Technology experts to be parachuted into primary schools - KHUB Focus

The Government has announced a tech teaching funding boost of £3.6m, to ensure primary school children are equipped with the right skills for the future. Our feature writer, Suzanne Danon, tells us more.

Experts from firms including 02 and Google will help prepare England’s primary school teachers for the new computing curriculum, which more than four million primary school children have already received lessons through.

Five new projects will see experts from major tech companies parachuted into universities including UCL and Oxford to provide the latest training. Among the services provided through the new projects will be online seminars, national conferences, thousands of booklets for teachers, and video examples of teaching approaches.

“We know a significant number of jobs in the future will be in the tech industry, which is why we are committed to supporting tech companies to connect with our schools – preparing young people to succeed in the global race,” explained Education Secretary Nicky Morgan.

“Increasing the focus on subjects like computing is a key part of our plan for education – which is why we are investing in the latest training and support so our teachers are fully prepared to plan, teach and assess the new computing curriculum.

“I am delighted that once again top industry experts have taken an active role in helping develop these projects, and I look forward to seeing them pay dividends in our classrooms,” she added.

The new computing curriculum began in September 2014 and sees pupils taught how to code and use a range of programming languages.

How are you delivering the new IT curriculum in your school? Does this funding go far enough to prepare children for careers in technology? Share your views here.