Code Club Pro – Computing training for primary school teachers

As the teachers out there know, the new computing curriculum comes into effect this September. That’s only 6 months away. Eeek! There is a lot more programming in the new curriculum and teachers will be expected to teach it to children from aged 5. And that’s on top of changes to the rest of the curriculum. A huge task, by any measure – thank goodness our teachers are up to the challenge!

At Code Club we are super excited about the change. It’s a great move toward children thinking like engineers: solving problems, using logic, analysing processes and creating rather than just consuming technology. These skills can be used to enrich other subjects too, like Maths, Science and English.

However, in our experience many primary school teachers feel they have not had sufficient programming experience or training for the new curriculum. The language is totally new and frankly, can be quite off-putting. It is key that the front-line implementers of the new curriculum and policy – the teachers – should be given the skills and support they need.

So many of our lovely teacher volunteers and partner schools have been asking us when we are going to start a Code Club for teachers. We hear you. And so without further ado, we are launching Code Club Pro. Today!

Code Club Pro will deliver CPD training to primary school teachers. We’d like teachers to feel confident and excited about the new computing curriculum. Our sessions aim to demystify the new curriculum, explain key language and concepts and provide useful materials to use in and out of the classroom. They won’t be boring either. Just like our Code Clubs, we will learn through doing and having fun.

It’s quite a big task – there are approx 200,000 teachers in the UK and we want to help as many as we can. Luckily, Google and CAS have invested in our project. With great supporters behind us, we know we can achieve many things (for example – as I write this – we have just got to 1,905 Code Clubs!).

Calling all primary teachers – please register your interest on the site! We can then figure out what sessions to deliver, and when.

Last, but not least – to any of our amazing volunteers or programmers out there who would like to become a trainer, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us on trainers@codeclub.org.uk