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teachwire.net/secondary C OM P U T I N G Upskilled specialists Some readers may feel there are simply too many barriers to good KS4 computing provision, be it poor prior exam results, lack of specialist staff, an inability to recruit or inadequate technical infrastructure. Yet we’ll need to overcome these if we’re to offer the broad and balanced curriculum our students really need to get ahead in our increasingly technological world. Not having a computing specialist in your team, or being unable to recruit one, isn’t sufficient reason on its own to not offer GCSE computer science. Only a third of teachers currently teaching the subject are themselves computing specialists (I myself possess a post-A level qualification in a computing related degree). According to the 2016 DfE report, ‘Analysis of 'specialist' and 'non- specialist' teaching in England’ (see bit. ly/dfe-specialist), 38% of computing lessons are delivered by business studies teachers. Maths teachers will, at a bare minimum, have studied to KS5. We expect biology teachers to have studied natural sciences, PE teachers to have studied sports science or similar, and so on. The likelihood of a computing teacher having been able to study computing even at school is low, to say the least. It’s far more likely that a practising computer science teacher will have been upskilled at some ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul Thornton is network education lead at STEM Learning UK point during their career. The point to bear in mind here is that the process is one that any school can help their staff undergo. You don’t need to take on a ‘computer teacher’ when a teacher already in your school can be suitably upskilled to deliver computer science lessons. Indeed, a number of teachers are already starting to see how priorities within the curriculum are shifting and taking the step of upskilling themselves, thus allowing them to make the switch if and when their current subject specialism begins to get squeezed in the timetable. Others are simply taking the step of getting trained in a second subject to improve their professional knowledge and career prospects. No excuse Schools which believe that offering a computing GCSE is still a step too far must at least ensure their KS3 curriculum covers all required areas and have some form of KS4 computing study in place. One option could be to embed key elements of computing into other areas of your curriculum, similar to what’s happening at primary level, and start utilising the many cross-curricular links that can be made. You can also explore non-GCSE course options, such as BTEC Tech Awards. It falls to all of us to offer computing at all Key Stages, including KS4, so that students are able to learn from a broad and balanced curriculum. It’s also necessary for us as a country, if we’re to produce enough students with a skill set suited to the requirements of the modern working world. Ultimately, there’s no excuse for computing to be absent from a school’s KS4 curriculum. The National Centre for Computing Education can provide plenty of assistance to help you get started, from upskilling programmes for teaching colleagues, to courses in pedagogy and a substantial resource repository containing schemes of work for different year groups, ready-made assessments and expert advice. With a generous bursary available to help facilitate the process, there’s never been a better time to make the jump. The future is here – is your school ready? TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL COMPUTING 57