We all know that, since the curriculum changes last September, pupils must be taught computing. What teachers are less sure of is how they are going to develop the skills to do so. James Holmes, a Computing at School master teacher, explains the importance of effective CPD for teachers who are new to computing.

Since becoming a Computing at School (CAS) master teacher, I’ve worked with a large number of professionals from a range of ICT backgrounds. Many of them share the same problem: a feeling of being unsure and unsupported in delivering the new content. But what can be done to help?

It seems that the biggest hurdle in delivering the new computing curriculum is building teachers’ knowledge and understanding. To be able to provide our pupils with the quality of computing education that they deserve, educators need to make sure that they are fully equipped with the skills to teach it.

One way to address this problem is with a free CPD toolkit called Quickstart Computing. This aims to provide teachers with the skills and resources they need to deliver CPD to their colleagues and to design, develop and deliver an individualised computing curriculum within their schools.  

The pack has been designed to support computing coordinators to develop their personal knowledge and practice so that they can become confident and empowered in delivering CPD sessions to their colleagues. 

For further inspiration, you can access a collection of advice blogs and teaching resources that have been developed by CAS and TES, or find out about some of the other tools that are available out there to support teachers in getting to grips with the new computing curriculum.

All too often, outstanding pedagogy is diminished when teachers are forced to use a prescribed scheme through sheer lack of subject knowledge. This goes against the whole principle of computational thinking. It is only through collaboration and CPD that we’ll all become confident in delivering the new computing curriculum. 

You can download Quickstart Computing resources for primary and secondary here on TES and can also find further support for teaching the new computing curriculum