004, and has been a Head of Department and Assistant Head at various state secondary schools. Prior to becoming a teacher he worked as an engineer and software developer in the audio and multimedia sectors in the UK and in Silicon Valley.

Martin Richards – Head of Computing at Putney High School
I have been a secondary school teacher since 2009 teaching Mathematics and have taught Computer Science for the last 5 years.  Having graduated in Computer Science, I learnt all of the A level and GCSE content at university, and have since taken an interest in how best to promote and teach this to a younger audience. I always have a STEM based project on the go, and can’t help hoarding multiple unfinished projects in cupboards throughout my home!

Michael Jones
Director of Computer Science and Initial Teacher Education at Northfleet Technology College. Master Teacher for Computing at School. Specialist Leader in Education for the Gravesham area, Kent. Program designer and Senior Lecturer for PGCE Computer Science University of Greenwich (2013-2016). Subject Knowledge Enhancement lecturer for Canterbury Christ Church University. Senior Lecturer (seconded) Canterbury Christ Church University PGCE. Senior Lecturer King’s College, London, PGCE. Member of PiXL Computer Science Executive.  Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow in education. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Michel Wermelinger
Michel teaches algorithms and data structures and was the academic consultant for a BBC programme on the subject. He designed an interactive activity introducing algorithms and complexity that is used in the A-level Computing materials of an educational publisher. He led the creation of a MOOC teaching programming for data analysis. He wrote an ‘hour of code’ introduction to programming with Python, using a web-based IDE. He reported on his experience in using the IDE in SwitchedOn. He co-authored the Python block of a new first-year module. For more details and for links to Michel’s free online resources, see http://www.open.ac.uk/people/mw4687.

Nic Hughes @duck_star
Nic is a self-confessed IT geek. He is a class teacher, Head of Computing at his school, Primary CAS Master Teacher, CAS Hub leader, a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator and works as an educational consultant for 3BM. He loves to explore different ways to teach programming and is a massive fan of physical computing and robotics. In the past he worked alongside the education team in Redbridge as a AST for ICT, running training, supporting schools and writing curriculum. He has been lucky enough to speak at a number of conferences over the years about his work with robots, physical computing and the application of Games Based Learning in the classroom. He is eager for more teachers to learn about Computing and how to teach it effectively in their lessons. Follow him @duck_star on twitter and he has a blog at nicholashughes.blogspot.com

Neil Brown
Neil Brown is a Research Fellow at King’s College London.  He has a BSc and PhD in Computer Science.  He is part of the team responsible for the development and maintenance of BlueJ and Greenfoot: two Java programming environments aimed at beginners.  He has given many workshops to both teachers and students, and previously worked on the design and implementation of the Computing At School members website.

Paul Curzon @cs4fn
Paul is a Professor of Computer Science at Queen Mary University of London and a National Teaching Fellow. He co-leads ‘Computer Science for Fun’ (www.cs4fn.org) a magazine, website and school show series about the fun side of computing through which he has been enthusing school students about interdisciplinary computer science worldwide for over 10 years. He is the co-director of ‘Teaching London Computing’ (www.teachinglondoncomputing.org) creating inspiring activities for teachers across the UK to use in class and helps lead the CAS London regional network.

Phil Bagge @Baggiepr
Phil Bagge lives breathes and dreams about computing. This may not be healthy but it keeps him gainfully occupied. He is a Computing Inspector/Advisor working for Hampshire Inspection & Advisory Service and CAS Master Teacher. He was involved at the drafting stage in creating and refining the new Computing Curriculum through the BCS and CAS. He currently teaches computing science in two Hampshire schools where he enjoys putting theory into practice. Phil regularly speaks at local and international conferences about combating learnt helplessness and how programming is a fantastic tool for promoting a wide range of problem solving skills. Phil is a contributing author to Compute-IT KS3 Scheme of work and has recently written How to teach primary programming using Scratch. His free resources can be found on the popular code-it.co.uk website and you can follow him on twitter as @baggiepr

Piers Saunders
Piers is a lecturer in Mathematics education at the UCL Institute of Education, London. He has taught mathematics in schools in North and West London and also held pastoral responsibilities. He has had a career in the software industry spending significant time as a software development manager for a large IT company in Canada. He is involved with the Scratch Maths project designing and delivering professional development as well as course materials. He is working with mathematics teachers across the country to explore the impact of building mathematical knowledge with programming as part of his PhD study.

Ramzi Ramzi
Ramzi is currently teaching Computer Science and IT at The John Lyon school. He is a Google Level 2 Educator, Raspberry PI Certified Educator, and teaches with Cambridge Coding Academy. He is currently working on his MA in CS Education at King’s College London. He previously taught in Japan and is a firm believer in the value of teaching through practical examples.

Rob Heathcote
Rob Heathcote has almost 15 Computer Science teaching experience and has written over 20 subject related textbooks since 1999. In 2013, he founded PG Online to support teachers and students to be well equipped, confident and happy.

Scott Atkinson
Scott is education programmes manager at the Royal Academy of Engineering. The Academy is committed to encouraging young people to study STEM subjects in schools, FE colleges and universities, enriching outcomes by bringing real-world engineering practice into the student experience.  The education team delivers a wide range of programmes and activities, including the Connecting STEM Teachers programme and STEM learning resources. This programme has created a national network of support for teachers across all STEM subjects, ensuring they have the knowledge and confidence to engage a greater number and wider spectrum of school students with STEM. Developed in partnership with major engineering employers, the STEM learning resources enrich the STEM curriculum and are great for using in the classroom to add context to the curriculum or as a STEM challenge day. They provide hands on learning activities based around stimulating and relevant engineering topics.

Simon Johnson @clcsimon

Susan Mehmet
Susan is a Primary Consultant with Primary teaching experience from early years to year 6.  Part of the LGfL Online Safety group, Barefoot volunteer and CAS Master Teacher.

Sue Sentance @suesentance
Sue is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science Education at King’s College London and taught Computing before moving into teacher training. She is part of the CAS London team and also co-developed http://pythonschool.net

Trevor Bragg @CsTrevor
A part time teacher of secondary Computer Science, CS at Townley Grammar, where I also teach CS to primary one day a week via the Digital School House. Part time staff member of Queen Mary University of London fulfilling the role of CAS Regional Coordinator of Master Teachers, London, 2 days per week. M Sc in Computer Programming Dundee University. PGCE in Secondary ICT Kings. 20 Years Software development in London, Sydney and Silicon Valley. Over 10 years teaching ICT/Computing years 5 to 13.

Vinay Thawait
Subject Advisor for Computer Science and IT at OCR based in Cambridge providing day to day subject specific support to centres across the country. Vinay has more than 20 years of experience in teaching and leading Computer Science and IT departments as well as Local Authority advisory role before moving onto work for OCR as a subject advisor.

Adding to his previous expertise includes working with Capita IT and BSF services as the National Bid Lead for the Building school for the Future (DfE project) and the Head of Operations/education advisor for an AV and education software development UK company.

After joining OCR, he has been involved in developing specifications for AS, A Level and GCSE (9-1) Computer Science specification and resources. He has presented at many National level conferences as he has the knowledge and confidence to engage a large number of schools as well as wider audiences from across the Computing curriculum.

Wendy MacLeod

William Lau @MrLauLearning
William is currently in charge of Key Stage 4 Computing at Central Foundation Boys’ School in London. William has taught computing from Key Stages 1 through 5 in three London state schools and in an International school in Seychelles. He has delivered CPD at various UK schools and universities, specialising in curriculum design, assessment design and computing pedagogy. He has mentored trainee teachers at King’s College London and the University of Roehampton. William is a CAS Master Teacher and a Google Certified Innovator. In July 2017 he received an international Award for Teaching Excellence in computer science from the Infosys Foundation USA, the Association for Computing Machinery and the Computer Science Teachers Association. William is the author of “Teaching Computing in Secondary Schools”.

William Marsh
William is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Queen Mary University of London, where he researches probabilistic decision-support and risk assessment systems primarily for medical applications. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Operating Systems, Embedded Systems and Critical Systems. He has recently been part of the Teaching London Computing project and has developed and presented courses for teachers covering aspects of the GCSE and A level curriculum. He wants everyone to realise that programming is fun.

Back to CAS London Conference 2018 – one page guide.